Dozens of families are illegally living in dilapidated trailers in the shadow of CitiField \u2014 draining off water from fire hydrants and swiping electricity while running black-market auto-repair shops.<\/p>\n
The unsightly gypsy-like encampment underneath the Whitestone Expressway, populated largely by Spanish-speaking migrants, has become a nightmare for residents and merchants along a stretch of Queens in the shadow of the New York Mets home field \u2014 and yet the city has done nothing, locals told The Post.<\/p>\n
Nearly two dozen rundown motor homes and campers are part of an encampment on Northern Boulevard in Queens. James Messerschmidt for the NY Post<\/p>\n
Dozens of families live under the Whitestone Expressway and run black-market auto-repair shops and car washes. James Messerschmidt for the NY Post<\/p>\n
\u201cWe gave up calling the police,\u201d said Luke Huwang, manager of Empire State Autobody on Northern Boulevard, to The Post on Monday. \u201cThe police don\u2019t touch them. The police will take their customers cars and impound them, but they leave the motorhomes and all these people here.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cThey drink a lot,\u201d Huwang said of the illicit street dwellers. <\/p>\n
\u201cAnd they do the barbecue when the Mets play. They pull the electricity from the light poles and from above, you know, the underside of the roadway.\u201d<\/p>\n
Neighborhood regulars said the intruders tap into fire hydrants to bathe and run illegal car washes, auto body and auto repair shops \u2014 mostly overnight to avoid harassment from the NYPD.<\/p>\n
They live in nearly two dozen rundown RVs, motor homes and campers between 126th Place and 127th Place along Northern Boulevard \u2014 with only one of the vehicles seen with a legal license plate.<\/p>\n
Local merchants said the migrants in the encampment illegally tap into city water and city electricity. James Messerschmidt for the NY Post<\/p>\n
At first there were about 10 campers, but the number grew to nearly 100 over the past year, locals said. James Messerschmidt for the NY Post<\/p>\n
Some occupants of the illegal encampment were initially displaced by Queens\u2019 new $780 million soccar stadium. James Messerschmidt for the NY Post<\/p>\n
\u201cThe whole area is bad,\u201d said a man who claimed he lived in an RV in Marina Park for eight months. \u201cReal dangerous. Especially at night, real dangerous. Who the f\u2013k is calling the cops?<\/p>\n
\u201cThey settle things with machetes around here,\u201d he said. \u201cIt\u2019s more than a year. It\u2019s not quite two years yet, but it\u2019s more than a year since it started here.\u201d<\/p>\n
Residents of the unsightly community declined to comment to The Post, most of them claiming they did not speak English as they roamed the area and slipped into a local liquor store. <\/p>\n