Queens residents criticize big moving boxes remaining on properties

Residents in Queens have been complaining to the city that room-sized
moving and storage boxes from a company called Pods have been
remaining on several properties long after a move takes place, even
though they are illegal, the New York Daily News reported. “We have
people who have had pods in front of their homes for at least 2.5 to
three years,” said Anthony Benfatti, a board member of the Hollis Hills
Civic Association. Another resident who lives next to an empty home
with one of the boxes said it made it difficult for her do drive out
safely.

Homeowners with the boxes can be ticketed for violating zoning codes,
said Ryan Fitzgibbon, spokesperson for the city’s Department of
Buildings. But she said the city only rarely gets complaints.

Company
officials said only about 200 of the boxes, which are rented for $100
to $200 a month, have been rented in Queens, and that 90 percent of
them are in a company storage facility. State Senator Tony Avella said
he has recently asked the buildings department to look into regulating
the boxes’ use. “This is a new phenomenon, and we need to move quickly
before this becomes a systematic problem,” he said. [NYDN]