Just across the street from Sunnyside Gardens, a historic landmark district in Queens, sits the WB Mason warehouse.
The company delivers office supplies all over the country. But residents say since the supply chain moved in last June, their quality of life has suffered.
“The trucks idling outside my bedroom. I can’t open the windows; if the windows are open I can smell the diesel,” said Sharon Sweeney, a Sunnyside Gardens Resident.
Sharon Sweeney’s home faces the warehouse and she says the trucks idle and double park at all hours of the night.
Her neighbor Kristen McGowan says when the trucks back up — she can hear it. Even with her windows closed.
“It sounds like a truck is backing into my bedroom. That’s how loud it is,” said Kristen McGowan, a Sunnyside Gardens Resident.
The city has had a strict anti-idling law on the books for 30 years. It prohibits drivers from idling a vehicle for more than three minutes while parked near a curb. If it’s in a school zone, the allowable idling time drops to a minute.
There are exceptions for emergency vehicles, buses that need to run to provide heating or air conditioning, and any truck that needs to run refrigeration units or lifts.
The residents say more enforcement is needed in the area. The NYPD and the Department of Environmental Protection are two agencies that can issue idling vehicle violations.
“The vehicle is always on. It’s on half hour, one hour at a time. And the noise it makes is unbelievable,” said Misha Taneka, a Sunnyside Gardens Resident.
Now, these residents hope WB Mason will start acting like a better neighbor. While the warehouse is located in a manufacturing zone, it’s next door to a park, and located on the fringe of a quiet residential neighborhood. They hope a zoning amendment could restrict its hours of operations.
“I understand they have to make deliveries but not at someone's expense, especially the neighborhood. Sunnyside is what it is because we are a good neighborhood,” said Steve Kroski, a Sunnyside Gardens Resident.
WB Mason did not immediately respond to a request for comment.