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Officials Clash Over Illegal Dollar Vans At CB 18 Meeting A heated discussion between City Councilman Lew Fidler and State Assemblyman Nick Perry on illegal dollar van activity erupted at last week's Community Board 18 meeting. Perry called for action against what he called "unlawful" police activity. "Some of my constituents happen to be van drivers," he said. "And they have expressed to me that they are being harassed by police and ticketed for additional, unrelated violations. I have nothing against the police en-forcing the law, as long as it's done correctly." Perry said in one instance, he ob-served police following a van traveling along Avenue U. 'They issued the driver a ticket and seized his van. I stopped my car and asked the driver why he was pulled over and ticketed. He said it was because he was illegally parked. I looked at the of-fense at the bottom of the ticket and the information was wrong. I witnessed the incident and he did nothing illegal." "Some people think that my opposition lies within the police. I want to make it clear that this is not the case," Perry added."I am all for the police taking actions against illegal dollar van activity and I support the police, as long as they act within the confines of the law." Fidler argued that van drivers are often pulled over because they have illegally conducted their business in the past and should be reprimanded accordingly. "The police have a right to pull over van drivers -- especially those with repeated violations. They cannot seize vehicles the first time around," Fidler said. "You wonder why police are looking to ticket these drivers -- I'll tell you why! People in this community have told me they are inconvenienced and terrorized by these van drivers." The crowd unanimously applauded the councilman, who added, "The drivers are behaving unlawfully by speeding down residential streets and blocking roads. Residents of East 52nd an East 53rd streets have complained to me that van drivers are doing things like urinating on their lawns and throwing tires on their properties. This is a major quality of life issue." While Perry agreed with Fidler about supporting police cracking down on drivers who inconvenience residents, he said there is a demand along Utica Avenue and Flatbush Avenue for dollar vans and he supports their legalization. The assemblyman has sponsored a law to have legal pick up points for dollar vans. Manhattan allowing such vans to operate," said Perry. "We need to deal with this issue in a smart, reasonable fashion and incorporate the demand in a legal manner." "Dollar vans are legal in certain boards," said District 18 Manager Dorothy Turano. "But I'm aware of the fact that residents in those communities still fight it and want to eliminate vans and add buses in certain locations. It's a dangerous means of transportation because the illegal van drivers have no insurance and you can't collect if there's an accident."
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