Borough President Vito Fossella Assists Mariners Harbor Constituent With Removal Of Shipping Containers By His Home

Borough President Vito Fossella and his office assisted Howard Gutter, a longtime Mariners Harbor resident, with restoring a sense of normalcy to his neighborhood following the three-story stacking of numerous containers on the property directly behind his backyard.
 
Over the past few years, Mr. Gutter and his neighbors have had to endure what appeared to be a container ship in their backyards. What started as a tire shop storing a few containers of used tires at 2246 Forest Ave. had grown into a three-story metal monstrosity while deteriorating their quality-of-life.
 
Not only were the stacked containers a blight on their views, but some of the stacked containers allegedly contained tires, drawing concerns over possible fires.
 
Mr. Gutter tried repeatedly to have the property owners remove the eyesore and potential fire hazard from his backyard, without any success. He contacted our office and, in collaboration with the New York City Department of Buildings (DOB), particularly Community Engagement & Programming Officer Frank Fontana and the DOB Padlock Unit, progress was finally made.
 
DOB issued an order to the property owners to remove 16 of the containers by May 31.
 
“Thank you so much again for all your help," said Mr. Gutter. "I kept calling around, and nothing got done. Finally, I reached y’all guys, and you got things done. I didn’t mess with the shop until they started stacking these tires three-stories high. The problem with those toxic tires, and nobody was policing what they were doing -- it wasn’t right. I just wanted the containers moved.”
 
Borough President Fossella recently visited Mr. Gutter for a first-hand look at his backyard before the containers were removed.
 
“All Mr. Gutter wanted to do was enjoy his backyard and the view, and that was unfortunately taken away from him,” said Borough President Fossella. “We were more than happy to help. Any time we can help a Staten Islander with a quality-of-life issue -- that is what we’re here for. We thank Frank Fontana and our partners at the Department of Buildings Padlock Unit for working with us to help this man out.”