Wiliam Poku’s tow truck sits on flat bed truck while the SUV in the foreground awaits a similar fate. (Photo by Brian Donohue. Click to enlarge.)
By BRIAN DONOHUE
Residents of Bank Street emerged from their homes Tuesday morning to a sight many thought they’d never see — and one which even those who had lived there for years have never seen: the curb in front of 90 Bank Street.
Tow trucks for a borough contractor arrived around 8 am and hauled away five junk-laden vehicles, a few of which had sat largely unmoved on the street in front of the home for years.
First went the rusty New Jersey Bell Telephone bucket truck. Then, a maroon Nissan Murano filled to the ceiling with junk and a trailer stacked high with flotsam, lumber and weeds taking root from within the pile. Then, they loaded and hauled off a tow truck stacked with random broken furniture, flower pots, parts of childrens’ toys and the front bumper of the Nissan.
The last to go: a second maroon Nissan Murano parked on the south side of the street, filled to the roof with empty cartons, newspapers and books like Bob Hope’s “Confessions of a Hooker, My Lifelong Love Affair with Golf” and Dale Carnegie’s “How to Stop Worrying and Start Living.”
The sounds of at least one neighbor emitting a hoot of joy could be heard over the tow trucks’ warning beeps and hydraulic lifts.
“Wow. Wow.” said another neighbor who emerged from his home with his mouth agape. “I never thought it would actually happen.”
A towing company worker tries to secure the contents of the trailer before loading it onto a flatbed. (photos by Brian Donohue)
Borough Manager Jim Gant said the vehicles were removed because they were in violation of a temporary parking ban issued to allow contractors to replace a pair of lead water service lines at 87 and 91 Bank Street. The project is part of a large town-wide effort to replace old lead service lines to ensure safe drinking water. The work was ongoing this afternoon.
Gant said the decision by Red Bank police to tow the vehicles was limited to enforcing the temporary no parking rules and had no connection to a years-long court battle with owner William Poku over conditions in and around the property.
Poku, who was seen the day before chatting with a neighbor by his SUV while the No Parking signs hung nearby, could not be reached for comment on the towing of his vehicles.
The front gate to the property is locked. Poku did not respond to an email from redbankgreen or to a neighbor loudly and repeatedly screaming his last name from the sidewalk to try and get his attention while crews loaded the vehicles onto flat beds.
One resident of the block who asked not to be identified praised the police department’s enforcement action, saying, “the view just got a lot better.”
Neighbors have complained for years about conditions on the property and street out front, most recently at a public meeting in October. The front, side and rear yards, porch and front walk are all stacked high with mounds and containers of junk and at least nine additional vehicles, all similarly full of various materials.
Meanwhile, court battles have simmered, often in the form of appeals filed by Poku when the borough has won a favorable ruling on summonses for code violations. He is currently on a court-approved payment plan to pay off more than $10,000 in fines. 
As they watched the five vehicles towed from the street, neighbors said they hoped to see the rest of the property cleaned up, not just the street in front of the house.
Nicole Gordon, who along with her husband last year bought the home next-door to 90 Bank described problems with black flies, mice, excrement from feral cats living on the property and other smells emanating from the piles of materials in the yard. She says the couple cannot allow their children to play in the yard because of the conditions.
“It’s a rough position,” she said. “We tried to talk to the town and they tell us there’s nothing they can do about it because he keeps suing them. When we bought the house we knew what we were moving in next to. We didn’t full exactly know the extent of it. We thought the town would have been doing something to clean it up. We’re waiting patiently.”
In April, Poku delivered a letter to redbankgreen’s editor written in his capacity as President of the Greater Red Bank Unit of the NAACP warning the publication of legal action over what he called a “defamatory and derogatory” article and headline about neighbors’ complaints about conditions on his property published in 2019. In the letter on NAACP letterhead, Poku demanded a retraction of the 2019 article within 168 hours and a public apology.
“Our community deserves to live in a safe and respectful environment,” he wrote. “Free from the harmful effects of discrimination and defamation.”
redbankgreen editor Brian Donohue may be reached via email at [email protected] or by calling or texting 848-331-8331 or yelling his name loudly as he walks by. Do you value the news coverage provided by redbankgreen? Please become a financial supporter if you haven’t already. Click here to set your own level of monthly or annual contribution.
