A Long Island aviator has turned his suburban driveway into a private tarmac — and the pilot is now Public Enemy No. 1 with his neighbors and town officials.
Harold Guretzky, of Oceanside, had the Cessna transported from Republic Airport about a month ago, after he lost his student-pilot license for health reasons and no longer wanted to shell out $150 a month in storage fees there.
“I didn’t want to keep paying if I couldn’t fly, so I moved it to my driveway,” he said.
But the move is going to end up costing him a lot more than that.
Guretzky, 69, who owns an aircraft-radio company in Queens, has already been hit with a summons from the Town of Hempstead Buildings Department that could run as high at $2,500.
The only way keeping a plane at home would be legal would be if he got a variance from the local zoning board.
“He doesn’t have a permit to do it,” said Rita Fisher, the Buildings Department’s deputy commissioner.
Guretzky was ticketed on July 22 — and Fisher said he could be hit with a summons each week the Cessna stays in his driveway.
Neighbors said he can’t get rid of it soon enough.
“It’s distracting and it’s an eyesore,’’ complained Deonna Ryder. “That can’t stay there forever. It needs to be in a place where planes are kept.”
Other residents on Yale Street got so fed up with the plane that they called police — but Guretzky claims officers said that what he is doing is perfectly legal.
The businessman brought the plane over from Republic in multiple trips.
First, he amputated the wings of the 24-foot-long, 38-foot-wide two-seater, and had the body driven on a flatbed truck to his home.
He then had the wings brought over on top of a van.
After a warning from the local Buildings Department, he thought reconstructing the plane would solve the issue.
“I called my mechanics and within eight hours, I had the wings back on the plane,’’ he said.
But the only legal solution is to remove the aircraft completely.
“If people can have their boats in their driveway, why can’t I have my plane?’’ Guretzky griped.
At least one resident of his block agreed.
“It doesn’t look good,’’ he said. “But a boat in the driveway is just as much of an eyesore.’’