Snowpocalypse 2010

The one thing I dread about owning a car is what happens when it snows. The roads get messy and slippery and my car likes to pretend it is ice skating and then my knuckles go white as I grind my teeth and think of selling my car.

New York City got hit with a huge blizzard that covered the roads giving me a “snow day” from work. Well, sorta. I still had to work from home and as I looked out the window of my building at the snow covered cars and drifts next to them, the realization of the other job I had to do sunk in.

I had to dig out my car and it was plowed in. I got myself bundled up and went out side with a friend who was nice enough to undertake the dreaded task with me. When I got to my car, I found this.


Ugh. This was going to take a while. I started to dig with my plastic blue expandable shovel. The pile of snow on the side of the road was getting a bit bigger but I still was not through the wall of snow between the clear road and the car. We took turns heaving the snow when my friend realized the handle was popping apart from the shovel. We would need to find another one. So off he went to see if any store wasn’t sold out. I keep shoveling until the handle snapped and I was left with just the scoop.

He came back without a shovel and we had to go trek through the snow to find a store that still had shovels in stock. The small hardware store close by had two choices left a huge wide shovel or a large garden shovel. I figured the garden one would fit in my truck. $25 later I was back to digging.

After about 20 minutes, a man arrived and started to dig out his car, which was in front of mine. He had no gloves and was doing a very bad job. He was complaining as we continued to dig. Then he came up with a plan. If he helped to widen the space we were digging, I could move my car out and he could back his car out of the space and move mine back in.

It seemed like a good idea with less digging for me. Another guy asked if we wanted help and he said we did and he would pay him. I stood back and watched the space get bigger and bigger until my car could fit through. I was able to get it out without much of a problem. Then the other guy had to move his car in reverse, which proved to be a bigger problem since he hadn’t shoveled any of the snow away from his tires.

Once his car was out he got a phone called and wandered away leaving me to try to maneuver my car back into the spot. The other guy was telling me how to turn my wheel and how to get my car back in for about 10 minutes. Until he told me he doesn’t drive so has not idea what he was saying. Thanks, dude. Then the other car guy came back and apologized casue he was on the phone with his friend who was in jail. What did I expect parking on the Spanish Harlem border?

With the combination of pounding on the gas in reverse with 3 guys pushing on the hood of my car, the Camry was back in its spot. The guy paid the other guy $20 even though all he asked for was $11. How freaking weird is that?



Two days later, she is still there because I fear if I drive to work when I come back to the city there will be no parking spots at all.

Don't oversleep in NYC...

Owning a car in NYC means that oversleeping could come with a hefty monetary punishment. Last week, I overslept for the first time in 3 years. I opened my eyes and nearly screamed when I saw the clock read 9:29. I had to be at work by 9:30 but most importantly alternative side parking was in effect and I had parked in a stop that had to be vacated by 9:30 on Tuesday morning. I quickly checked the website http://isalternatesideparkingineffect.com/ just in case it was some holiday I had never heard of and the street cleaning rules were not in effect today. Nope, I had to move my car. I tossed on a pair of pants and a shirt, grabbed my car keys and ran into my hallway. After punching the down button 10 times, the elevator finally came and I was off. Now I do love biking but running and I do not get along. My asthma flairs up and I am left gasping for breathe after 1 block.

My car was three blocks away from my apartment and the fear of a parking ticket propelled me down the street. As I was running I remembered that along with a ticket, my car could be permanently defaced with this sticker...



I had seen these on many cars in the neighborhood and the thought of having to scrape at the bright yellow sticker for hours gave me chills. I arrived at my car at 9:39 to find it completely alone on the side of the street. The last car parked, the only target for a traffic cop or worse an angry sanitation worker.

I scanned the windshield and the side windows and relaxed. I had made it and there was no ticket in sight. I got very lucky. My building has a circle in front where you can leave your car for 10 minutes. You give the doorman your keys and run upstairs to drop something or or in my case get dressed for work! I ran a brush through my hair and teeth and I was to NJ a little late but happy that I owed no money to NYC!

Double parked- in

Alternate side parking is a bitch. Having to think everyday about where you parked the car and having to move it for street cleaning is just awful. Luckily, I have to move my car before the street cleaning rules go into effect so I can get to work. I found that a few streets above my apartment the parking rules are a bit different and I don’t have to move my car until 9:30.

Yesterday, I went to go get my car and noticed that on this one particular street people were doubled parked against the side of the street where the cars did not have to move that day. I believe the police do not frequent this block as I have seen this happen before. Unfortunately for me, I had parked the night before on that side and a car had chose to double-park and block me in. I wouldn’t dream of leaving my double-parked car unattended but this person did not care. My head was starting to explode when I saw there was another person double-parked behind the offending car. That man chose to stay with his vehicle so I thought maybe he would have seen where the person went who left their car next to mine. I asked him but he had no idea. So I walked back to my car to think what my next steps would be.

The person had parked their car about halfway up on the side of my car so there was some room but I was not sure I could maneuver it out of the spot alone. I have great parking skills but didn’t feel like testing them when I was angry. I walked back over to the man in the parked car and asked for his help directing me out of the spot. He said he would and at the same time a man was walking down the sidewalk offered his advice.

“Just turn the wheel and jump the curb and you can get out of the spot.”

I was not going to “jump the curb” in my low to the ground Camry and risk damaging the bottom of my car but thanks for your helpful advice mister.

The other man stood next to my car and directed me back and worth allowing me to get dangerously close to the double parked car without hitting it. After about 30 turns of the steering wheel, I was free! I thanked the man and off I went to work.

Hit on while driving…

I was pulling my car out of a spot this morning when a man in the car next to me motioned for me to open my window. I thought he was going to ask me if I was moving my car as so many people do in the morning. You see, a parking spot on the correct side of the street is more exciting than free ice cream. So as I opened the window I said “Yep, getting out.”

Well it turned out he didn’t want a parking spot. He wanted me. This guy was in his 40’s and had his Blue tooth dangling from his ear. He said “Hey, whatcha up to girl?” With my finger on the window button, I replied, “Going to work”. The window started slowly moving up when he said, “I wish I was your job. Don’t go to work girl. Let’s play hooky.”
I rolled my eyes thinking that no one really uses lines like that. I looked up at the traffic light begging it to change to green before this creep could say anything else. The window closed as I heard, “Come on baby it would be fun.”

The light changed and I made my left turn only to have to stop at the red light. I made the mistake of looking to my right where the guy was sitting stopped at the light too. He started talking and I rolled down the window all prepared to say something witty and obnoxious. Before I could bitch him out he said, “I’d love to take you home with me.”

So at this point I said, "Sorry, I have a boyfriend“ and was about to drive off when I heard “I can be your other boyfriend, baby.” Luckily, the light changed and I slammed on my gas to get away from this line-spewing weirdo.

Ugh this all happened before 9:30am. I felt like I needed a shower. Icky!!

My car wont be a movie star..

Some gentle nudging from a friend has prompted me to start the blog again. So here goes…


Last night, I parked my car on one of my normal streets and saw a yellow sign attached to the pole by my car. Mid-parallel park, I jumped out of my car with my door hanging open to read the sign. It was a big NO PARKING for Tuesday night through Wednesday, great. They were shooting some movie. What an amazing location for a movie, the construction vehicles for the second ave subway project are lurking at the bottom of the street and the mosque is chilling across the street. Well at least I was safe for that night. I pulled into the spot and went home.

This morning I decided to plug myself into my I-Pod while I walked to two blocks to my car. I have been unable to stop listening to my fun mix of random music lately. When I got to my car, I noticed a man standing next to my car talking on his cell phone. My car had an orange cone on each side of it. The guy motioned to me asking if that was my car. I popped my headphones out of my ears and said yep. I asked him what movie they were shooting and he told me Messiah of Darkness (or Dark Messiah? I can’t remember). So as I attempted to pull out of the spot be moved the cones from around my car and directed me like I was some important celebrity! When in reality he wanted me to move the green Toyota so he could put a big filming truck in my spot.

Wish me luck finding parking tonight.

How I hate you NYPD.. let me count the ways!

This morning I went to my car to go to work but when I arrived at the street where I left it, it was closed off and the cars were gone! I asked the police officer where my car was and they said they "relocated" them. Great. He couldn't get the guy with the list on the phone, so I had to walk an avenue to a police van. The police officer then asked for my car make and color and license plate number and said to me, "It's in Brooklyn." I blurted out "Are you serious?" He said "No". What an ass!

My car was relocated on 2nd Ave where I had just come from. I walked down the street and found that my car was parked and left in a spot... next to a fire hydrant! The cops towed my car to an illegal spot. So then at 7:35 am a nice cop came along and wrote me a nice $110 ticket. Fabulous.

I was fuming and should have gone and yelled at the cop in the car that the NYPD is evil and made me get a ticket when they moved my car after only posting a sign on a Sunday when i didn't have to move my car till Monday!!!

I wrote a nice long letter explaining why I am not paying them any money.

I just hope I don't have to go to court to fight it.

Car adventures are tons of fun!

Here comes the parade... there goes the car!

A few weeks ago on a Saturday morning, I went to go out to my car to drive to LI. When I arrived on the street where I left my car, I found people dressed in costumes and huge floats in the middle. So where was my car? Well in the spot where I left it was a float from the My Lady of Grace church! So I ran into the street and screamed at a cop, "Did you tow my car???" After explaining to me that it was towed but not to the impound lot and that I wouldn't have to pay to free it, she directed me over to a sign. The sign had the phone number of the local precinct. I called and over the loud music of the parade gave him the make and model of my car as well as the license plate number. He told me that they towed about 200 cars to all different places in the surrounding area. My car had been "relocated" by a tow truck to one street over. He gave me the apartment number that was closest to my car and I was off on a hunt. So climbed up the hill and did not find my car. I was hot, sweaty and mad at this point and about to call the police back when I noticed my car across the street parked next to a fire hydrant.

I was about to freak out that they moved my car to where it could get ticketed when I saw a yellow sticker attached to my windshield. The sticker said that my car was relocated and to not ticket it for 48 hours. Good thing I had to move it or it could have disappeared!

Well all was good but I don't like that my car can me moved without any notice. Put a sign up a few days before so I have fair warning. At least I didn't have to pay!

Hold my spot please!

Here's another adventure in parking to smile about:

As I was scouting out a place to leave my car for the night, I saw a woman get into her car that was parked right on the corner close to my building. I slowed down and asked out the window if she was leaving. With a nod of her head, I pulled up next to the car in front of hers while I waited for traffic to pass so she could pull out. Just then a huge Mack truck honked the honk, startling me. He started gesturing wildly telling me that he could not fit through with my car there. I moved my car to the other side of the block and illegally pulled in front of a hydrant. The truck passed and the woman had not pulled out of the spot yet but there was no way for me to back up in order to take the spot, there was just too many other cars driving up the street. So I reluctantly drove away from my parking spot and around the block to search for another open space. The traffic inched and I sat at the light for 3 changes.

As I pulled back around to the block, I figured maybe just maybe no one will have taken the spot yet and I will be able to pull in. So I pulled up to the area and saw that a car was in my spot. On closer inspection it was the same lady... she hadn’t left the spot yet! She opened her window and said, “Let’s do this!” I smiled and pulled up in front of her. She expertly pulled out halfway and said “Take your time.” I wiggled behind her car and she pulled into the street so to block anyone from coming around the corner to take my spot!

I pulled in and waved and thanked her as she pulled away. What a fantastically sweet and nice lady!! Only in NYC ☺

It's a small world!

Two days ago I was driving up my usual parking streets when I saw a spot and got into attack mode (aka ready to parallel park). As I went to pull in the car in front of me went to take the spot, luckily the space was big enough for two cars. So I pulled up next to the car that had just pulled in and looked over at the driver who was none other than a friend of mine, Keira (named changed)!

We both opened our windows exclaimed our excitement at seeing each other. I finished parking then we both caught up. She used to have her car in a garage (lucky!) but moved and now has to park on the street. We are both fighting for spots everyday :)

We parted ways and her car was gone in the morning.

The next day I was driving home from work and saw a number on my phone I didnt know but i picked up. It was Kiera! She had gotten a parking spot and there was one right behind her! She was holding it for me. Luckily I was a few blocks away and got there, honked and she moved up with enough room for me to slip my car in. How cool!

Parking in NYC is a fun adventure!

Missing: 1 green Toyota Camry

I park my car on the street every night but this morning when I went to go to work, my car was not where I left it! Start of a mini heart attack! In my car’s place were some orange cones and some helpful (yet quasi-evil) construction workers. I made sure my car was not in a different place as I could have just forgotten where I had parked it (It does live in a different spot every night). The green Camry was definitely missing. Then I saw a tow truck. Oh no! I had to get to work where was my car? I ran over to the construction worker and screamed, “umm where’s my car??” He politely asked what kind of car was it and then informed me they were moving cars down the street.

I had seen signs about construction the night before but it was on the opposite side of the street. So I thought since there was no signage on the other side it was safe to park there. Nope. The construction worker said they put up the signs late last night. Really smart! I was fuming as I walked down the street and found my pretty little car on the opposite side perfectly placed hugging the curb. They were playing musical cars! A big SUV was being towed down the street as I pulled out.

I feel like it can’t be legal to just pick up cars and move them wherever they want to. Oh NYC I do love you but quit the silly games!

I gave my car a mini lecture on not letting anyone (even a big machine) push him around and pick him up. He is to stay where I leave him no matter what. I think he understands now ☺

Thanks Cabbie!

Last night as I attempted to find a parking spot on my favorite street, I saw two cars that seemed to be pulling out, score! I quickly revered down the street and found that one of the cars was pulling out while the other (which was a cab) was pulling in. The cabbie was fully parked and he stepped out of his car. I was backing up into my spot when I realized that there was almost enough room to park but the tush of my car would be hanging out into the driveway of a parking garage. While I was not sure this was a ticketable offense, I was afraid that my car would be hit. The cabbie started to walk away and turned and said "Are you parking there?"
I replied "Yes, but I don't think I will fit."

At this point, he jumped back into his cab, turned it on and with his foot out of the car and the door open he moved his car up a few inches giving me enough room to fit. Before I could even say thank you, he was back on the sidewalk and off to his destination.

50 cents

Today I had to park much further downtown than I usually do today at an earlier time. I have not memorized the signs and where the pumps are in this area so finding a spot was a challenge. I finally found a spot and then saw a meter in front of it. I was running late so I parked and then walked to the middle of the block to see what the sign said. I found out the meter runs until 7pm and it was currently 6pm. Just then another car pulled in behind me and I asked (just to make sure) that I had to feed the meter till 7. The man confirmed this for me.

So then I walked over to the meter which told me my quarter would get me 10 minutes of parking time. I am really bad with math but figured out that i would need 6 quarters to get me to the time when the meters shut off. I started to dig around my purse and pulled out 4 quarters. Then I climbed halfway back into my car to look in my work bag. There were none in there. So I started to l look around the car and was about to give up and go across the street to get some when the man who was parked behind me came over from in front of my car and said, "Looks like you are searching for more quarters. Here. "

He had gone over to the meter and saw that I needed two more quarters and gave me them. I was speechless. I stammered a thank you and then he was gone.

I really love this city and the people in it :)

(I felt like I was in that commercial where people pass along a good deed and it follows the good deed from the start. I will be passing along his generosity as soon as I can.)

The Parking (sweet) Spot

I have not struggled with parking for the last 2 weeks. Yep, this is coming from the same girl who drove around for an entire hour without finding on single parking spot. I have found a secret street to park on where I get a parking spot almost every night. Sometimes I don't even have to parallel park!

It is 1 block from my apartment and I don't have to move my car until 9:30 am the next morning. All of the other parking spots in the city have to be moved by 9am on alternating days. No, I can't tell you where it is because I want it to remain a secret. But it is pretty fabulous.

The word fabulous is a bit deceiving. I am parking on a street with a large group of housing projects on one side and a huge ass mosque on the other. Yeah, think about it. There could be gang fights and terrorists in front of my car in the middle of the night. Hmmm yeah not the best area but I have no fear!

It is actually pretty safe don't worry about me. I leave my car when it's dinner time and don't retrieve it until a little after 9 in the morning. It exciting to know that when I get off the highway I am actually almost home and don't have to drive in circles doing the parking dance.

If only I could figure out a way to surpass that darn toll everyday...

Sweet Garbage..man

While the never ending battle to find parking every night continues, so do the stories.

A few nights ago I was circling and saw a car pulling out of a spot. I got into the correct position in front of the car so that no one else would try to zoom in and steal my space. I felt excited as a began to pull backwards. I looked in my rear view mirror only to find a garbage truck waiting to pass me to continue swallowing the refuse of the city. Panic set in and I got all nervous that I would not be able to park in one try and that would lead to horn honking and anger from the other cars behind the truck. The garbage men had jumped off their truck at this point and one of them said to me, "You can do it! I know you can!" I expressed a bit of fear with my face which he noticed and then he began to instruct me. "Turn your wheel to the right, now the left. Pull up. Ok stop. Back up and yes! you did it!" I was smiling at this point. A garbageman had helped me parallel park! I thanked him as he was heaving a bag into the gaping mouth of the truck. He smiled told me to have a great night and went on down the street.

I love NYC :)