Anything to be done about parking hogs?

This is a really petty rant, but:

In front of my building there is enough space for two cars, bounded by a driveway on one side and a fire hydrant on the other. For the last few months, these spots have been dominated by one man who owns two SUVs. When he's driving one, he moves the other to the exact middle of the spot, so that there's no way to park on either side without either blocking the driveway or sitting right up against the fire hydrant; then on his return, he pulls in front of the hydrant, backs up his other SUV into the back spot, and then pulls the one he's been driving into the front spot.

This arrangement has allowed him to hold these spots for all but maybe four weeks out of the last six months or so; whatever his work status (he looks too young to be retired, but this is PS so who knows), he's always around on Monday to move his cars away for street cleaning and then move right back as soon as the sweeper has come through. To make matters worse, he gets back late every night (well past 11 usually), with his stereo blaring, and takes five minutes adjusting his two cars, one of which has an incredibly loud jingle that plays when it's backing up, ten feet from my bed.

Is there anything I can do about this, or is this just an example of the sort of jerk you have to live with if you choose to live in the city? Parking spots in PS aren't the easiest thing to come by, and it really gets on my nerves that someone can be this selfish and take spots away from everyone else (myself included).

Subject: Re: Anything to be done about parking hogs?

Astigmatism wrote: This is a really petty rant,

No Shit..

Astigmatism wrote: Is there anything I can do about this,

No

Astigmatism wrote: is this just an example of the sort of jerk you have to live with if you choose to live in the city?

Yes

Astigmatism wrote: Parking spots in PS aren't the easiest thing to come by,

No Shit.

Any other questions?

Hmmn.. unethical but not illegal as far as I can tell. And no, you can't do whatever else it is that comes to mind. Not a petty rant. Not at all.

From your perspective, this is really annoying and I understand you're frustration.

From the guy with two cars' perspective, genius.

Nothing illegal about what they are doing, not nice, selfish, etc. etc.. but nothing legally you can do about it. leave them a nice little note next time

One word: eggs

Subject: Re: Anything to be done about parking hogs?

Drunken Revival wrote: [quote=Astigmatism]This is a really petty rant,

No Shit..
Isn't that why we're all here?

Drunken Revival wrote: [quote=Astigmatism]Is there anything I can do about this,

No
Well, there's plenty you *could* do, but you don't want to end up with bad karma. Still, Pavlovian conditioning comes to mind.

Retag wrote: One word: eggs

You don't know how many times I've expressed this desire, but my wife always keeps it in check.

Also: keys. Also, banana in the tailpipe.

http://www.arizonatools.com/tools/tire-tools/detail/LTI950/?utm_source=googlebase&utm_medium=organic&utm_campaign=productfeeds

Less destructive and expensive than a knife to the tires. But very annoying none the less.

alot of times you always see douches with two parking spots. half way in front and half spot in back.

OH MY GOD!

it's the orange truck driving douche on 15th street!

dude pisses me off too since i live right around the corner

and yeah, not much that can be done legally....

if you feel up to it, buy a valve stem removal tool and when you use it, leave a nice note explaining why both his trucks have 4 flats.

Find a friend with a Smartcar to park in btwn him and the hydrant when he plays his little game. Or a cheap motorcycle. Or a pile of cinder blocks and some official looking orange cones.

I'm sure modsquad will have some other suggestions...he's probably handled this with a deftly mounted reciprocating saw in the past.

If there's always at least one car there, then this guy basically owns two cars for the express purpose of holding a parking spot. You tell me if a great parking spot is worth the extra forty thousand dollars.

Not a petty rant at all. Yeah a 3am visit to his "Fleet" with one of those valve stem tools would be great. Just have to do the 4 curbside wheels, so as to reduce being spotted while you commit the wildly illegal but completely satisfactory vandalism.

Or is there some sort of caustic material that you could put in a squeeze bottle so that you can just surreptiously squirt the cars while walking and ruin the paint on his cars? Or maybe diluted Krazy Glue in a spray form that'll harden and also ruin his paint job. (Wow I'm chock full of destructive tips).

It's such an old man complaint - but what this asshole w/ his two trucks is doing is so contrary to the basic rules of decency and civilty that he deserves all bad things to happen to him.

Oh, just thought of it, this is legal - if you know the prick's schedule just double park next to his cars when he's about to pull out. That way as soon as he leaves you grab the spot. He's sounds like big enough an asshole to bitch, but what's he going to do?

Subject: Re: Anything to be done about parking hogs?

Drunken Revival wrote: [quote=Astigmatism]This is a really petty rant,

No Shit..

Astigmatism wrote: Is there anything I can do about this,

No

Astigmatism wrote: is this just an example of the sort of jerk you have to live with if you choose to live in the city?

Yes

Astigmatism wrote: Parking spots in PS aren't the easiest thing to come by,

No Shit.

Any other questions?

lol

QFT

Also, cant blame him knowing how people LOVE to braille park.
Dont be jealous
Dont be hatin'

Retag wrote: One word: eggs

trust me...retaliation is not the way.
If I ever found out you hit my car with eggs, you would be regretting it big time.

How would I find out? Many ways.

As long as the guy isnt damaging anything, there is no reason to damage his property. And yes, eggs can damage a cars paint


If what you said was a joke, then forgot it (although i didnt see any smiley face or lol next to your statement)

hitokiri wrote: [quote=Retag]One word: eggs

trust me...retaliation is not the way.
If I ever found out you hit my car with eggs, you would be regretting it big time.

How would I find out? Many ways.

As long as the guy isnt damaging anything, there is no reason to damage his property. And yes, eggs can damage a cars paint


If what you said was a joke, then forgot it (although i didnt see any smiley face or lol next to your statement)

yep, damaging a car is not nice... on the other hand, removing valve cores doesn't do any permanent damage... and you can be nice and leave the valve cores on his hood so he even doesn't have to buy new ones

Well, it actually is illegal to reserve a parking space, which is what this guy is doing. It's far beyond just being a crappy parker or "accidentally" parking so another car can't fit.

I generally think the best solution is to be upfront and talk to the guy about it but people have been shot in this City over parking spaces, (among other ridiculous things) so maybe you should just leave a note on the car and explain to him in nice, polite, 4th grade level English why he is a douche.

If that doesn't work, pop out those valve cores. Make sure it's the night before ASP is up so he will get a ticket the following morning.

In addition, although technically illegal i doubt anyone would stop you. Get a can of white spraypaint - measure 15ft. from the hydrant and paint a line perpendicular to the curb. Paint another line a few inches from the driveway - just so the person w/ the driveway has a bit of leeway when pulling in and out - and then a third line exactly between those two thus creating the rudimentary outline of 2 parking spaces.
It will make it far more obvious that this guy is taking up two spaces when he parks straddling them.

vidro, only the OP can't paint that middle line b/c there is always a car there

I recommend gap filling glue in all of the locks. Especially the night before ASS.

It seems there's nothing too small that won't be cause for complaint. Look up the story about filling the jar up first with golf balls, then with gravel then with sand. You'll see what I mean.

Address two local problems at one time by picking up all that dog poop on the sidewalk and applying to parking hog's car door handles, windshield. etc. FDA has also approved for use on kids in bars, doublewides etc.

I love revenge fantasies!

I recommend buying a cheap locking blade knife and sticking it in the side of the tire. Leave it there so you've made a statement. Don't worry about making any noise, it won't make any. Just make sure the knife is left in the tire. At the very least he'll move his operation elsewhere. Locking blade is important so it doesn't fold up on you.
Yes I have and it works.

arches wrote: Find a friend with a Smartcar to park in btwn him and the hydrant when he plays his little game. Or a cheap motorcycle. Or a pile of cinder blocks and some official looking orange cones.

Voice of reason right there.

Hogging parking spots has to be my number one pet peeve. But please, please don't do something criminal like key his car or disable it just because you're annoyed. It makes my day when I see a Smartcar wedged in a little space that is left when someone tries to take up two spaces!

You're kidding, right? This guy would undoubtedly back up his SUV to push the tiny Smartcar into the hydrant zone, and laugh about it all afternoon...

vidro3 wrote: In addition, although technically illegal i doubt anyone would stop you. Get a can of white spraypaint - measure 15ft. from the hydrant and paint a line perpendicular to the curb. Paint another line a few inches from the driveway - just so the person w/ the driveway has a bit of leeway when pulling in and out - and then a third line exactly between those two thus creating the rudimentary outline of 2 parking spaces.
It will make it far more obvious that this guy is taking up two spaces when he parks straddling them.

And report the cars to 311 EVERY time he crosses the line.

Why don't you film this guy doing his little two car parking dance. Get the entire thing on video including a clear shot of his license plate and put it up on YouTube. If the guy asks you why you are filming, just be straight up and say that you think it is selfish that he takes up two spots and you want to share this with the world.

Of course, you could go up to him and have a conversation on the matter, but if that does not feel like an option to you, YouTube is certainly an option.

Carnivore wrote: I recommend gap filling glue in all of the locks. Especially the night before ASS.

see now THATS funny.

Unless the guy never uses a key and uses his remote like i do ;p
Actually, i dont even need to press a button. If im close enough to my car, touching the handle pops the locks ;p

Dealing with a person like that is like trying to fight terrorism - your decency is a poor match for his ruthlessness. His parking behavior is a good clue to his personality - alpha, invincible, entitled, ruthless.

You'll leave a note on his windshield - he'll throw a brick through your window. You'll try to talk to him; he'll punch you in the nose. You try to secure one of his half-spots; he'll take a bat to your windshield. You get him towed; he'll light your house on fire.

And invariably, when you crazy glue his locks or puncture his tires or key his car or leave a threatening note - you'll find yourself at the precinct house talking to sympathetic but duty-bound cops.