Ellis: Cars in the ‘Hood

Nabe resident Walter Ellis writes about the Brooklyn Heights parking follies in his Belfast Telegraph column this week: 

Belfast Telegraphy: My Car-razy Neighbours: …The rest of the time, the car just sat there, taking up valuable parking space. Worse than that, every Tuesday I had to move the car to the 'alternate' side of the street so that one of those fat little trucks with a huge brush on the bottom could give the kerb a good sweep. Once the truck had passed, I and dozens of other car owners then had to sit for the next hour or hour and a half until it was legal once more for us to park on the 'normal' side. We kept our engines running. In the winter, we needed the heat, in the summer, air-conditioning was a must. We were tense and we were mean. At 09.30 precisely, joined by disappointed would-be parkers from the previous week and Manhattanites looking for free space, we would all rev up and screech across the tarmac, trying to fit our 110 vehicles into the space for 87. It was not a pretty sight. Those who missed out drove off disconsolately, like whipped curs. A few swore and argued. One or two got into fist-fights. But by 09.45, all was quiet again on Henry Street. I ask you. Is this a way to live? So, one day, my wife and I gave in. We sold our little Honda for $$5,000 cash and embarked on a life constructed entirely around Yellow Cabs and the New York Subway.  [Full story]

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