Carmen writes on the Park Slope message board at Brooklynian.com: “Ok. I get it. Owning a car in nyc is not only an exercise in patience, but also means that you need to deal with the fact that you’re car is going to get destroyed parking it on the street …
So I’m sitting in my car, parked, today waiting for alternate side parking to end … I see minivan pull up beside the car in front of me (sort of) and I realize she’s going to try to wedge into the spot left in front of me (very tight.) She proceeds to try about 4 times to just back straight into the spot, then appears to give up, and not only hops up on the curb, but then hits my car about 5 times WHILE I’M SITTING IN IT and she’s trying to park. Basically, it was bumper cars between be and the car she was pulling behind. I mean, this was enough force to actually slide my car backwards a slight amount.
So I get out and throw up my hands like “wtf” and the woman just looks at me and goes “Oh I’m no good at parking this big van” as she walks away. I was so outraged that I didn’t respond. A large part of me would love to go back and call the cops but I know they’re not going to do anything since this seems to be common practice but seriously- would you try to park like that when the owner of the other vehicle is SITTING IN IT?!”
While some bumper tapping is to be expected, I always make it a point to refrain from making contact if the car behind me is occupied. I would have been laying on the horn as she was manuvering in this case. I had a good one where a woman in an explorer backed right into me. I got out and said, “there’s plenty of room behind me, I would have been more than happy to back up if I knew you were trying to get out.”