As gentrification rips through NY and, more specifically, Brooklyn neighborhoods faster than we can count to ten, we notice a huge side effect of this aggressive movement - the number of cars coming into town with Sally from whichever suburb has surged tremendously.
I’ve been living in Brooklyn for 3 years now and, self-admittedly, I’m one of the people who brought their car with them. Only difference – I was moving from N. Philly. So, this was always ‘my thing,’ I guess. And, I literally travel to Philly once a week. So, a car is very necessary.
Now, when you look around the neighborhood, not only have the riders of the train changed shade over the last couple years, but there are also virtually no parking spots on the streets anymore. With street sweeping being such a nuisance, imagine entire sides of the street, for blocks on end, completely off limits for an hour and a half. It really doesn’t make sense, especially because the streets still look dirty once the trucks come plowing through. On my street, your car needs to be moved from 9a to 10:30a. On other streets, the time is 11a to 12:30p. My question is – who is home in the middle of the day to just move their car like that?
In the morning, you used to be able to pull up to an adjacent street, sit in your car, wait until the time elapsed, and then go back inside without having to wait the entire time for your own particular street. The problem now – when you walk outside to move your car to a side street, be prepared to roll up on 10 other eager beavers literally sitting in their cars, some with the radio on, some reading a book, others just sitting in what appears to be tired silence, all hogging the very spots you covet and, previously, scored with such ease.
So, regarding the base question – “To bring your car to NY or not,” the answer is no. Especially if you’re in Crown Heights, certain parts of Queens, or Manhattan, there just are so many no parking signs, Churches, driveways, and fire hydrants, that it virtually makes no sense. Don’t worry about shoveling your car out of snow mounds, car boots, tickets, towing, and the ridiculous potholes in the winter, if you don’t have to.
If it’s not needed, leave the car back in the suburbs where you came from. At least, it can sit comfortably in Mom and Dad’s driveway and you don’t have to wake up every day to move it or worry about the bus blasting through your rearview mirror in the middle of the night.
