Alternate Side Of The Street Parking Is In Full Effect Sukka.

For the past two and a half weeks the wife has been working the night shift at a hospital that couldn't be further from our apartment. The neighborhood it's located in, Inwood, isn't bad at all. But at night, the subway station she exits isn't well lit and there are no people around at all. She's basically in her own little scene from The Warriors, minus the bitchin' vest and facial paint, though she does wear the skates.

A cab to 225th and Broadway will run you about 20 bucks plus tip. For 18 days, that's hundreds of dollars. I'm sure you would agree with me that personal comfort is certainly worth that. After some brainstorming and pretty much a suggestion from my mom, we borrowed the parents car to shuttle my wife to the hospital each night.

The round trip is only 25 minutes when there is no traffic. It's pretty much a straight shot. However, due to a little thing called 'alternate side of the street parking', that quick magical trip can be as long as 90 minutes.

While I understand that street cleaning is a vital part of a cities infrastructure, and flinging trash into the middle of the street via spinning brushes aides in the beautification of the city, I can't imagine that every block is getting the treatment twice a week.

I think that in the tenure of my life in the city I have seen 3 street sweepers, and they were parked.

Finding a spot is like looking for water in the desert. It exists, but only as fleeting glimpses and periferal oasis'. As you careen down the street, dangeriously pausing at each hydrant with hopeful eyes, the fear of needing to pull into a garage takes over. But with persistance and absolutely nothing better to do you can win the day.

I've been lucky some nights, others, not so much. More often then not, I've had to move the car the next morning for street cleaning.

Typically people sit in their cars during the street cleaning hours to keep the spot. Again, that's fine if you have absolutely nothing better to do. The hours are like between 11:00 and 12:30 PM for instance. Let me ask you, what are you doing during that time? I mean, I'm at my f#$king job. So there are hundreds, possibly thousands of people sitting in their cars during the middle of the day holding a spot. Wouldn't you love to know what they do for a living?

I hope it's car-sitting/crossword puzzle professionals.

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