Parking battle heats up on Liebig Ave.

By Megan James

Only a year and a half since Judge John Collins assured his neighbors he would retire the sawhorses and trashcans he used to reserve a parking spot directly in front of his Liebig Avenue home, neighbors say he is at it again.

But this time, Mr. Collins isn’t the only one on the block unfairly laying claim to a parking spot. Residents of a brown house on the northeast corner of Liebig Avenue and West 261st Street have gone a step further, posting a “No Parking” sign on the fence outside their house and driving a commercial van up over the curb each night to park it beside their back door.

Neighbors say they have had enough.

“The people around here think it’s just too much,” said one neighbor who wished to remain anonymous. “It’s a little more blatant than what Judge Collins did.”

The situation is also a little more complicated. According to neighbors, the current residents moved into the house early this summer, but the former owner retained an adjacent lot with a cut curb that could have been used for parking.

The new residents were left with a patio-like area, enclosed with a gate along Liebig Avenue, but no driveway. With no option but street parking, the new residents began parking their van and Jeep in the adjacent lot. But the former owner swiftly responded, setting up a barricade of flowerpots across the entrance. So the new residents, neighbors say, jump the curb each night and park on the patio.

To complicate the situation further, the house is currently for sale by John Edwards Real Estate, Inc. According to Mr. Edwards, the house has been vacant for at least two weeks, but neighbors insist they have seen lights on in the windows and air conditioners blowing at night.

A few weeks ago, Liebig Avenue residents were surprised to see a black and orange “No Parking” sign on their new neighbor’s gate and an orange cone plunked in the center of the sidewalk. Every day, they noticed, a Jeep would hold the street space in front of the cone, and every night, the residents would move the Jeep and the cone, drive their van over the curb onto the patio area and replace the Jeep and cone.

Neighbors are perplexed — and more than anything, frustrated on principle — because they say, “There’s always parking around here.”

But that hasn’t stopped Mr. Collins from pulling out the garbage cans again.

He explained last year that he reserved the parking spot because his wife suffers from arthritis and it was helpful to have the car on hand when her condition flares up. When confronted by The Riverdale Press, he said he was surprised to hear that neighbors were annoyed — none of them had addressed him directly — and assured them he would stop.

But neighbors now say the garbage cans are back, this time filled with cement blocks and topped with a note that says, “Private property. Don’t touch.”

One neighbor said she recently knocked on Mr. Collins’ door to confront him on the issue, and when she asked why he needed to reserve the spot, he cited security reasons.

Mr. Collins has an unlisted phone number and was unavailable when The Press tried calling him at work and knocking on his door.

“I think he’s abusing his power,” the neighbor said.

Liebig Avenue residents said they don’t want to cause rifts in the neighborhood, but finding parking on the street is something they all have to deal with.

“We all abide by rules and regulations,” one neighbor said. “Fair is fair.”

This is part of the September 18, 2008 online edition of The Riverdale Press.

Have an opinion on this matter? We'd like to hear from you. Click here.