police called over snow-shovelled "reserved" parking space incident on Thomas St NW

From a resident on the 100 block of Thomas Street NW:

After reading so many wonderful reports of neighbors acting in a neighborly way throughout the last few weeks, I have an unfortunate (unneighborly) incident to report. On Saturday morning, my husband walked out to our car to find that it had been vandalized.

A neighbor living at xxx Thomas Street NW [near Thomas & 1st Street NW] wrote in some type of black marker all over the driver's side window of our car (I won't repeat the cursing on our window).

Not only did this neighbor admit to vandalizing our car, he continued to yell at us when asked to confirm whether he did this and freely admitted the action to the police when called. He even went as far as talking about how great all the neighbors had been during the storm and using that as an excuse to vandalize our property (ironic considering we had writing all over our car window from him).

The neighbor (although I hate to even call him that) accused us of parking in "his spot." I would like to point out that while I understand that he may have put in time shoveling out "his spot," so did we (and "our spot" has been filled since we first moved our car) and many of our other neighbors (who have also returned to first come first serve parking for the same reasons).

I'd also like to note, that not only was Thomas Street continually plowed during the storm, that as of the end of last week, the only snow restricted space on Thomas Street was the entrance way to the alley, the no parking space in front of the fire hydrant and the handicapped spot. The snow has not been a problem for parking in several days.

My note to you - Beware of parking anywhere near xxx Thomas Street.


The residents of xxx Thomas Street NW didn't bother to introduce themselves (not surprisingly). We did call the police and filed a report, but I don't believe an arrest was made. The police stopped came by about an hour after we made the report, but the marker the guys had since gotten the marker (or whatever it was) mostly off the glass. The police noted that they needed to see the window to take any further action.

It seems like such a silly matter but the fact that we had to deal with this from neighbors (grown adults too) is still a bit shocking to me.

snow parking wars

See this 2/17/2010 Email received from a 1st Street NW resident:

I know there has been a lot of debate on the issue. I just wanted to send you this photo as evidence that the parking wars are still going on. I personally think it is a little ridiculous people are still doing this. I would have been marginally more understanding last week, but there is no need for it this week, as much of the snow is/has been removed.

I found this sign on the unit block of V Street NW today.

"reserving" cleaned street parking spaces

This message is from a 1st Street NW resident.

(Try to be nice when commenting.)

1st is a PUBLIC STREET with PUBLIC PARKING, not Private Concierge Servce

I have witnessed on several occasions over the last few days of people "reserving" their cleaned parking space along 1st street, as if they have some sense of entitlement to a specific parking space. In one case, a new resident on V street pulled his car into a cleaned spot on 1st street, did more shoveling about it and then proceeded to "reserve" HIS spot with 2 wooden chairs when he was away.

I also saw a resident of 1st street come home, kindly remove those chairs and parked in the available PUBLIC PARKING SPACE.

Sadly, the V street resident, upon returning home many hours later, felt betrayed and began shoveling snow and ice upon the parked car. A Vengeful act of unkindness based upon a false premise of entitlement.

Everyone, you do NOT own a sparking space on first street or any street, even if you spent an hour digging your car out of one. There is not enough space on first street to park and really, I think if anyone has any level of entitlement, it may likely be those who pay to live on first street...a right to park near their home.

Sure, anyone can park there and everyone is welcome to park anywhere they find a space, BUT we do not have private spots, reserved spots, or metered spots. If you want your private spot, I suggest you buy a home with offstreet parking or find an offstreet spot to rent.

In all the kind neighborly news, it is really sad to see people putting chairs and white plastic boxes, and other things in spaces to reserve for them hours later. It is even sadder to see people trashing other peoples cars because they parked on a public street in a free spot that is open to anyone.

Treat your neighbors with respect. Parking is first come, first serve. If you don't want to lose your hot spot, then walk or take the metro or taxi and leave your car there. If you move your car, the space is no longer yours. And perhaps a visit from the police department for throwing ice and snow on someone else's car will make you think before you do that again, too.

helping elderly neighbors with snow shoveling, etc.

See this 2/10/2010 message from an Eckington resident on the unit block of R Street NE:

As this snow gets deeper, I am of course worried about my elderly neighbors on R Street NE in Eckington. Reasoning through it, I know that two of my elderly neighbors both live with their children, so their children will help. My neighbor immediately next door is an elderly widow who lives alone. Though she does have family in the neighborhood, we are checking on her/assisting with shoveling as needed and possible.

Could you send out a note to the list to ask everyone to do the same thing, i.e. make a mental note of their elderly neighbors, what their resources are (family wise), and go over to check on them and assist with shoveling as needed? After so many days of snow, some of them may be beginning to run out of staples and/or medications. Even if they are just fine, I'm sure they will appreciate a friendly face--and it never hurts to ask
if someone could use a little help--especially since a lot of people probably have time on their hands!