If you’ve spent some time in Troy, you know that the winters here can be cold, miserable, and full of snow. This winter has been particularly brutal, with over five feet of snow on the ground. For the most part, the cleanup has been less than spectacular in the city, and it has had a tremendous impact on parking, particularly in some of the residential areas, such as where I live in the south end of the city.
After returning home one day, I found something very rare—an open parking spot in front of my apartment, not even blocked by garbage cans. Naturally, I parked there and thought nothing of it.
About an hour or two later, my doorbell rang. I wasn’t expecting visitors with another snowstorm coming in. When I went to answer the door, I found a gentleman—a term I use loosely. The man pointed to my car and asked if I knew who owned it. I replied that it was mine.
I informed the man that I had spoken to officers in the Troy Police Department, and that they had told me that the laws that permitted residents to reserve parking spots with garbage cans had been repealed three years ago, and that parking on the street was fair game.
The man didn’t seem to care, and he demanded that I immediately move my car or else he would have it towed. When I reminded him that the law was on my side, he threatened to slash my tires, which I suggested might not be such a good idea, seeing as I knew that he lived next door. Naturally, my neighbor began to hit the side of my car with a snow shovel, something that is apparently a customary way to ask another to move his or her car in South Troy.
At this point, I called the police, and an officer was dispatched to my block. Meanwhile, my neighbor got bored with hitting my car, so he began piling snow on top of it. After that lost its entertainment value, he began hitting my doorbell with the shovel until it broke, at which point he threw the shovel at my car. Later on, when I went outside again, he actually tried to attack me, though without success, as I slammed the door in his face.
Finally, about half an hour after the whole ordeal began, an officer showed up. My neighbor saw him first, and immediately went into a spiel about how he’s lived in that building since he was a kid, and how my roommate and I just came in and threw parking into chaos on the block. He then accused me of being a bad neighbor for not moving my car. When I reminded the officer that my car had just been hit repeatedly with a snow shovel, all he did was tell my neighbor “don’t hit cars with shovels.”
Afterward, the officer told my neighbor that he couldn’t make me move my car, and he couldn’t ticket me or have my car towed, but he said that he wouldn’t leave until there was a “peaceful resolution,” at which point they both insisted that I “be a good neighbor” and move my car. Not only that, but the officer refused to give me a report, and when I called the police station afterwards, they wouldn’t help me either.
This whole incident has left a sour taste for me. I’ve been harassed and attacked by my neighbor and damage has been done to my car. I tried to take the high road and work within the law, but in the end the law stabbed me in the back, and no one with any power to help me seems to really care about my situation. It would seem that’s what happens when you rent your apartment and have a sticker that says “RPI” on the back of your car.
