Yesterday's NY Times spotlight on the illegal practice of privatizing a public parking space in front of an apartment building sparked a chorus of sympathetic outrage from irate drivers, but not a peep from the maligned doormen doubling as parking bouncers. We checked in with BrickUnderground's anonymous doorman, who portrays doormen as reluctant enforcers rather than tip-hungry heavies. "The problem, like many building issues, is that boards, residents, and managing agents all want to implement rules and regulations and all kinds of stuff, but rarely do they take into consideration the feelings of the doormen or staff who eventually have to enforce the rules," says Openthedoor-man. "In the case of the parking, the spot is a legal one. Who am I to tell someone trying to park not to? Lord knows the many times I have tried to hold a spot for a resident and I end up getting into an argument with someone else over it." Indeed, as one commenter on the CityRoom blog notes, "The lucky doormen are those with fire hydrants directly in front of their building." (NY Times)
