NYC woman turns alternate side parking headache into lucrative business

Car sitting becomes lucrative business: Here's how it works

FOX 5 NY's Meredith Gorman has the details.

NEW YORK CITY - If you own a car and live in New York City, you know the alternate side of the street parking rules all too well. But now a woman is turning that headache into a lucrative side hustle.

‘Are you the car sitter’?

What they're saying:

"I recently got laid off, so I decided to move to New York and I needed to bring my car with me, reluctantly, because I had one year left on my lease, I couldn't turn it back in," Sydney Charlet said. "So, I was like, I guess I'm bringing my car to New York City, which makes no sense and I didn't want to pay for like a garage spot. So, I heard from people that you, actually people sit in their cars during street sweeping, don't move their cars unless the street sweeper comes by."

Sydney posted a video on social media advertising her business idea of sitting in cars for those who can't do so during alternate side parking hours.

"So, essentially, people text my number, which is like a business number and I, the first question they usually ask me is, is this real?" Sydney said. "Is the car, are you the car sitter? And I say yes. I'm like, where are you located? And they tell me where."

Sydney says the price is always cheaper than a $65 ticket. Her new business, which is just three weeks old, has already been taking off. 

How does the process work?

Dig deeper:

Sydney says she coordinates a key handoff, which is usually with the doorman. She then takes a video of the vehicle before she gets in, and then once she gets out to document everything. She says many of her customers are repeats.

"The people I'm doing today, this car and a car I did this morning, I'm doing again on Monday and funny enough, I just had someone text me saying, ‘oh shoot, I forgot to schedule you today.’ I just got a ticket, I’m going to text you every Sunday from now on to let you know where I am," Sydney said.