I have lived in New York City for over 20 years without a car. In that time, I have relied on subway, trains and planes to get around both locally and beyond. The last time I owned a car was in my early 20's while I was still living in Massachusetts. My parents are always a bit skeptical when I ask borrow their car when I'm visiting since my skills are a bit rusty since I rarely drive. It also makes me feel like I'm back in high school having to ask for permission and have the car back by a certain time.
This all changed a few weeks ago when we bought a car. What made us make this purchase now? It was a combination of things. The corona virus hit New York City hard and I realized that in the future I wanted a way to easily get out of the city on my own if another catastrophe were to happen. I'm also facing a summer with limited options for transportation and activities due to the corona virus. A car lets us explore beyond the few Brooklyn streets we've been seeing for months.
Owning a car in Brooklyn can be trying but I'm willing to put up with the challenges to reap the rewards. We don't have a driveway so we have to park on the street. We don't have the luxury of a garage when it rains or snows. New York City has alternate side parking which means you have to give up your great parking spot once a week and move your car so the street sweeper can go by.
Growing up in Massachusetts, my family always named our cars. It started back when I was a kid with a brown VW Bus we named Gus the Bus. More recently there was a little yellow sports car named Chiquita. And today my sister has Harry and before that she had Henry. And now we've added Jerry to the family. He's a Jeep Renegade. His nickname is Little Jerry after a Seinfeld episode. Cause of course everything is after a Seinfeld episode.
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