The $254.60 Lesson

It was quite a week! On Tuesday, I had an opening at the Soho Photo Gallery and on Thursday I attended a second galley opening, this time in the Chelsea District, where I had a single piece on display. Two NYC openings in a single week: pretty heady stuff!

Pride before the fall...

Additionally, while at the Chelsea show, I managed to make some really nice contacts: First, I met the juror, Ellen Denuto, a very talented photographic storyteller, who was generous and thoughtful in her appraisal of my pictures. And I also managed to meet a great shooter, Bob Demchuck , whose work I have admired for quite some time.

By the time the evening ended and I headed back to get my car and drive home I was feeling pretty damn good. Didn't anticipate the rude surprise that awaited me: No car!

When we had arrived at five for the six o'clock opening I had fully expected to park in a garage. There waiting for me, however, was an open parking spot along tenth avenue. There were other cars parked. There wasn't a single sign posted. While that area has no parking from 8:00 to 6:00, I figured what the hell: There's only an hour left, there's no sign, there's a bunch of other cars. Besides this was my week, two openings!

Not quite. I called 9-1-1. "My car's been stolen or towed," I told the operator. "You have to call 3-1-1," she told me. I called 3-1-1. "What's your license plate number?" the new operator asked. Shit, I thought, how the hell should I know. She connected me with the local police precinct. "My car's been stolen or towed," I said to the desk officer. "It's been towed," he said knowingly and without hesitation. "Go up to the tow pound on 38th."

So I hailed a cab and made it over to the pound. I won't bore you with all the details of what it's like to retrieve your car under these circumstances. Suffice it to say that the experience had sort of a Soviet-style efficiency attached to it, complete with a lot of gruff, humorless civil servants who complete the transaction and then drive you to your car.

For the privilege of having my car removed from the streets of New York it cost me $185. For the convenience of paying with a credit card the city thoughtfully added a courtesy fee of $4.60. Oh yes, when I was reunited with my vehicle there was a summons under the windshield wiper which informed me that the tow had taken place at 5:07pm, just moments after I had illegally parked, and that I owed the city another $65 for the sin of parking illegally. While I should have known better, after all I'm a native New Yorker, and I know I earned the parking ticket, did they really need to tow me?? (Now I know why the cop who told me it had been towed was so sure. It's standard procedure. Not to mention a rip-off!) This was a $254.60 lesson.

Yep, it was quite a week.