Battery Park City motorists would like this road hog to walk the plank.
But John McIntosh — aka the “Parking Pirate” — says he’s just trying to make some booty.
The 41-year-old homeless man has been living out of his junk-stuffed jalopy on spot-scarce Warren Street for over a decade, making ends meet by moving his car — for a price.
McIntosh says he pockets up to $100 a day hoarding his parking spot — and even takes payment by Venmo, under the name “Parkingpirate,” of course.
“I’ve been doing this probably at least 13 years,” McIntosh charmingly confessed to The Post. “It’s kind of a bad thing to let out of the bag. The police know about it and some people complain. I’m just a tiny, little bug in the grand scheme.”
The self-described “entrepreneur” said desperate drivers hunting for a spot approach his parked 2008 Toyota RAV4, and ask, “Are you moving?”
John McIntosh pockets up to $100 a day hoarding his parking spot on Warren Street near River Terrace — and takes payment by Venmo, under the name “Parkingpirate.” Helayne Seidman
Some local residents wondered if the loaded-down Toyota was an art project or protest against city rents and evictions. Helayne Seidman“For $1 dollar I will tell you if I’m moving,” he said. “But the spot is $20.”
He notes he used to charge $10, but “with inflation that couldn’t even buy guacamole at Whole Foods.”
McIntosh knows how to pick his spots.
“Battery Park City is really competitive for parking,” he said, explaining his parking super power. “You have to know before the person gets to the car [whether they are moving] because if you don’t, by the time they get in the car it’ll probably be too late.”
John McIntosh, a homeless “entrepreneur,” has been living out of his car on a parking-scarce street in Battery Park City for over a decade. Helayne SeidmanRecent customers include a construction worker with Pennsylvania plates who woke him up at 5 a.m. and a nearby resident who roused him on Thursday at 6 a.m. saying, “I need the spot in front of you and I will give you [money] if you move it back a little.”
McIntosh’s house-car is bursting with housewares, lamps, furniture and even an American flag — all stuff he finds on the street and sells. “I like the idea of finding little opportunities,” he said.
McIntosh charges $20 to motorists desperate for a parking space in Battery Park City. Helayne SeidmanThe upstate Scottsville native is guarded about his past and his living arrangements.
He claims he moved to the city in 2007 and for a time had an apartment on the Upper East Side. He doesn’t consider himself homeless.
“I just like to keep an eye on my stuff,” he said. “I could go to other people’s places, but I like to be free on my own.”
Passersby marvel at the eyesore, which some fear is dangerous. Helayne SeidmanMcIntosh used to ply his parking piracy on the south side of Battery Park City but “these really nasty people slashed my tires one time.”
“It’s not the most pleasant thing if you live in this neighborhood,” said Efrem Jenkins, 54, said of teh towering Toyota of trash.
AJ Kucukzetin, 45, said it “seems dangerous.”
![“I like the idea of finding little opportunities [to make a buck],” McIntosh noted. Helayne Seidman](https://nypost.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/06/NYPICHPDPICT000013060211.jpg?w=1024)
“I like the idea of finding little opportunities [to make a buck],” McIntosh noted. Helayne SeidmanOne angry denizen fumed to the local paper, the Tribeca Citizen: “It’s a nuisance, wrong, an eyesore and needs to be stopped!”
McIntosh, shrugging off the critics, has big plans.
“I want to run for office — on the parking platform,” he laughed.
