You’ve heard of cat sitting, dog sitting, even house sitting. But car sitting? That’s a new one. Meet 29-year-old Sydney Charlet, who went viral on TikTok after sharing her unconventional NYC side hustle: “car sitting,” a clever solution to one of NYC’s most frustrating laws–alternate side parking.
The idea came after Charlet was laid off from her West Coast job and made the move to NYC. “I heard from people that they just sit in their cars during street sweeping and don’t move unless the sweepers come by,” she told Fox 5 New York. And just like that, a business was born.
Here’s how it works: drivers text Charlet’s business line with their location and vehicle details. She typically picks up the keys from a building’s doorman and takes it from there. To keep things transparent professional, she films the inside and outside of the car before she gets in and again when she leaves.
If you’re unfamiliar with NYC’s alternate side parking (ASP) rules, here’s the gist: you can’t park in designated street cleaning zones during specific hours, or you risk a $65 ticket. ASP regulations vary by location, but often involve cleaning once or twice a week on each side of the street.
And with New York City’s cost of living climbing higher by the day–Manhattan’s rental market recently reached record-high prices and a total of 39 NYC neighborhoods exceeded $1 million in median sale price–every dollar counts, hence why Charlet’s business is booming. She stated:
I’ll sit in your car for the fraction of the price of a parking ticket.
Naturally, New Yorkers are loving it. On TikTok, users flooded the comments calling her a “side hustle queen,” “kinda genius,” and “the ultimate entrepreneur.” One commenter joked, “Parallel parking under street sweeper pressure = my worst nightmare.”
Even people outside the city are impressed–“I don’t live in NYC but love a side hustling queen,” one commenter wrote.
Charlet stated that she printed flyers to promote her services, but didn’t even need to hand them out–her TikTok racked up hundreds of thousands of views on its own.
And if this gig sounds like a dream to you? You might be in luck. Less than a month into her venture, Charlet says she’s already looking to expand, and she’s ready to build a team!