boondocking in nyc

[magic princess]

Since I live in Vermont, my idea of a weekend jaunt is to the city, but have you seen lodging prices in Manhattan!! So, I got the brilliant idea of going down in the dolphin! For some reason it had never occurredto take it, like maybe it would be illegal or something...well, off I went, single female traveller with 70 lb pit bull...lol. the first night I stayed on central park west...not sure if it was legal but it was free, but what a location! The park stays open til 1am...my dog was in heaven! The next day I drove down to the village for the dance parade...it started to rain, but that was OK! I had found more free parking one block off Tompkins square park, so I hit the cheese shops and had a wonderful dry lunch in the RV...what a concept...and there were many new Yorkers dying to ask me their questions because it had never occurred to them either! No one else was doing it...I mean 8 million people and I had the only RV!

[5Toyota]

welcome to the joys of having an rv may you have many more

[zero]

I used to drive a Taxi in Manhattan. Can't imagine having any RV and trying to park it safely anwhere and feeling secure. I used to have to go there every two weeks when I lived in nothern Vermont. After getting a $300 parking ticket, I started taking the Montrealer commuter train. But there are RVs around the island.

It's kind of ironic. You travel from Vermont to hang around NYC. Years ago - before the George Washinton bridge (and later Martha) was built -on summer weekends - lower income people waited in huge lines by the Hudson River - trying to get the heck out of the City and catch a ferry to rural New Jersey and the Palasades. More affluent people had other ways to cross the river.

Here's the story of one guy "boondocking" in NYC in his Chinook Toyota.

Posh nabe rips hobo's eyesore camper

• By KELLY MAGEE

It's a four-wheeled, trash-laden eyesore that has some Chelsea residents seeing red.

A clunky, 1977 Toyota Chinook camper that has garbage spilling out of a gigantic gash along its side has become a fixture on a tree-lined block of multimillion-dollar homes on West 20th Street near Ninth Avenue.

The camper belongs to John Gunn, 58, a homeless man who frequents the block, eats in soup kitchens and is known as The Curbside Hoarder.

Gunn's ramshackle camper is filled with so much trash that he has resorted to using its roof and hood for extra storage space in its spot along tony Cushman Row, a stretch of street designated as a historical site that dates to 1840.

Justin Hubbard

CHEL-SEE: Residents on West 20th Street are fed up with homeless man John Gunn and his junk-filled Toyota camper parked on their block.

Inside the camper

John Gunn

"It is jammed-packed with stuff. I can't believe it moves," said Sylvia, a resident who has lived on the block -- lined with Greek Revival townhouses that fetch anywhere from $10 million to $15 million -- for 40 years.

"It's getting worse and worse," added the woman, who asked that her last name not be used.

But another local, Rosanna Figuera, said, "I find it amusing -- here on this very prime street you have this oddity. People stop their cars and take pictures with it -- it's funny."

Gunn regularly moves his hunk of junk for alternate-side parking.

Every Monday and Thursday for the past year, the bearded Gunn has arrived at 6 a.m. to prime the camper's engine with unmarked bottles of chemicals. The engine sputters, puffs of smoke fill the air, and an ungodly noise draws residents to their windows.

"He arrives in advance to remove junk from inside the engine compartment and the driver's seat. He stacks the stuff on the sidewalk," resident John Strauss told The Post.

On a recent morning, the successful start of the vehicle brought incredulous cheers from a nearby construction site.

Gunn and his camper then started their snail-like procession to the south side of the street. Onlookers stood with mouths agape as the back bumper dragged across the asphalt.

"[Once], he implored me to help him push it because it wasn't running," said resident Charles O'Neal.

One Chelsea resident, and friend of Gunn's, described him as the "quintessential New York oddball . . . He isn't breaking any laws."

The NYPD said the vehicle hasn't been found to be in violation of anything.

One precinct source said, "A lot of people call in about it. Officers have been there many times." But an NYPD spokeswoman said, "The situation is legal as long as he is not blocking traffic or street cleaning."

Gunn himself blamed New Yorkers for the state of the camper, saying it's been targeted by vandals because of its out-of-state, Colorado plates.

"I should be getting donations from New Yorkers to help me with repairs," he told The Post.

Gunn's stepbrother, David Gunn, 62, of Greeley, Colo., said his sibling has steadfastly refused help with money or jobs.

"He's got a heart of gold," David Gunn said, but added that his brother suffers from "emotional and mental problems."

kmagee@nypost.com

.

[Skydancer2992]

Here's a woman presenting a first hand account of her RV adventure http://katedevinmusic.com/hello-world/

Seems like a lot of us are a "a bit off my rocker", perhaps mildly eccentric. She begins:

"So I actually did it. After toying around with the idea for about three years, I went out and bought an RV. Yes, I realize the idea of living in an RV – especially in New York City – is crazy, but luckily my friends and family have all accepted the fact that I’m a bit off my rocker anyway, and have therefore expressed their congratulations and, to quote one friend, “mad respect”, of my newest endeavor."

[Totem]

why anyone would want to rv to NYC and stay there is simply amazing to me. Love the story JDE posted; Mr. Gunn should just become a NYC resident with the mentality that his fellow New Yorkers are responsible for paying for his repairs.

Still, with a 70 lbs. Pit Bull I would be up for the challenge too probably; the next best thing to a firearm is a well trained large dog. Since you are not permitted the firearm unless you are a criminal or thug the Dog will have to make due.

Nothing Off your rocker about owning a toy home; living in the cesspool of draconian and fascist laws that is NYC? now THATS off your rocker. I am quite convinced the many there will one day seek escape and the ponzi scheme will collapse on its own weight; much like Detroit. Only time will tell.

[MontanaChinook]

That thing is totally a 78, not 77.

[Bob C]

He is a true New Yorker, "They won't give me a job or money" and THEY should pay for my repairs.

I love living in the country with neighbors that enjoy an evening of target practice and shooting trap. We have alot of fun and everyone thinks we are a bunch of hillbillies so they leave us alone. I do admit to being a Wisconsin redneck hillbilly and everyone that I know will agree with me.

[MontanaChinook]

Sounds like a cool experience camping in the city! I'm going to do some traveling with my Chinook eventually, and I'll definitely start learning the ins and outs of camping in it around larger cities.

[zero]

why anyone would want to rv to NYC and stay there is simply amazing to me. Love the story JDE posted; Mr. Gunn should just become a NYC resident with the mentality that his fellow New Yorkers are responsible for paying for his repairs.

Still, with a 70 lbs. Pit Bull I would be up for the challenge too probably; the next best thing to a firearm is a well trained large dog.

I'm not sure what good a dog does a person in a NYC "camping" situation. There are many places you cannot bring a dog in the City, and you can get arrested in some areas if you leave the dog alone in a motor vehicle. In fact, as I recall, the once great state of Vermont was one of the first states to make leaving a dog alone in a motor-vehicle against the law.

Our dog goes everywhere with us and there have been many places we wanted to go but had to skip - since no dogs allowed. Mabye I need to pretend our dog is some sort of legal "helper" dog so we can go where we want. My dog would have a ball in France where dogs are even allowed in restaurants.

By the way - I must plead guilty to ignorance. Magic Lady stated when in NYC she had a "wonderful dry lunch." What the heck is a "dry lunch?" Food with no beer? I lived in northern Vermont for many years and never heard the term.

[Allan]

In Seattle parking is not allowed over night on residential streets if vehicle is wider than 84". Something like that. l know it's wider than my Phoenix. Of coarse it's selectively inforced so my neighbor can park his commercial bucket-truck on the street with no grief. We often get some pretty screwed up people planting themselves for long stretches. We have also met some lovely people camping in their rigs on our streets for a few days while traveling. While public streets are, well, public, lt is best to consider one's self a guest when parking in some areas. Strike up conversations with locals to get the lay of the land. Once people know you're not turning tricks or operating a rolling meth-lab you're usually ok. Just remember: guests and fish often begin to stink after three days.

[Totem]

dry lunch in urban dictionary lead to some interesting results... I believe the 3rd result as posted by a severe cockney slang seemed to suggest a woman that is exceptionally cheap with her money being spent on food (I think) or a really boring cheap person. other results included extremely irritating person that has a very annoying face that even irritates you (Like Eric Holder). finally another suggested an alcohol free lunch. fascinating;

I doubt Magic princess meant to invoke any of those definitions though. Must honestly say the only other time I heard that term was in the Movie the Firm

[MontanaChinook]

Good info, thanks!

I'm specifically buying a porta-potty for my Chinook because I realized that if I did extensive traveling, I could find myself trying to camp for the night in a residential area, and need to relieve myself...would rather not be sneaking into someone's yard or a park..! For all the recreation stuff I do, I don't need a toilet or bathroom.

Every now and then I think maybe I should have gone slightly bigger and bought a Sunrader, but when I weigh all my needs and ideals, the Chinook still comes out on top.

[MontanaChinook]

I hope she comes back to clear it up, but since she mentioned cheese, I just got the feeling that a "dry lunch" would be like cheese, meat and crackers or something. Makes me thirsty just thinking about it.

The less I think about it, and just take it in context, the more sense it makes.

[Totem]

I think of Guinness Stout when I think of an Irish wet lunch.

[zero]

Like I stated earlier - I never heard the term and wasn't born yesterday. But - words and phrases carry different meanings in different cultures, regions and/or times in the US. I'd like to hear what it means when Magic Lady says it. I suspect wherever she comes from - it's a common term. Certainly wasn't in the Northeast Kindgom of northern Vermont (when I lived there). A "wet lunch" was a $2 bottle of Old Duke or MD 20/20. I had many of them when sugaring. Southern Vermont near Williston and Lake Champlain is a totally different world then the NE Kingdom and I suspect Magic Lady is from that end of the state..

I often here of wine being served with cheese in artsy type establishments. Quite -possibly "dry lunch" is cheese for lunch with NO wine.

[Gary_M]

Want some wine with that cheese? You all must be beer drinkers.

[magic princess]

Ha ha....what I meant by dry lunch was that it was raining at the parade so lots of folks were stuck outside eating from outside food vendors getting wet...while dog and I were nice and dry in dolphin with cheese and dry salami...mmmm

I did find a great free spot in Coney island 20 feet from boardwalk, stayed a whole week no problems! Pit bull joined me there as well and yes, its a different trip when she comes along---goes with me everywhere...I never stay out after dark....heading down again for west Indian parade...supposedly largest parade in the nation, will leave pepper at home as it will be HOT!

[zero]

Copy and paste the keywords below into a search engine and read what pops up. It is important to use the parenthesis around the words dry lunch then tag it with kids just as I have written it.

"dry lunch" kids

One of the things you will find out if you bother to look at the results is that the term dry lunch as it relates to childrens school lunches dates all the way back in the search returns to the late 1800s and that it is still in current use. It does not of course say anything the lack of alcohol being a requirement of the term.

So next time you stop at a deli for sandwiches with chips and such to eat in your RV remember that you are eating a dry lunch. But if you get a beer to go with it you can call it a wet lunch if you wish to do so.

I wonder what your definiton of "common" is? Not "common" enough that I've ever heard the term used as you mention. Nor has my wife (Michigan native), or sons (Colorado). Maybe someone somewhere but I doubt it's a "common" useage. I'd say that the useage you mention is "recondite", at best.

Now a "wet lunch" or "liquid lunch" was a term I heard once in a while when I was younger. Had many myself. All booze and NO solid food.

You can look up etymology 'till the cows come home but it does not always keep up or reflect real life to the average person speaking USA style English. The OED is fun reading though.

[MontanaChinook]

Ha ha....what I meant by dry lunch was that it was raining at the parade so lots of folks were stuck outside eating from outside food vendors getting wet...while dog and I were nice and dry in dolphin with cheese and dry salami...mmmm

I did find a great free spot in Coney island 20 feet from boardwalk, stayed a whole week no problems! Pit bull joined me there as well and yes, its a different trip when she comes along---goes with me everywhere...I never stay out after dark....heading down again for west Indian parade...supposedly largest parade in the nation, will leave pepper at home as it will be HOT!

Ha!

We were all wrong.

[Totem]

I am still trying to understand where Karin got "kids" from Magic Princess's posts... no mention of kids at all other than Karin.

btw Karin, I am an IT manager for fortune 500 company; Googling to me is like banning things is to a democrat;

I simply googled dry lunch and then pulled up the urban dictionary entry; For your information the Urban Dictionary is the FIRST place one can go to find urban slang, sayings etc and is up to date with todays and yesteryears terminology including very ebonic and racial terms as well. For example; if you look up Cracka ( a term used in the George Zimmerman Trial) one can actually see that after the first 24 derogatory insulting terms for a white person that it can also mean a black person acting like a police officer;

Urban Dictionary is important; because at first I found the use of "Cracka" to be a racial slur but found that young urban youth really do refer to it to mean police apparently; it doesnt change my opinion of GZ being innocent of murder (He is) but the site did help me better understand just why TM might actually NOT be a racist because to me i felt he was because of that term until I found it had 34 meanings.

though I digress, Oddly enough "dry lunch" turned out to mean a lunch not being rained on which was not in there at all....

[MontanaChinook]

It's always fun to see how much political and social propaganda you can inject into any subject, Totem!

[magic princess]

Cracker can also mean a person who has lived in northeast Florida for generations ie 'Florida cracker'...( I live in Jacksonville in winter lol)

[magic princess]

Here's a woman presenting a first hand account of her RV adventure http://katedevinmusic.com/hello-world/'>http://katedevinmusic.com/hello-world/

Seems like a lot of us are a "a bit off my rocker", perhaps mildly eccentric. She begins:

"So I actually did it. After toying around with the idea for about three years, I went out and bought an RV. Yes, I realize the idea of living in an RV – especially in New York City – is crazy, but luckily my friends and family have all accepted the fact that I’m a bit off my rocker anyway, and have therefore expressed their congratulations and, to quote one friend, “mad respect”, of my newest endeavor."

I read this all this morning...very funny...thank you! She is one of my twin souls...lol!

[magic princess]

I love all homeless people but john Gunn sucks...he is the reason people make laws against boondocking....

[zero]

The simple fact is that words mean different things to different people. Thus the reason why legal documents usually carry their own list of contextual word meanings.

Karin - you stated the esoteric usage you offered is "common" yet also offered advice to forum users on the proper use of Boolean logic when using search engines. It's pretty easy to see that if people on this forum needed to phrase-search the Net for meaning - it was far from "common."

Magic Princess - you say you love ALL homeless people yet you say the guy with the Chinook sucks?? Geez. Aren't you being a little fickle?

I've seen a lot of non-homeless campers/boondockers that do far worse things to spoil the fun then that guy. Considering he's camping in the cesspool of Manhattan Island, I think it's pretty funny.

[zero]

Urban Dictionary is important; because at first I found the use of "Cracka" to be a racial slur but found that young urban youth really do refer to it to mean police apparently;

I don't find the Urban Dictionary to be well researched. I.e, it gives the oldest known source and use of "cracker" as a "white slave driver cracking the whip." That is certainly one theory on the subject but it's only one of many. There are other known uses far older then that and the OED is the only one-stop source for such things. The boys at the OED don't profess to know as the Urban Dictionary does.

[Totem]

Quite alright Karin, I carry a university degree as well as ITIL foundation certification; meaning that meta crawling is my forte to restore service to incidents of outage. It's a sink or swim game dear and not one that can maintain employment without touching a pc. I guess I'd be more able to not google or for that matter even touch a pc if I were a CIO like your father in law once removed; but alas I have had to work my way up in my company on nothing but service delivery. That triage of problems requires expert searching, logic, programming, database and well, honestly dear I have been in every service delivery area in the catalogue; and currently am in all of them coterminously. I don't expect to impress you. However I believe that adding additional strings concatonated to the unknown query only results in erroneous data at best and false positives at worst. Thus the proper way to search meta data on an unknown subject is with less words of which are more positively known not adding words of the assumed that weren't part of the original query string. Adding additional words is purely emotional and desperate because of ones not wanting to see what they expected in the result set... Erm ehem now then, as to the urban dictionary Jde, I do find it has value as being on the cutting edge of the American lexicon, with a humorous twist that some may not even be able to enjoy due to employers web filters. And yes Montana I do like to leak libertarian propaganda from time to time if only to make sure the NSA earns its salary. :-)

[Skydancer2992]

At the time I posted the link, I did not realize that she had posted a topless picture of herself in the blog.

If anyone is offended by this sort of thing, don't read Days 15 & 16.

Everyone else, this is a good read and don't just look at Days 15 & 16.

I read this all this morning...very funny...thank you! She is one of my twin souls...lol!

[Totem]

LOL; word police, search police, topic police.

Your disdain for improper grammar means you don't fancy 99% of the posters in here INCLUDING yourself.

You now call Off topic on me after leading the charge into it personally??? too funny.

[magic princess]

At the time I posted the link, I did not realize that she had posted a topless picture of herself in the blog.

If anyone is offended by this sort of thing, don't read Days 15 & 16.

Everyone else, this is a good read and don't just look at Days 15 & 16.

She should a gone into detail about her first time doing it in her RV...I was once getting hot and heavy on the couch which had been pulled out, then BAMMM, the thing busted and we were spilled down on the ground....laughing until we cried....never forget it!

[magic princess]

The simple fact is that words mean different things to different people. Thus the reason why legal documents usually carry their own list of contextual word meanings.

Karin - you stated the esoteric usage you offered is "common" yet also offered advice to forum users on the proper use of Boolean logic when using search engines. It's pretty easy to see that if people on this forum needed to phrase-search the Net for meaning - it was far from "common."

Magic Princess - you say you love ALL homeless people yet you say the guy with the Chinook sucks?? Geez. Aren't you being a little fickle?

I've seen a lot of non-homeless campers/boondockers that do far worse things to spoil the fun then that guy. Considering he's camping in the cesspool of Manhattan Island, I think it's pretty funny.

He's not in a cesspool...its a multimillion dollar neighborhood...hell, I'd start a neighborhood collection and pay him to leave...beats giving money to red cross or some equally corrupt organization...I once paid a homeless lady in new Orleans twenty bux to drink her booze in front of my camper and keep an eye on the dog...she was so proud to have a job...told her homeless buddies she had to dogsit, and treated me like some divine intervener...

Edited July 25, 2013 by magic princess

[MontanaChinook]

Isn't it fun how such innocent topics can turn into a mess of personality clashes, political and social statements and arguments?

It's really pretty funny when you sit back and observe.

Less fun if you get dragged in...

[zero]

He's not in a cesspool...its a multimillion dollar neighborhood...hell, I'd start a neighborhood collection and pay him to leave...beats giving money to red cross or some equally corrupt organization...I once paid a homeless lady in new Orleans twenty bux to drink her booze in front of my camper and keep an eye on the dog...she was so proud to have a job...told her homeless buddies she had to dogsit, and treated me like some divine intervener...

I wasn't 100% serious -but I consider all the five boroughs one big cess pool, more or less. I lived 7 miles from Manhattan for the first 18 years of my life - but on the other side of the Hudson. I also drove a taxi in Manhattan. One big H*ll hole in my opinion. And yeah, I've been told NYC got much better after Giuliani served as mayor. I also used to have some black friends on Lenox Ave. near 125 th street. I was knifed their once and consider myself lucky not to have been shot. In later years (since the 70s), I've been there once. That was around 1990. I d*amn near got killed in Brooklyn while trying to visit a family member's grave (shot at). Then I went to the NYC Municipal Archives on Chambers Street and spent near $200 just to park for one afternoon. I now live 200 miles north of NYC and and still am surrounded by NYC "water police." They hang out upstate to make sure we locals don't spoil our pristine water before it gets to Mahattan where they can pollute it and then dump it into the Atlantic.

Hey, to each his (or her) own. I can't stand the place and wish we could annex it from the State of NY. Maybe then we could get a state governor who's not a city-boy. When I lived in northern Vermont, some of the local hicks felt the same way about southern Vermont. I guess one can acquire a certain mindset when living in the sticks.

I have a niece who works as a model in Manhattan. When she visits where I live - she thinks I live in desolate H*ll-hole, so I guess it's all relative.

[zero]

At the time I posted the link, I did not realize that she had posted a topless picture of herself in the blog.

If anyone is offended by this sort of thing, don't read Days 15 & 16.

Everyone else, this is a good read and don't just look at Days 15 & 16.

You know - a group of women protested every year (topless) in Albany, NY trying to win the right to be in public topless. Then - when they finally got their way - they do not DO it anymore! A real bummer! In case some people do not know, it is 100% legal for a woman to walk around topless in NY. Considering it's legal, seems your post ought to be OK.

[magic princess]

I think full public nudity is still legal in brattleboro...always hearing about the nudists parading around town...lol! I love Albany and upstate NY...