Car-Sitting Side Hussle NYC
In a city where parking is an art form and a headache rolled into one, 28-year-old Sydney Charlet has turned the age-old nuisance of street sweeping into a money-making opportunity—and she’s just getting started.
Charlet is the founder of an unconventional but booming side hustle: car-sitting. For a fee, she’ll sit in your parked car during street sweeping hours so you don’t rack up an expensive New York City parking ticket. It’s simple, legal, and surprisingly lucrative.
A Modern Solution to an Old Urban Problem
“Street sweeping happens multiple times a week in most neighborhoods,” Charlet explains. “You either move your car, wait in it for the sweeper to pass, or risk a $65 ticket. I realized there’s a huge number of people who would gladly pay someone else to deal with that hassle.”
What started as a favor for friends—watching their cars in exchange for coffee or a few bucks—quickly turned into a real business. Charlet now makes up to $35 an hour simply by occupying parked cars during restricted hours. Her growing list of clients includes busy professionals, parents juggling daycare drop-offs, and elderly New Yorkers who can’t easily circle the block for 30 minutes.
From Side Hustle to Scalable Service
Charlet has branded her service “Sit My Car NYC” and is in the process of hiring additional car-sitters to meet demand. With an eye on expansion, she’s building a scheduling app and considering partnerships with corporate parking garages and residential buildings.
“There’s no app for this yet—not really,” she says. “But the demand is absolutely there. People want convenience, and they want to avoid tickets. I can give them both.”
Her service is especially popular in Manhattan, Brooklyn, and Queens, where alternate-side parking rules are strictly enforced and curb space is fiercely contested. Some clients book her weekly, others just when they’re out of town or in a meeting. The business has become so successful that Charlet recently left her administrative job to focus on Sit My Car NYC full-time.
Legal, Ethical, and Smart?
Technically, car-sitting during street sweeping isn’t illegal. As long as someone is present in the vehicle and ready to move it, they’re allowed to remain parked in many zones, even during restricted hours. NYPD traffic agents usually move on if a driver is in the car, ticketing only those vehicles left unattended.
Still, Charlet’s hustle has raised eyebrows. “People think it’s lazy or weird at first,” she laughs. “Then they realize I’m solving a real problem in a way that’s both efficient and respectful of city rules. Plus, I’m offering jobs to other New Yorkers who want flexible income. What’s not to love?”
The Future of Car-Sitting
With a growing waitlist and attention on social media, Charlet is fielding requests from other cities plagued by tricky parking rules, including Los Angeles, Chicago, and Boston.
“I didn’t expect to start a movement,” she says, “but now I’m thinking about how to make car-sitting a household term, like dog-walking or food delivery.”
For many New Yorkers, avoiding a parking ticket is worth every penny. And for Sydney Charlet, sitting in a car is proving to be the city’s most unexpected ticket to success.
