The Parking Spot Fight video is a genre with a long and glorious history, but there are a few things that make this clip, posted yesterday on YouTube, particularly special.
The fight , which took place on East 88th between Lexington and 3rd, is already in progress when the video begins. What appears to be a small crowd of spectators has gathered to watch two emotionally stunted child-men pummel each other for the right to a parking spot. About 33 seconds into the video, however, the dispute still unresolved, both men seem to lose interest in continuing the fight and head back to their cars.
It’s over, right? No. Wrong. You’re wrong.
As the first car pulls up in preparation for a parallel park, the second car quickly scoots up behind him, blocking his path. The two cars are now at an impasse, and traffic is piling up behind them. It’s at this point that a third child-man makes an appearance. He’s down the street in a tiny red Porsche, and he leans on his horn for a solid fifteen seconds.
Finally, a new guy enters and moves his van back, opening up room for the first child-man. Had Van Guy not materialized, it’s possible everyone would still be sitting there this morning.
If this all sound vaguely familiar, it’s because Seinfeld already did it (minus the boxing).
Update, 1:18 p.m.: The man who shot the video, Daniel Ovechkin, tells us how the fight began:
As you can see in the video, initially there were 3 cars involved (Toyota Corolla, BMW 5 series, and a taxi). Everyone was waiting for the red light, when the taxi cab decided to pull out. Corolla was right next to the cab, but the BMW turned on the left indicator earlier to “reserve” a spot. Corolla honked to make the car behind him back up a little, so he could park. BMW did not move, the honking continued for a another 10 seconds. The cab could not move, and the guys came out of their cars. People started trying to talk them out of that, but at that point they did not care. After a minute of arguing and shoving each other, one of the guys decided to throw a punch at another. There were two ladies continually saying: Guys, get back in your cars, it is not worth it. You might get hurt. First throw led to another, and they started fighting.
Ovechkin tells us that he took a particular interest in the fight because he used to kick-box, however, “After 3 seconds, I realized that this would not lead to anything because both of the guys threw bad punches (except 2).”
