Imagine a game of musical chairs, where, when the music stops, you smash the chair you occupied in the last round in a fit of rage. That’s basically Boston right now.

What do you do if you arrive home to find your space saver moved, and a car parked in “your’’ spot?

If you’re East Boston resident Marina Askari, you drive around for a while, and then – when all else fails – move aside someone else’s space saver, and park your car.

Askari did just that Thursday night. On Friday morning, she found all four tires on her car slashed, and the driver’s side window smashed, and the front windshield broken.


“Technically this is my first Boston winter,’’ she said. “I moved from Washington D.C., so I’m not as experienced with the snow.’’

Space savers have a long history in Boston, particularly in neighborhoods where homes don’t have driveways and parking is scarce, even on hot summer nights. The prevailing “rule’’ has been that if you take the time to shovel a spot, you can “own’’ it for 48 hours after a city-declared snow emergency has ended.

Here’s where it gets tricky. Thanks to record snowfall, the 48-hour window that began in late January has yet to end. No, really.

Marina Askari

Askari said – like most people in the Jeffries Point section of East Boston – she had been parking in the same spot for “several weeks,’’ and she had been using a space saver herself.

On Thursday night, Askari arrived home to find someone parked in “her’’ spot. Her space saver was no where to be found.

Askari told Boston.com that after driving around for 20 minutes, she gave up and pulled into a spot saved by someone else on Sumner Street in East Boston. She moved the bucket holding the spot aside, parked, and walked home.

“There were just no other spots. Anywhere. I didn’t know what else to do,’’ she said.


When Askari arrived at her car Friday morning, she was shocked to find it vandalized.

According to Askari, the responding Boston police officers began by asking her if she was “in a fight with someone.’’ She said the officers then set her expectations as to the likelihood of identifying the culplit.

“[The officer] said, ‘You know I’m gonna be really honest. It won’t be heavily investigated. There’s a report, but, nothing’s really going to happen,’’ Askari said.

Boston Police Department spokesman David Estrada declined to comment on Askari’s claim that officers told her the crime wouldn’t be “heavily investigated.’’ Estrada said “every incident report is followed up on by a detective.’’

What happened to Askari isn’t unique – she is but one of numerous victims of space saver-related vandalism in recent weeks:

∙ On February 4, a photo posted on Twitter showed a note left on a space saver threatening vandalism.

∙ On February 6, Boston Police Captain John Greland tweeted about an incident of space-saver vandalism in South Boston. Greland tweeted about another incident in the same neighborhood on February 17.

∙ On February 12, a South End resident parked in a shoveled spot, only to find the car tires slashed upon his return.

∙ A photo posted to Twitter on February 19 showed a car spraypainted on Washington Street in Brighton.

∙ On February 20, a space-saver dispute in South Boston resulted in a car keyed with the words “NOT OK’’ on its door – in addition to three broken windows.

∙ On February 22, a photo posted to Twitter showed a car on Beacon Hill with a smashed rear window.


Boston Mayor Marty Walsh has stated publicly that the city will not tolerate vandalism.

“If we find out who’s creating vandalism on cars we’re going to arrest people for that — I mean you just can’t do that,’’ Walsh said.

Boston Police Department spokesperson James Kenneally said statistics on the number of space-saver related acts of vandalism were not immediately available, nor was information as to whether there have been any arrests.

To Askari, it seems no action is being taken to prevent instances of space-saver vandalism.

“It means we live in communities where violence is accepted and even encouraged,’’ she said.

Askari said she knows what she did must have been frustrating to the person who considered that spot their own.

“People have done this to me,’’ she said. “But I dealt with it like a normal person and I didn’t slash any tires.’’

On February 25, Mayor Walsh announced that the city will begin removing space savers as part of trash collection on Monday. But will Monday really mark the end of the longest 48 hours in the city’s history? That remains to be seen.