Neighbors in New Orleans’s historic Faubourg Marigny recently threw a street party that marked the first anniversary of a pothole the length of a small sedan.

They brought beer, sliders and 700 pounds of quick-dry asphalt. Somebody googled, “How to fill a pothole.” Neighbors blocked off the street with trash cans and took turns hoisting bags and filling the tire-busting crater.

“People said it’s vigilantism, but I think it’s hyper-libertarianism,” said party organizer Elisa Cool, a 35-year-old marketing specialist.

Potholes across the U.S. are flourishing, with aging roads pummeled by harsh weather and larger-than-average temperature swings. Repair crews seem to exit each winter deeper in the hole. New York City last year had more than triple the number of reported potholes compared with the mid-1990s.

Activists are trying different ways to fill the gap. YouTube prankster Coby Persin said he popped a tire on his Maserati in Midtown Manhattan before hitting on an idea. Figuring it would take a New York City crew months to fix the pothole, he filled it with a potted plant.