Trailer park living invades New York
There goes the neighborhood!
Motor homes have invaded the Upper West Side, sparking fear in the hearts of residents worried their well-heeled haven could fast be transformed into a low-rent campsite.
âWhy is this ugly piece of junk here?â demanded area activist Gretchen Berger, referring to the rusted RV that has been stationed at Riverside Drive and 74th Street.
âIt just sort of creeps me out that somebody is living in a parking space, and this may give rise to other people thinking that itâs a cheap way to live on the Upper West Side, where the rents are high. Is Manhattan going to become a trailer park?â
The RV â an â84 Chevy Pathfinder â belongs to Queens-born Rabbi Steve Blumberg, a Kabbalah practitioner, who told The Post his neighbors need to lighten up.
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Rabbi Steve Blumberg
Photo: Angel Chevrestt
âIf you want a gated community, you should live in Creedmoor [Psychiatric Center],â he said. âOtherwise-liberal West Siders have very serious middle-class scruples about what should or should not be in their neighborhood.â
Blumberg, 62, has been living on and off since 2007 in his RV, which he scored for $8,000 on eBay from a South Carolina resident.
âI lost my apartment in Riverdale, and at that moment I wasnât sure about where to rent and how much to spend and all those things,â Blumberg recalled. âIt just occurred to me that perhaps I could have a mobile studio apartment, so I started shopping around.â
The red-bearded rabbi took a Post reporter out for a spin in his RV â named Bessie â which lurched to a start after several attempts to get her going on a frigid Thursday morning.
âShe starts and runs like a top,â he boasted as he rumbled up Riverside Drive to 79th Street.
âIt is so well designed that I can spend days in here without getting claustrophobic. It really is apartment-size,â Blumberg said. âIâm in way better shape than the people who are renting closets.â
Blumberg, who said heâs now staying in a rent-free pad on 74th Street, also uses his 23-foot vehicle as a crash pad for visiting friends, or as a space to collect his thoughts, meditate and pray.
âI think the greatest thing about it is having the comfort of sleeping in a real bed, while being, at the same time, in the middle of everything going on on the street,â said a 54-year-old friend of Blumberg who shacked up in the RV while visiting from Romania last summer. âI could hear the bus, the cars, people walking their dogs, passersby talking, police with the sirens on. Itâs even more special, this being New York.â
Blumberg said his RV â whose roomy interior features a SpongeBob SquarePants comforter and a sit-down tub â has never been ticketed but he confessed to being unsure of the law.
Leaving a mobile home on a city street for more than 24 hours is illegal, according to a Department of Transportation spokesman, who cited a traffic rule that also prohibits parking boat trailers in the same spot for more than a day. Enforcement is typically complaint-driven. Fines start at $115, the NYPD said.
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This junky trailer on Central Park West, with blocked-out windows, has been called a âmonster.â
Photo: Angel Chevrestt
Farther uptown, on Central Park West â where the neighborhoodâs most expensive rental, a town house with a pool, fetches a cool $75,000 a month â stands a 19-foot, 1975 Dodge Sportsman with gold rims and two cameras affixed to its exterior.
âIt looks like it would fit more in the mountains of West Virginia than on the Upper West Side,â said area resident Ron Hoffman.
The Dodge owner, who only gave his name as Robert, refused to answer any questions.
Neighbors are puzzled by the RVâs windows, which are covered by gold curtains.
âHe once told me he just uses it to store things â but if thatâs the case, why would you have everything blacked out so you canât see the person inside!â said longtime resident Bill Smith.
âI donât think it should be here,â added Mario Parisi, 86. âWeâre all waiting to park. Sitting there all the time is not a good idea â itâs a monster.â
There goes the neighborhood!
Motor homes have invaded the Upper West Side, sparking fear in the hearts of residents worried their well-heeled haven could fast be transformed into a low-rent campsite.
âWhy is this ugly piece of junk here?â demanded area activist Gretchen Berger, referring to the rusted RV that has been stationed at Riverside Drive and 74th Street.
âIt just sort of creeps me out that somebody is living in a parking space, and this may give rise to other people thinking that itâs a cheap way to live on the Upper West Side, where the rents are high. Is Manhattan going to become a trailer park?â
The RV â an â84 Chevy Pathfinder â belongs to Queens-born Rabbi Steve Blumberg, a Kabbalah practitioner, who told The Post his neighbors need to lighten up.
Modal Trigger
Rabbi Steve Blumberg
Photo: Angel Chevrestt
âIf you want a gated community, you should live in Creedmoor [Psychiatric Center],â he said. âOtherwise-liberal West Siders have very serious middle-class scruples about what should or should not be in their neighborhood.â
Blumberg, 62, has been living on and off since 2007 in his RV, which he scored for $8,000 on eBay from a South Carolina resident.
âI lost my apartment in Riverdale, and at that moment I wasnât sure about where to rent and how much to spend and all those things,â Blumberg recalled. âIt just occurred to me that perhaps I could have a mobile studio apartment, so I started shopping around.â
The red-bearded rabbi took a Post reporter out for a spin in his RV â named Bessie â which lurched to a start after several attempts to get her going on a frigid Thursday morning.
âShe starts and runs like a top,â he boasted as he rumbled up Riverside Drive to 79th Street.
âIt is so well designed that I can spend days in here without getting claustrophobic. It really is apartment-size,â Blumberg said. âIâm in way better shape than the people who are renting closets.â
Blumberg, who said heâs now staying in a rent-free pad on 74th Street, also uses his 23-foot vehicle as a crash pad for visiting friends, or as a space to collect his thoughts, meditate and pray.
âI think the greatest thing about it is having the comfort of sleeping in a real bed, while being, at the same time, in the middle of everything going on on the street,â said a 54-year-old friend of Blumberg who shacked up in the RV while visiting from Romania last summer. âI could hear the bus, the cars, people walking their dogs, passersby talking, police with the sirens on. Itâs even more special, this being New York.â
Blumberg said his RV â whose roomy interior features a SpongeBob SquarePants comforter and a sit-down tub â has never been ticketed but he confessed to being unsure of the law.
Leaving a mobile home on a city street for more than 24 hours is illegal, according to a Department of Transportation spokesman, who cited a traffic rule that also prohibits parking boat trailers in the same spot for more than a day. Enforcement is typically complaint-driven. Fines start at $115, the NYPD said.
Modal Trigger
This junky trailer on Central Park West, with blocked-out windows, has been called a âmonster.â
Photo: Angel Chevrestt
Farther uptown, on Central Park West â where the neighborhoodâs most expensive rental, a town house with a pool, fetches a cool $75,000 a month â stands a 19-foot, 1975 Dodge Sportsman with gold rims and two cameras affixed to its exterior.
âIt looks like it would fit more in the mountains of West Virginia than on the Upper West Side,â said area resident Ron Hoffman.
The Dodge owner, who only gave his name as Robert, refused to answer any questions.
Neighbors are puzzled by the RVâs windows, which are covered by gold curtains.
âHe once told me he just uses it to store things â but if thatâs the case, why would you have everything blacked out so you canât see the person inside!â said longtime resident Bill Smith.
âI donât think it should be here,â added Mario Parisi, 86. âWeâre all waiting to park. Sitting there all the time is not a good idea â itâs a monster.â
