Quantcast

The DNAinfo archives brought to you by WNYC.
Read the press release here.

'Dibs Patrol' Idea in Lincoln Square Sparks Backlash

By Josh McGhee | February 6, 2015 3:17pm
 Musical dibs.
Musical dibs.
View Full Caption
Instagram/Derrick Carter

LINCOLN SQUARE — As the argument over using objects to save shoveled parking spots rages this week in Chicago, a new front emerged in Lincoln Square where a grassroots effort to end "dibs" with a "dibs patrol" has met with some resistance.

A number of users of a Rockwell Street neighborhood Facebook page argued that dibs should be eliminated, with one creating a flyer people could print out and affix to trees to declare a block a "no dibs zone." Under the proposal a "dibs patrol" would remove the objects in the street and place them in the parkway.

The flyer said that stuff found in the street a second time would be "destroyed/deposited in the nearest dumpster as litter." It also offered help if a motorist needed help digging out their car.

"We're all in this together neighbors!" the flyer reads.

Well, not quite.

While there were many supporters on the page, the person who posted the idea also said she has also heard from people against the proposal.

"One person, who was quite reasonable, said she is disabled and we were discriminating against the disabled," said the organizer, who asked that her name not be used. "Another guy railed at how he did the work of digging out his space, works until midnight and shouldn't have to dig again when he gets home. [He] also said we were hurting the elderly and disabled."

While there were no threats posted on the forums "there is a lot of fear of retribution" especially with the not-so-neighborly incidents they've seen so far, the organizer said.

"One person, who parked in a spot in which someone else removed the dibs junk, had her car packed in and iced," she said.

A babysitter, who parked in a dibbed spot while dropping off the children, faced a similar wrath.

"Her car was attacked by people who packed in the wheels with snow and were doing other stuff to the car. When she yelled at them, one guy threatened her with a shovel," said the organizer recounting stories circulating around the neighborhood.

The group planned to individually post the flyers beginning Friday, but the organizer now fears some supporters may not follow through.

"We will see. As I said, it's a notion unless folks actually deploy."

The flyer is posted below:

For more neighborhood news, listen to DNAinfo Radio here: