A Queens man is taking matters into his own hands when it comes to law-breaking motorists by slapping their cars with “I park like an A–HOLE” bumper stickers.
Jeff Orlick, 34, of Jackson Heights is so fed up with drivers who illegally park in handicap spaces and block fire hydrants that he started selling the stickers on Etsy last week with the hope that customers will take part in the vigilante act of slapping them on the backs of cars.
“If people park like a–holes, they should know about it,” Orlick said. “You see these things every day that are wrong and people could pass by or take a picture and put it on Instagram or you can do something and make a difference.”
Orlick, a community activist, said that he made the simple, but strongly-messaged stickers last year for himself and since then has slapped them on bumpers of less than 10 cars parked along Jackson Heights Streets.
“I want to be absolutely sure that these guys are a–holes before I put a sticker on their car,” he said, adding that if a driver parks in front of a fire hydrant for more than an hour “they deserve to be reprimanded” and to be “treated like an a–hole.”
The sticker vigilante also said that he is sick of city officials with credentials in their car abusing their power by parking anywhere they’d like.
“People take advantage of their positions,” he said. “I think some traffic officers are afraid to put tickets on some cars just because they have placards in their car.”
He has placed a sticker on at least one car with an NYPD vest in the windshield.
Orlick’s bumper stickers are selling on Etsy under his online alias “Queens Qustodian” at 5 for $10. So far, only an Upper East Side man has bought $10 worth.
“I hope people take responsibility for their own neighborhood,” said Orlick, who works as a technician for a TV station and drives a Honda Civic. “If you do something very simple it could solve a lot and this is a part of that.”
Slapping bumper stickers on cars technically is not a crime. According to the NYPD, the act would only be a crime if the bumper sticker left damage on the vehicle.
If the adhesive of the bumper sticker did cause damage to the car then it could be considered criminal mischief, police said.
But Orlick said he isn’t worried about any repercussions.
“It has to be done,” he said. “I am not afraid of what will happen. It’s for a good cause.”
He added, “My real fear is that people will use these stickers too frivolously.”
With every bumper sticker Orlick sends out he includes the message, “Be responsible. Be safe. Be sure.”
Not everyone supports Orlick’s vigilante mission.
“Putting stickers on people’s cars? That’s a violation!” fumed Stephen Yen, 32, of Astoria, adding that if he caught Orlick placing a sticker on his car he would “probably kick him.”
Luis Mercado, 42, who works as a plumber in Jackson Heights was outraged by the idea of shaming drivers with bumper stickers.
“A lot of people are still making payments on their car and this guy comes around putting stickers on them, defacing their private property?” said Mercado just after he parked his Acura in front of a hydrant in the neighborhood. “He really better hope nobody who owns the cars sees him doing that.”
This article originally appeared on the New York Post.
