Finally. The time has come for us to discuss this form of Gezel on YWN. This phenomenon has been going on ever since and to my dismay has been largely ignored. I am deeply hurt about a story I had with one making claims about an “illegal driveway.”
It was about two years ago when I wanted to unload something from my car into my garage when I saw a car parked in front of my driveway. The heavy piece of furniture was to be stored in the garage at the very end of my driveway. I had planned to back my car into the driveway and easily hoist it from my car into the garage. Obviously, the luxury my driveway presented to the fellow with no ethics, got me to change my plans. I had to park at a pump down the block (as, it was the closest I could find) and carry the heavy piece down to my house and down the entire driveway. As me and my sons completed the task, that fellow (visitor) came out of a neighboring house with a luxury he afforded himself by ‘stealing’ my driveway. When one of my sons mentioned to him that he had parked in front of a private driveway, he flared up and threatened my son that he will call 311 and complain about the driveway, which he claimed was illegal. After my teenager came to repeat his ‘threat’, I went out to the fellow and told him that we can settle for a deal. You call 311 and I call 911. My home was built more than a century ago on a block that has a driveway near almost every home, I wasn’t concerned of any Mesira. What bothered me was the way people can justify their evil acts (yes, it is one) by maintaining presumptions. Claiming an “illegal driveway” is offending to one that maintains the law, only if you know for a fact that the curb was made without a permit can you charge that charge.
The OP mentioned Misaskim. Let’s put the Gezel of parking in front of a private garage aside. I’m appalled at those people who freely park in front of a garage that explicitly state that it has Life-saving equipment stored therein. Can you imagine if something would happen to your loved one but his life would be lost because someone is blocking Misaskim’s driveway? Would any of those people running into the Cafe to have a coffee or work/daven nearby decide to park a block down, in front of Hatzolah, at their convenience? Every time I pass that garage, I cringe.