Professional car sitter makes sure New Yorkers' rides don't get towed in street-sweeping nightmares
To cover her hefty Upper West Side rent, she's become the hero that Gotham didn't realize it needed: 'The Car Sitter.'
Charlet, 29, a Big Apple transplant from Seattle, Washington, charges her new NYC neighbors — mostly locals around her age — up to $50 for a 90-minute car-sitting session during alternate parking hours, the designated dates and times when drivers must move their vehicles from one side of the street to the other for cleaning.
5 Sydney Charlet, a newcomer to the concrete jungle, has become the city's viral 'Car Sitter,' someone who's hired to sit in strangers' cars during weekly alternate street parking hours.
OLGA GINZBURG FOR THE NEW YORK POST
Residents who fail to comply with the city rules risk receiving an initial $65 fine — or ultimately getting towed.
But not on Charlet's watch.
Be it thunder, lightning or 102-degree heat, she's perched at her posts — and for Charlet, sitting in sedans, Teslas, SUVs and more is putting her on easy street.
'I'm inundated with clients,' Charlet said of her 'side hustle.'
5 Charlet says she's become 'inundated' with business inquiries from folks in need of her services.
OLGA GINZBURG FOR THE NEW YORK POST
It's a lucrative position that the accidental entrepreneur gave herself in late June — and while she didn't want to divulge her actual earnings, she told The Post she's able to cover half of her monthly Manhattan apartment rent.
Charlet, who relocated to Manhattan in February after losing a marketing role on the West Coast, hatched the plan for her burgeoning biz during a recent alternate parking blitz. She sat in her own car, watching folks — or their doormen — rush to their cars before street sweepers revved down the block.
'It was absolute chaos,' she said of the calamity, recalling fights and screaming matches over parking spots.
On June 19, she posted a viral video featuring black-and-white flyers reading, 'Need your car moved? The Car Sitter,' along with her professional contact info.
Since then, the brunette, who's currently otherwise unemployed, has received more than 500 inquiries for the service, she said.
'The video blew up online,' she said of the promo clip, which has garnered nearly 600,000 TikTok views to date. 'I basically had to build the brand in a day.'
That brand is her effort toward diffusing driver-on-driver drama. It's also aimed at aiding motorists who simply can't move their rides and have grown accustomed to sucking up the $65 penalty in defeat.
Charlet said she is still sifting through the massive number of requests but has been able to provide her new trade to about 20 people in the short time since posting the video. She also shared a rave from a client who wrote her, saying, 'Thank you!! I appreciate your service!! So much better than a ticket.'
'A lot of people in the city will just take the ticket and not move their car because they don't have the time,' said Charlet. 'I figured, why not offer to sit in their cars for less than the cost of the initial fine?'
5 The millennial was inspired to launch her car-sitting side hustle after witnessing the alternate street parking 'chaos' on her Upper West Side street.
OLGA GINZBURG FOR THE NEW YORK POST
Before settling into the driver's seat, she offers patrons a written document outlining her responsibilities as an everyday gal fulfilling a typical task for complete strangers.
'It's a one-time agreement that protects me and them,' said Charlet, who's insured and a self-professed 'good' parallel parker.
'They sign and return the document, send a deposit, which is about half of the total cost, then we coordinate a key pickup.'
5 After inking an agreement, Charlet and her customers arrange a key pickup before she hits the streets for duty.
OLGA GINZBURG FOR THE NEW YORK POST
After the administrative must-dos are done, the UWS newbie hoofs it to the client's automobile about 15 minutes before parking rules take effect.
'Before I get in the car, I send the owner a video [of its exterior] to document any preexisting damage,' said Charlet. 'I send the video to the client via email, sit in the car for an hour and a half — I don't move the car until the street sweeper comes by — then I return the keys. And that's it.
'I'm really babysitting the car.'
5 Charlet tells The Post she hopes to one day expand her side hustle into a major business that routinely services all five boroughs and beyond.
OLGA GINZBURG FOR THE NEW YORK POST
Charlet is among the rising number of go-getters transforming their side hustles into a main source of income.
From walking dogs to babysitting tots to hawking designer diaper bags, taking on a second gig has become a necessary evil across the inflation-rocked U.S. — especially in the concrete jungle, where an annual salary of $100,000 is basically peanuts, per recent reports.
Nationwide, a staggering 51% of Americans have picked up a side hustle over the past year, according to new data via MarketWatch. Researchers found that the most common reasons folks are taking on additional work are to build savings (27%) and keep up with the cost of living (24%).
Now, entrepreneurial Charlet is just grateful that oft-mistrusting Manhattanites are entrusting her with their four-wheeled babies.
'I have been asked, 'Well, how do I know you're not going to steal my car?' — and that's such a fair question,' Charlet said with a laugh.
'But the people who've seen my TikTok and reached out to me for service seem to feel like they can relate to me,' she said.
'They're around my age, they get to see some of my fashion and lifestyle content,' she explained. 'They see I'm a normal, stylish woman — like I'm someone they could be friends with in real life.
'People want to hire someone they trust,' Charlet added, 'and I'm happy New Yorkers trust me.'
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