Joey Morales\u2019 Ford SUV stopped along a quiet residential street in South L.A., its headlights shining on what would be a perfect parking spot if not for the three orange cones blocking it.<\/p>\n
Cones in this part of town carry weight \u2014 they\u2019re used not just by public works and construction crews but by locals as de facto gatekeepers blocking vehicles from crossing. With a friend filming him for his growing TikTok following as the \u201cCone King,\u201d Morales, 31, exited his vehicle in a yellow reflective vest, grabbed the cones and tossed them into his SUV.<\/p>\n
His next step would be giving the cones away to construction crews, or if labeled as L.A. property, returning them to the city.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
Orange cones line a sidewalk in the L.A. neighborhood of Florence. Many residents in high-density areas have taken to using cones to block off parking spots in front of their homes. <\/p>\n
(Juliana Yamada \/ Los Angeles Times)<\/p>\n
In Los Angeles, the battle for public parking spaces has been likened to a blood sport. Be it cones, trash cans, fake \u201cNo Parking\u201d signs or other items, Angelenos have for decades made the act of parking on a public street a virtual survival of the fittest and best prepared in a city of 3.8 million.<\/p>\n
But saving a parking spot by obstructing the street, without a valid permit, is against the city\u2019s municipal code<\/a>. <\/p>\n In the last fiscal year, StreetsLA, a division of the city\u2019s Public Works Department, responded to more than 4,000 requests to remove obstructions in public rights-of-way, which include street parking spaces, said StreetsLA spokesperson Dan Halden.<\/p>\n Those who violate the law are subject to administrative fines beginning at $50<\/a>, but that\u2019s about it, according to the city. Los Angeles police do not respond to parking disputes over things such as cones unless there\u2019s a \u201cfight breaking out or some other criminal event,\u201d the department said. <\/p>\n Parking disputes turning violent in Los Angeles and beyond, unfortunately, are not unheard of.<\/p>\n A no-parking sign is posted on a gate in Florence.<\/p>\n (Juliana Yamada \/ Los Angeles Times)<\/p>\n Two years ago, an entire block in Echo Park confronted a yoga studio, Modo Yoga,<\/a> whose participants were blocking driveways and hitting residents\u2019 cars as they occupied every available parking spot on the street.<\/p>\n In 2006 in Arleta, a man shot and killed a neighbor who had parked in front of his home.<\/p>\n But it\u2019s not that serious everywhere, such as in San Bruno, Calif., where police recently posted a friendly reminder to residents that blocking public parking spots is prohibited after someone there started using orange cones too.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n