Only in New York City could an ordinary Sunday night parking drama explode into a viral spectacle of trash cans, fists, and a mother-daughter tag team who apparently thought the law didn’t apply to their curbside kingdom.
At a Glance
- A Ridgewood, Queens, dispute over an illegally saved parking spot erupted into a violent assault caught on camera.
- Victim Jada McPherson, a 21-year-old student, was attacked and subjected to racial slurs for moving a garbage can to legally park.
- Mother Andreea Dumitru and daughter Sabrina Starman face charges of assault and harassment as a hate crime.
- The incident has sparked outrage over the city’s failure to stop illegal “dibs” on public parking spots.
A Parking Spot Becomes a Battleground
Parking in New York City has always been a blood sport, but a violent encounter in Ridgewood, Queens, has exposed how far some residents will go to claim public property as their own. On July 7, when 21-year-old student Jada McPherson tried to park in a public spot illegally “reserved” with a trash can, she was brutally attacked.
The alleged assailants, Andreea Dumitru, 49, and her 21-year-old daughter, Sabrina Starman, were captured on a viral video confronting and then physically assaulting McPherson. According to police and prosecutors, the two women yanked the victim’s hair and hurled racial slurs at her, all for the sin of trying to park legally on a public street.
Entitlement, Violence, and Hate
The NYPD’s 104th Precinct arrested Dumitru and Starman, charging them with assault and harassment. Due to the racial slurs used during the attack, the charges have been classified as hate crimes. Both women were arraigned and quickly released without bail. A male accomplice who was present during the confrontation remains at large.
Residents said that suspects had been using trash cans and traffic cones to illegally block off sparking spots on the street. https://t.co/Uj3zP69stE
— Sunny 101.7 Canton (@Sunny1017Canton) July 12, 2025
Long-term residents of the neighborhood say this was not the first time the family had used trash cans and other objects to illegally save public parking spaces. This time, however, their sense of entitlement boiled over into criminal violence. The incident has fueled widespread outrage, with many New Yorkers demanding a crackdown on the brazen and illegal practice of “space hoarding.”
A City’s Failure to Enforce Basic Order
This incident is more than just a parking dispute; it’s a symptom of a city that has lost its grip on basic public order. The fact that residents feel so emboldened that they will physically assault someone for using a public resource speaks volumes about the erosion of respect for the law.
For years, city officials have largely ignored the chronic problem of illegal parking “dibs,” leaving law-abiding citizens to fend for themselves. It shouldn’t take a viral video of a young woman being attacked for the city to enforce its own rules. Until there are real consequences for this kind of lawlessness, the next parking spot brawl is just around the corner.
