Owning a car in New York City is a pain.
The endless parking battle alone is enough to make you want to set a brick on the gas pedal and aim the whole mess toward the East River.
That’s probably the reason a growing number of companies see an opportunity to do the owning for us. German automaker Daimler has rolled out the car-sharing latest entry, a service called car2go.
The company, already operating in 30 cities across the world, plans to drop 400 of its tiny two-seaters on Oct. 25 in Brooklyn following a model that’s similar to Citi Bike. You just find one their cars on the street, drive it where you need to go, park and get out. There’s no need to return to a central hub as long as you’re in an approved neighborhood.
The Daily News headed out for a sneak peak and a spin to see how it works.
I picked up the fortwo Smart car curbside on Court St. in Brooklyn Heights and swiped a pass card over a windshield-mounted sensor to unlock the door.
Customers will be able to find the nearest car using an app and either make a reservation or just start walking and hope they get there before someone else picks it up.
The blue-and-white buggy is about the size of a golf cart, but I’m able to duck my gangly 6-foot-6 frame into the driver’s seat without much trouble.
I’m still a little dubious about the Smart car’s ride, so I decide to try it on Dumbo’s cobblestone streets with car2go rep Adrianne Andang riding shotgun.
Everything’s fine until we leave the asphalt. The stone streets are a rocky ride in a normal-size sedan, and I can feel my spine rattle in the miniscule automobile.
So the fortwo wasn’t made for off-roading — it’s convenience we’re after, right? Busting free of the tyranny of immoveable subway stops and all that?
I cruise around downtown Brooklyn, going wherever I like. car2go charges 41 cents per minute — or $14.99 per hour — after a one-time $35 membership fee, so some meandering isn’t a killer.
Andang tells me the one-way nature of the service makes it good for commuters, because you need only leave it in approved zones.
Brooklyn’s 35-mile “home” zone will run along the western half of the borough from Greenpoint in the north to Coney Island in south.
I take the westbound Brooklyn-Queens Expressway for a little highway driving and pop off at the 39th St. exit because, well, it’s lunch time and how many chances do I have to go through a drive-through in Brooklyn?
We settle for KFC — the Fourth Ave. White Castle is closed, people! How did I not know this? — and head back toward downtown.
I spot a normal-sized parking spot on Remsen St. This is the best part because it looks like an airplane hangar from behind the wheel of the fortwo.
I sweep in along the curb, hop out an I’m done. My wings aren’t even cold.
