Shops in the Bay Ridge neighborhood of Brooklyn, New York are taking money away from meter maids by offering customers an alternative to the scramble to find a parking place and the frustration of finding an expensive ticket on the windshield. Under the neighborhood program, motorists just need to call in their order with a cell phone and drive by to pick up their items at the curb. The local baker, butcher and even a bookstore participate. Although the practice cuts into the business because it eliminates browsing and impulse purchasing, merchants are doing it because they are tired of the treatment customers have been getting.

"I truly feel bad when my customers get tickets," Angelo Saraniero, 43, owner of Your Baker told the New York Daily News. "It's not good when it costs them $115 to park and pick up a piece of cake."