Feb. 13--Crews on Friday will begin tossing the household flotsam and jetsam that Chicagoans have been using to call dibs on parking spots since a blizzard dumped over 19 inches of snow earlier this month.
The Department of Streets and Sanitation will start removing the plastic chairs, dresser drawers and anything else they find on the street, starting on streets where people have called 311 to complain about dibs, according to a city release.
"As is the case with every winter season, once snow starts to melt, Streets and Sanitation crews begin to remove material from the public way," Streets and Sanitation Commissioner Charles Williams said in the release. "I want to ask residents to be good neighbors and remove material from the public way to ensure it is not moved by our crews."
Dibs began as a way for people to claim parking spots they dig out after a heavy snow, though in some cases drivers simply put out furniture to claim spaces they didn't shovel.
Mayor Rahm Emanuel endorsed the Chicago tradition of dibs after the blizzard, saying he believes in "sweat equity."
