LA man cracking down on people using cones to reserve street parking
Joey Morales, known as the "Cone King" on TikTok, has made it his mission to stop people from using the orange pylons to reserve street parking along Los Angeles' busy roads.
"I started this about 2023, early 2023 is when I fully started going in with it," he said. "I want to say I've, at least, removed over 5,000 off of Los Angeles streets."
It's against city code to block the street with anything without a permit. Residents can call 311 to report it, but Morales turned into a vigilante parking enforcement officer after struggling to find street parking himself.
"A lot of people would say it's a Karen move," Morales said. "It is, but at the end of the day, you can't pick up a public parking spot and assume that because it's in front of your house, it belongs to you."
With more than 20,000 followers on TikTok, Morales records himself reclaiming the open curb space from those he considers entitled. The Robin Hood of parking also takes requests to remove cones from neighborhoods around South LA.
"I had over 3,000 messages that I get on a weekly basis from residents here in South LA who are having the same issue with everybody," he said.
Many of the cones belong to the LA Department of Transportation or Public Works, which he returns to the city.
Not everyone likes what he's doing. A man confronted him for taking a cone on Wednesday night. Still, LA's Cone King remains undeterred, believing he's filling a need the community wants and needs.
"I don't show up to an area unless I've been requested," he said. "If I'm showing up, it's because multiple people in that area have already contacted me and the city has done absolutely nothing about it."
