»Vintila Banescu

The New York Times rarely comes close to the tenor and topic of a Paul Auster story, but consider this:

The 1975 Alfetta was hardly pristine. Panels had been replaced, its body was pierced by splotches of rust, and its maroon coat was faded by the sun. But it was still an Italian sports car, designed by Giorgetto Giugiaro, and it still made people stop. Mr. Banescu, who often wore a beret, was shy but friendly.

Sometime in early May, the Alfa stopped moving. Neighbors noticed, but then perhaps forgot: In Brooklyn, it was the summer of the parking spot, when the city announced that it was suspending the alternate-side parking rules in various neighborhoods as it replaced street-cleaning signs. Mr. Banescu’s car became one of dozens, maybe hundreds, of cars allowed to sit in the same space for months this summer.