NBC Meet the Press host David Gregory reportedly threw quite the tantrum on Tuesday over a charity event held on a street near his home that has temporarily caused a shortage of on-street parking.
The Washington Post's Reliable Source column has the story (emphasis mine):
Note to David Gregory: If cars are parked in front of your house for a month, send someone else to complain about it.
The “Meet the Press” host made a scene Tuesday when he lit into organizers of the D.C. Design House, located this year on Foxhall Road. The broadcaster was distressed that visitors to the show house had parked on a nearby street, some directly in front of his home, preventing easy access by his crew.
“There are a lot of people clogging up our streets,” Gregory told us late Tuesday.
It’s hard to miss the 6-foot-5 journalist under ordinary circumstances — harder yet when he’s waving his arms and complaining loud enough for everyone nearby to hear. This all went down on the front lawn of the show house, witnessed by several designers and guests at a media preview.
“You could hear all this with the doors closed,” said designer David Mitchell. “This was a very public and immature display. It’s a public street. You don’t get to live in a neighborhood and say who gets to park.”
Gregory said he wouldn’t describe the confrontation as “blowing up.” But, he acknowledged, “I did go over there to complain.” He said that he received no warning about the monthlong charity event (except for a large sign on the empty residence) and that he has contacted his local ANC commissioner. “I’m not happy about it and I hope it gets resolved.”
The parking situation has been tough lately: The French ambassador, temporarily relocated to the neighborhood during embassy renovations, recently hosted a large party. But Gregory flatly denied warning the show-house folks that he “knows all the politicians in town,” as witnesses claim.
Show-house reps said they’ve done due diligence: posting signs, hiring guards, finding parking lots. The ANC board voted last week to restrict parking on one side of nearby streets — and neighbors are getting comped tickets to see the house.
But honestly, does Gregory really need the parking space? The veteran Washington journalist reportedly lives in a $2.5-million home on Dexter Street, NW, just 1.3 miles from the NBC Washington studios where Meet the Press is taped, so he's easily in biking and walking distance from work,. There are also bus routes that can take him to work in about a half an hour.
What's more, walking or biking to work would be good for Gregory's health, and for the environment, as his colleagues like Chris Hayes -- who once compared climate change to the struggle to end slavery and said in an MSNBC Lean Forward promo that it was the "biggest governing challenge" that America has ever faced -- might note.
