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Meet Atlanta’s most unlikely heroes, the Boot Girls. Masked vigilantes by day, sugar babies by night, the Boot Girls zip around town armed with plastic ghost keys, taking parking boots off your car for a small fee. A welcome service for a parking enforcement industry that’s been described as “predatory” by residents, city officials, and even state senators.
Here’s how it works: private companies patrol garages, booting cars for what—at times—seems like minor infractions. Parking anywhere can feel like a game of financial roulette, since boot companies charge $75 to unlock your car, and that doubles each subsequent day.
In this VICE profile, we embed with the Boot Girls, documenting their rise from hustlers to patron saints of Atlanta's parking lots.
