What could have have been a contributing factor in his not being discovered for so long: “The [car] windows were tinted.” That might have been useful information in the first 80% of the article.
> Traffic officers who write parking tickets most likely passed by him at least twice, on days that his car was parked illegally. Officers looking for violators on street-cleaning days — on East 12th Street, those days were Tuesday and Friday — routinely ignore vehicles when the driver is sitting inside. Mr. Weglarz’s vehicle received no tickets on the Tuesday or Friday when it was parked illegally, suggesting an officer might have seen him and assumed he was just another idle driver.
[0] https://static01.nyt.com/images/2018/10/02/nyregion/00body2/...
People now buy packages where you pay annually and the tinting people will remove your tint, inspect your car, and then re-tint the car on the same day!
[0]http://thevillager.com/2018/09/06/end-of-the-road-on-e-12th-...