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Views From Your Windows
-- The L Magazine sent us this recipe for cold green pea soup with smoked trout-- but why?
-- A porch and flowering meadow on the 7th floor? We're dying of envy.
-- Ousmane Zongo's family is getting $3m dollars for his wrongful-death.
-- When it's a van vs. a bike store, the van usually wins.
-- The Apiary has some great photo coverage of the UCB concert in the park.
-- A sad and moving article about covering the murder beat.
-- CBGBs in Vegas? Bet on it, baby.
-- You know who really hates bikers? Dead people.
-- Dr. Bartha has moved to a much smaller house.
-- Oliver Stone's World Trade Center: "raw, but accurate."
-- Silence of the City: pieces rejected by Talk of the Town. (Via Kottke.)
-- All Gothamist correspondence will now be sent with Wonder Woman stamps.
Car Alarms on summer nights from the Gothamist Contribute stream-- mails yours to photos (at) gothamist.
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Here's a tip for errant car alarm systems:
Write a note indicating a problem with the owner's alarm system. Put that in a ziplock bag. Place bag onto car hood.
Place large brick atop baggie.
I would think that most people would get the message at that point.
Or you can always slash the tires. How about using a key to scratch the message in the paint? Acid etching the windshield might work.
yeah, car alarms really suck!!! I really hate them.
can someone explain why people still use them?
they seem to only create noise pollution,
What brightliner, annoying car alarms are something you support as well?
Thanks for linking us. I think the link is supposed to say "dead people".
Hey, don't knock car alarms. I saw 7 cops rushing to the scene of a car alarm just this morning.
Car alarms are one of the most pointless, antisocial inventions of modern times. Mayor Mike made like he was cracking down on noise pollution, but he limited himself to the Mr. Softee Menace, completely ignoring the number one noise polluter in NYC: the car alarm industry.
Anyway, much as I'd like to throw a brick thru the windshield of the offending vehicle, you just have to call the cops and they'll unplug the damn thing. Maybe if the NYPD end up wasting too much time dealing with car alarm complaints, they'll put a little pressure on City Hall to do something about the problem.
The last time this happened, it was right in front of my window (I live on the first floor). In the middle of the night, I finally smeared some kind of edible substance (peanut butter? honey?) under the door handles. I never had a problem with this car again. No permanent damage, but I imagine it was a major inconvenience.
Do they still have those benzi boxes?
I remember people carrying them to bars or anywhere they went.
Thank god i don't drive.
Snarkfucker,
Nope, I hate them. I just figured it was your car and was giving Clorox some suggestions on how to handle you. Thank you for playing, and I hope you enjoy your lovely consolation prize.
People, all you need to do is call 311. They will connect you as a non-emergency call with the person who dispatches the cop cars. Then the cops, when they have downtime, will come turn off the alarm. It works great and doesn't take long.
And what is with the A. Ahearn hating? Somebody's jealous and/or in need of a nap.
Audible car alarms should and can be banned. See:
http://www.transalt.org/campaigns/caralarms/index.html
I understand Mr. Dopkin tries to keep his Gothamist posts light and witty, but it strikes me as kind of insensitive to make the flip comment that Dr. Bartha has "moved to a smaller house." Yes, the man was mentally disturbed and caused a minor catastrophe, but it's important to keep in mind that this was a father and husband. Please show at last little respect for the dead, no matter the circumstances.
A father who hated his children and a husband who hated his wife.
Until car alarms are banned, may I recommend 311 and ear plugs.
Also, when will car horns be banned, too? I have never seen one used as it is legally intended. They are just an anger outlet for bad drivers.
I would like to see all new cars fitted with a light on the top that stays on for a while after the horn is used. That way, we know who to throw the brick at.
Alternatively, charge drivers $1 or $2 for each use of the horn. If you need it for safety (the only legal use), you won't mind paying. Otherwise try swearing to yourself or raising the middle finger.
Interlard — an even easier solution?
Make the car horns just as loud inside the car as it is outside the car. The few times I've used my horn, I'm amazed at how quiet it is inside the car.
Clorox Bleach,
Thanks for the baggie & brick suggestion. There's someone in my neighborhood who doesn't understand what a "BUS STOP" sign means. Every day this idiot parks his/her car in the painted box that designates that space as a bus stop--which means that people wanting to board the bus have to walk all the way to the corner and walk along side traffic or jump over the bumper of the tightly parked cars on the street. It's very annoying and totally not safe for bus riders-- not to mention it has to be illegal?
Once again, thanks. Now I need to go look for a threatening looking brick...
Oh, Anya —
I called 311 about a car alarm on my block, and they told me I had to call 911 instead — which I finally did, after they assured me it was okay to call 911 for that. Has this happened to anyone else? Seems like a huge waste of an emergency resource.
Last night a HUGE tractor trailer decided to double park on 10th Ave. and the driver went to the bar for a while. Another person in the HUGE tractor trailer kept honking the VERY LOUD horn. So I called the precinct a half a block away (around the corner). They never sent anyone to see what was going on even though there were several cops standing on the sidewalk outside the precinct talking and smoking. After an hour or so the tractor trailer moved on.
And yet you say SEVEN cops responded to a car alarm?!
A couple of years ago I was having lunch on Park Ave. So. and for that one hour I didn't hear a single car horn. I wonder who you have to pay to get the law enforced in other areas of the city. What good are those signs that say No Horn Honking if they aren't enforced!?
Whenever I hear a car alarm I'm rooting for the thief. At least he can get the damn thing outta here.
Re: aed - I think the cops rushing to the car alarm thing was, ahem, sarcasm.
Car alarm owners, users, and manufacturers should all be collectively sent to car alarm hell where it's perpetually 3AM on a Tuesday night and alarms are going off in surround sound...for eons and eons and eons...
In Park Slope, I've egged and seen egged cars whose alarm keeps going off. I've also called 911 for this as well, with the cops showing up relatively shortly, snorting at the egged car, and actually finding the person who's car it is and ringing their bell.
I too have egged cars with annoying car alarms. And when I ran out of eggs and the alarms continued, I threw canned items out my window at the offending car.
I think the driver got the message. You should have seen his face when he came to pick up his car (egged and dented).
Never again did I see that car anywhere even remotely near where I live.
Yes, when you call 311 about a car alarm you get connected as a non-emergency call to the 911 dispatcher. That's the way they set it up. It seemed really weird to me too at first, but that's their system and that is the correct thing to do.911 is set up with the expectation that the vast majority of calls will be non-emergency.
So you can either call 311 first and they will connect you to 911, or you can call 911 and clearly state "This is NOT an emergency" at the start of your call.
Don't waste perfectly good food. My favorite is blocks of ice from a high rise. Freeze em in butter tubs so they're nice and big. Do a lot a damage from fifth floor and higher. Best of all, unless it's winter, the evidence melts quickly.