New York Daily Photo Analytics

Wednesday, September 03, 2008

No Radio

I have a very strict policy of only using photos taken of or in the 5 boroughs of New York City. And being away on vacation is no excuse to use photos of another locale. I prepare for this in advance.
However, the mini-event that occurred on Saturday was so outrageous to me from a New Yorker's perspective, that I have to break my rules and tell this tale.
While away this weekend, my two nephews and a friend decided to go for a short canoe ride in a river at my parents gated condo community. They asked if I suggested wearing shorts rather than pants in the event they get wet. My response was that if they were to fall into a river, shorts versus pants would not be a consideration. BUT, I did highly recommend emptying their pockets of valuables, particularly knowing they were affluent boys and the contents of their pockets was probably greater than that of many 3rd world countries. They saw the sense of this and immediately concurred. So out came the iPhones, cellphones, a wallet with credit cards visible and a Gucci wallet. They placed all of these items on the BACK OF THE CAR IN PLAIN VIEW (appropriately on the hood of one boy's Audi). I was incredulous. "You guys are going to leave all this outside in plain view?" I asked. They responded "Whose going to take it? There's only a bunch of old people here." That was not strictly true and I am still absolutely floored by this occurrence.
Now admittedly, this cavalier attitude was largely due to a lifetime of privilege and never knowing need. And it was a gated community. But there was also an element of TRUST that is just nonexistent in New York City. You can not leave anything of value unattended. I have heard stories of thefts that are unfathomable - a UPS driver once told me of a man that ran down the street with a large projection television stolen from his truck! The driver was unable to catch him in the ensuing chase.
In New York City, a vehicle should always be locked and nothing of value should be in plain view. This process is so automatic to me it has become a reflex action - I even lock my car in the driveway of my parents home in the suburbs.
Every seasoned New Yorker remembers a time when auto break ins for radios were common. At one time I recall seeing broken glass somewhere on the streets on nearly a daily basis - a tell tale sign of a recent break in. Soon the ubiquitous "NO RADIO" signs in the windows of cars started to become a common sight - a plea to the would be thief that a particular car was not a worthwhile target.
We live in a time where disposable income seems to be greater with youth; a generation that would never grasp the idea of placing a sign in the window of their car that says "NO RADIO"...

13 comments:

Wayne said...

I hope they, at least, fell in the river.

Anonymous said...

Somewhere between August 2004 & April 2005 I believe some employees of Stewart Airport up in Newburgh, NY were arrested for taking money and credit cards from suitcases. To be funny, next time I traveled by plane I left a note in my suitcase saying "No cash or credit cards." When I got to my destination, I notice the zipper was broke, handle was broken off, and part of the wheel mechanism was damage. Never used that note again.

Anonymous said...

I, too, am a trusting idealist, but over the years have learned the hard way to exercise caution.
Hopefully the young folks in your life will not have to learn important lessons from bad experience.

May I suggest a movie that takes place in a very up-scale gated community on a lake: "Funny Games," directed by Michael Haneke. Not a happy story, but an excellent movie for a dark and stormy night...

Anonymous said...

This article is about trust. However, you post the license plate of a wealthy family member's license plate on your blog. Who knows what types of people would use this information to your family's detriment.

Brian Dubé said...

crazy;
you are right - horrible oversight on my part. i will probably recrop photo. tx

Brian Dubé said...

crazy;
you are right - horrible oversight on my part. i will probably recrop photo. tx

• Eliane • said...

I was about to say the same. Needs some blurring or cropping.

And if anyone needs more to be convinced: just try leaving your bicycle outside for a night. If you don't attach it properly, chances are that the next day it will either be gone or a wheel will be missing. If it is still there and you do not that fancy saddle chain or have forgotten to take it off: your saddle will disappear.

istanbuldailyphoto said...

nice photo

Dave-CostaRicaDailyPhoto.com said...

Your post reminds me of s story about New Yorkers being victimized by thefts in Rome.

I was once talking to a couple from New York who were on vacation in Rome. The wife had her purse snatched by theives who sped by her on a motor scooter and yanked her purse from over her shoulder. (She had a disability so she had to walk with both arms in crutches, so she was not able to grasp her purse.)

She said that when she went to the American Embassy in Rome to get a replacement passport, the Embassy officer told her that it was mostly New Yorkers who seemed to be the victims of crime in Rome. He said that it was not little old ladies from Kansas, who evidently took a lot of safety precautions, but New Yorkers who let their guard down because they felt safer because they were no longer in New York.

Anonymous said...

... a lifetime of privilege and never knowing need .... hmmm, needing and a lack for wanting are very different.

Anonymous said...

Ok, I know this comment is a bit late, but since you linked to this post in your most recent post...

New York is the only place I've ever been where you can leave your money on the bar while you go to the bathroom, even if you're alone, and no-one will touch it, even if it's $50-100.

I lived in NYC for 7 years (and went to a lot of bars!) and always found this to be the case. I'm a New Zealander, and if you did that there, it'd be gone within 30 seconds.

Anonymous said...

about the license plate, how is it any different viewing this in a photo then in real life? never understood the paranoia about that.

Brian Dubé said...

Hawk78nyc - My thoughts exactly. What can you do with a license plate number?