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November 15, 2005

So Many Sneakers, So Little Telephone Wire

sneakersLike most people, we've always wondered what the significance of all those pairs of sneakers looped over telephone wires was. The only theory we had ever heard was that it marked some kind of drug dealing turf. As the Times discovers, the sneakers on high may mean different things to different people:

Theories about the meaning of shoe-tossing are countless. It has been rumored to be a marker of gang or drug territory, but Detective Walter Burnes, a spokesman for the New York Police Department, said he never heard of someone using sneakers to publicize a drug corner. "I don't think it's the sort of thing that people advertise by leaving a sign," Detective Burnes said. People who live near shoe-lined wires speculate that it is a last-day-of-school tradition or a trophy collection of the shoes of mugging victims. Others said the ritual had no meaning beyond the fact that neighborhood youth were bored and not respectful. "I think it's disgusting," said Elizabeth Dean, 52, who lives almost under the utility line crossing Crotona Avenue.

What They Say Up There [NY Times]




Posted by Brownstoner at 9:28 AM | Comments (13)

Comments

drugs, mugging...people seem to have a pretty bleak view of city youth. tossing old sneakers over a telephone wire is just a bored kid look what i can do kind of thing. ever try it? it's not as easy as it looks.

Posted by: Drew at November 15, 2005 9:50 AM

growing up in the LES and queens, i recall a lot of this. it's also to mark the passing of a friend due to drugs, murder, etc...

Posted by: ltjbukem at November 15, 2005 9:58 AM

The sneaker thing definitely can be a sign for a drug spot, that is a common use for sneakers here in SoCal... gangs usually just tag. I always thought the sneakers were a west coast thing.

Posted by: Sassy at November 15, 2005 10:12 AM

I've seen the sneakers up on the lines for decades.

Posted by: Anonymous at November 15, 2005 10:40 AM

I've seen the sneakers up on the lines for decades.

Posted by: pete at November 15, 2005 10:41 AM

hmmm. i live in florida and have seen sneakers thrown onto phone lines in two ways. the first is older kids teasing a younger kid as they walk home from school. the younger kid has sneakers sticking out of his backpack from dressing out for gym. the older kids take them, the younger kid yells, 'give them back', the older kids toss the sneakers back and forth and eventually onto the line.

the other is when large flocks of birds migrate through the area and settle on the phone lines. if you throw something at them, the birds in the immediate vicinity of the object's trajectory will fly away from the wire momentarily, then settle back in the same spot. if you can throw something that stays on the wire and causes it to move, the birds don't come right back. sneakers work well for this.

Posted by: Anonymous at November 15, 2005 11:38 AM

usually sneakers on the wire are put there to keep alien space ships from entering the area. the sneakers extend the electrical current into almost like a forcefield. the aliens don't like to go near the "stray voltage". often school kids do this because they are in tune to these things.

Posted by: Anonymous at November 15, 2005 12:27 PM

Maybe I'm weird, but I like the sneakers up on the wires. It's comforting for some reason.

Posted by: Ken at November 15, 2005 1:40 PM

Sneakers on the wire in Brooklyn have never had anything to do with drugs or gangs in the past--it's had to do with kids getting new sneakers and tossing the old ones up to rot--celebrating new shoes back when it was a big deal to get new sneakers, and canvas sneakers actually rotted

Posted by: irma at November 15, 2005 3:43 PM

Drugs? LOL. I dont think so. Irma is right. We (Brooklyn natives) would toss our old sneakers on the wire. It was a right of passage. Kinda like marking your height changes on the wall.

Posted by: Anonymous at November 16, 2005 11:01 PM

Looping sneakers over wires was invented in 1959.

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Posted by: clomid success rate at June 30, 2006 4:11 AM

to me sneakers on the wire are comforting and bring good luck

Posted by: Phil at December 3, 2006 6:27 PM

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