Prospect Heights Just Went Ghetto. Retro Ghetto!

Was walking down Park Place between Underhill and Vanderbilt just now and saw a crowd of people around a car. I of course rubber necked it on my way by and saw a brand new Infiniti SUV up on milkcrates; all four tires were missing. When I asked the cop what happened he told me someone had stolen the tires.

Man, I have't seen a car on crates (or bricks) since the 80s! Retro Ghetto!

Make sure you put your club on both your driving and road wheels!

This will no doubt please those who are decrying the gentrification of PH.

Keepin' it REAL!

I actually feel like this type of crime is proof positive that the place is gentrified.

I totally want a pic. :-$

Unfreaking believable.
So I went out there to take some pictures, hoping it was still there. It was. As was the guy and his wife, so I talked to them for a while. Get this...

it happened just 2 hours ago, in broad daylight. Not a scratch to the car and it is nicely positioned on the milk crates. There is NO WAY someone didn't see this go down. The lugs are all nicely left on the ground and nothing else is wrong... just no tires. The guy and his wife are still waiting for a tow truck, but the police came and went and didn't even bother to really do much at all. The guy gave me his email address so I can send him the pics as well, so if anyone saw anything at all, let me know and I can give you his email address.

In the meantime... check it out:




MOD NOTE: links fixed!
-C

I passed that guy but I didn't get to talk to him because he was on the phone with someone who either sounded like AAA or his insurance company. It was pretty surprising to see.

ok, wtf am i doing wrong with the links?? i feel borderline retarded.

OMG! this same thing happened in my new neighborhood probably a week after my boyfriend and I first moved in! I didn't see it, but my boyfriend said it was a brand spanking new infiniti, (or acura, i can't remember) sitting on crates with the lugs neatly placed on the curb. the only difference is that every bodyshop in the Red Hook vicinity stuck their card on the windshield!

Is there a rim bandit in Brooklyn?

You should send these pictures in to Gothamist. Truly incredible that it went down in broad daylight! This is really still is a very diverse neighborhood, isn't it?

This is horrible!! No car is safe!!

Gothamist can grab em off my flickr site if they want. And yeah, it is horrible. The poor guy was as stunned as we all are. I refuse to believe that someone didn't see this go down. Park Place gets a lot of traffic, pedestrian or otherwise, at noon. And with the McMansion work going on just across the street... come on...

I forwarded this on to my boyfirend, he called and said that the one in R.H. was indeed an Infiniti, similar model, but perhaps a little longer, and it was also positioned in the same way on milk crates, but the crates had crushed somewhat under the weight of the car.

Infiniti wheels must be an easy steal or something.

I did not realize that milk crates are that strong.

Steve Austin wrote: I did not realize that milk crates are that strong.

yeah. where I come from this is usually done with cinderblocks and/or bricks.

I'll find out who did this...I'll keep you guys posted....

This morning whilst standing in the rain waiting for a bus with my son, I was thinking how nice it would have been to have a car at that moment. Now that I see the pics, I've snapped back to reality and am glad I don't have a car.

I can't believe that this happened! Why didn't someone step in and use a super-soaker to stop the perpetrators in their tracks?

walked by around 100pm, and saw the car! i was very surprised to see this, and i feel really bad for the owner.

Captain Salty wrote: walked by around 100pm, and saw the car! i was very surprised to see this, and i feel really bad for the owner.

You know, I give the guy mad props. He was taking it all in such good stride. If it were me i'd be cussing up a storm and ranting and raving about it. And he was just there being chill and just dealing with it. talk about grace under a bad situation.

This happened about a year ago in Park Slope to a very similar car, I think it was also an infinity. First they took the headlights which I think I remember reading were worth $600 each or something. The guy got new headlights and about a week later they took the headlights again and the wheels. The guy must have either gotten rid of the car or gotten a garage because I don't see it parked on the street anymore.

I don't have a car, but this sure makes it seem like it's worth the extra $60 for wheel locks.

I lived in Park Slope for 3 years about 6 years ago, and at the time had a really crappy '86 Mazda. A real P.O.S. It got cherrypicked for parts over the course of that time, it was super frustrating. We ended up going to the car parts places outside of Shea Stadium to replace them every few months. :x

The thing is, OF COURSE random people saw this going down, but it probably looked like chaging the tires or something. I bet they did it really fast.

ahem. . . not just tires, but the wheels were stolen.

alafairnadia wrote: [quote=Steve Austin]I did not realize that milk crates are that strong.

yeah. where I come from this is usually done with cinderblocks and/or bricks.

I heard that in Park Slope they use unruly children's Maclarens.

I live near where that SUV is parked. My guess is it occurred in very early in the a.m. during the downpour when no one was about. I heard no alarms, so nobody outside during the day. That SUV had some very nice rims. You gotta get locks when your wheel/rims are costing you over a G each.

At least it was an SUV, to think the planet was a little bit cleaner for just those moments.

my entire car was stolen when i lived in clinton hill back in '99. only it was used for some crimes and then picked up by the police. i had to pay to have the car removed from the tow lot - and i thought i was about to luck out on some insurance money, nope! ..and the little toyota was trashed with soda and donuts.

vanilla wrote: ..and the little toyota was trashed with soda and donuts.

are you sure the car wasn't stolen by cops??

i gotta say holy smokes!

Thank God my building has a parking lot I can see from my window.

I heard that in Park Slope they use unruly children's Maclarens.

What are you thinking? The Maclaren could get dirty or even damaged. In PS, it's always best to use actual children to support the car. There are always a few available.