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September 25, 2009

Look, Ma, No Wheels

stripped-infiniti-0909.jpg
Fort Greene has been very, very good to one band of merry car strippers. A reader sent this photo in yesterday of an Infiniti sedan—minus four tires—parked on Cumberland Street off Lafayette Avenue. That's gotta hurt.




Posted by Brownstoner at 10:14 AM | Comments (52)
Categories: Crime, Fort Greene, Quality of Life

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Comments

Damn.

Posted by: InsertSnappyNameHere at September 25, 2009 10:16 AM

Ghetto!

Posted by: dirty_hipster at September 25, 2009 10:16 AM

don't ever park in my spot again.

Posted by: Petebklyn at September 25, 2009 10:17 AM

the psychic part of my brain thinks that an annoying bitter "cyclist" did this. i dont know why, i just "feel" it.

*rob*

Posted by: Butterfly at September 25, 2009 10:17 AM

What the??
How the heck do you take off tires without making noise?

Posted by: Re Writer at September 25, 2009 10:18 AM

Now that was funny, Rob.

Posted by: brownstoner at September 25, 2009 10:19 AM

Is that what one means by a "rim job"?

Posted by: Biff Champion at September 25, 2009 10:19 AM

That kind of thing would NEVER, EVER happen in Bed Stuy. I'm utterly amazed, with the number of high end cars i the nabe, that there are never any broken windows. I've never seen that tell-tale pile of broken glass once on streets near me!!!!

I had a conversation about this once with the bartender at Jolie. he grew up in Bed Stuy. this lady form nearby somewhere in BoCoCa came in and sat next to us and was relating her woes of having been broken into overnight. The bartender said that it never happens in bed Stuy. Various theories.

I think in sketchier parts of bed Stuy it must happen.

Posted by: daveinbedstuy at September 25, 2009 10:19 AM

"the psychic part of my brain thinks that an annoying bitter "cyclist" did this. i dont know why, i just "feel" it."

It's amazing what one can do with a u-lock and a little elbow grease.

Posted by: dirty_hipster at September 25, 2009 10:20 AM

Biff..given and received. Far more satisfying than this outcome.

Posted by: daveinbedstuy at September 25, 2009 10:20 AM

From 'rollin' on dubs' to spark throwin'. How lovely.

Posted by: InsertSnappyNameHere at September 25, 2009 10:23 AM

kudos to Rob on that one.

Posted by: Petebklyn at September 25, 2009 10:27 AM

yea...definitely revenge

Posted by: ftgreenepark at September 25, 2009 10:28 AM

I own a M45 and can tell you that these wheels taken off that G-coupe were taken by someone looking to put the wheels on their car. I see Nissan makes driving around with this Infiniti G-coupe wheels all around Brooklyn. I was even told once that I should put more than one wheel lock to prevent theft of my wheels. Do a search on eBay and those wheels sell for about 1200-1500 w/ tires. So sad.

Posted by: Attention2detail at September 25, 2009 10:29 AM

lol i think what i said was TOTALLY misinterpreted hahahah

*rob*

Posted by: Butterfly at September 25, 2009 10:32 AM

Two wheels were stolen from a car, I believe the same model, on 16th Street last week. They used a real cobble stone to prop up the car. Nice detail.

Posted by: IMBY at September 25, 2009 10:34 AM

That's been happening in WT/SS also. Time to get some wheel locks...

Posted by: denton at September 25, 2009 10:34 AM


I'm sure that like attention2detail says, those were some fancy rims, worth the trouble to take all four. It's quite possible the perpetrator victimized one of his own.

Posted by: East New York at September 25, 2009 10:35 AM

how are wheels taken off cars, and what tools are needed, btw?

*rob*

Posted by: Butterfly at September 25, 2009 10:37 AM

"how are wheels taken off cars, and what tools are needed, btw?"

haha - sounds like rob wants to take up a new hobby

Posted by: dirty_hipster at September 25, 2009 10:40 AM

"how are wheels taken off cars"
In the middle of the night.

"and what tools are needed"
quiet ones.

Posted by: Re Writer at September 25, 2009 10:40 AM


Come to think of it....there's a guy in Crown Heights who always places a lock his wheels. Now I know why.

Posted by: East New York at September 25, 2009 10:41 AM

Undo all the nuts with a tire iron while the car is still sitting on the ground. all one has to do is jack up one corner ever so slightly to slide the rim off. with two people working, less than 5 minutes. All you SUV drivers better watch out for your catalitic converters - be thankful that a hack saw makes A LOT of noise...

Posted by: bowl of dicks at September 25, 2009 10:49 AM

"Undo all the nuts with a tire iron...all one has to do is jack up one corner ever so slightly to slide the rim off."

BoD, you've just DIBS some ideas for his next date.

Posted by: Biff Champion at September 25, 2009 10:51 AM

Wait... "those wheels sell for about 1200-1500 w/ tires."

That's more than my *WHOLE* car is worth. And far more than my bicycle.

Posted by: tybur6 at September 25, 2009 10:51 AM

BWHAHAHA biff

Posted by: bowl of dicks at September 25, 2009 10:52 AM

I'm gonna try that.

Posted by: daveinbedstuy at September 25, 2009 10:57 AM

those tire and auto shops along 4th ave, they buy used tires? do you need to give them an ID like when you sell used video games back to gamestop?

hmmm...

jk jk

im a law abiding citizen.

*rob*

Posted by: Butterfly at September 25, 2009 10:57 AM

"I'm gonna try that."
And if it doesn't roll as you anticipated. Don't feel deflated.

Posted by: Re Writer at September 25, 2009 11:01 AM

"Fort Greene has been very, very good to one band of merry car strippers"

How much do merry car strippers charge for a lap dance?
Or in the case of old clunkers, a scrap dance?

Posted by: Biff Champion at September 25, 2009 11:07 AM

I know it's probably not *good* for the car... but is everything tucked up inside the chassis so this car isn't actually damaged? i.e., can they just put new wheels on the car and be fine to drive around?

Posted by: tybur6 at September 25, 2009 11:09 AM

wow. somebody in Ft Greene smacked in my window sometime back to steal an ashtry sprinked with toll booth change. There's desperados out there.

Posted by: donatella at September 25, 2009 11:10 AM

Yeah - is there any extra damage done to the car with it resting on the ground like that?

Posted by: dirty_hipster at September 25, 2009 11:15 AM

Not likely damaging the brake rotors. They are harder than the asphalt. If the catalytic converter gets crushed though it may need to be replaced. $$$

Posted by: daveinbedstuy at September 25, 2009 11:17 AM

So, really just the exhaust systems are exposed... well that's good. For some reason, no one wants the wheels on my 1998 Plymouth!

A while back I found my car trashed inside. Stole ALL of my change and made a mess of all of my crap. They can have my quarters, just clean up when you're done! Is that too much to ask?

Posted by: tybur6 at September 25, 2009 11:22 AM

Re: Car thefts in the "sketchy" parts of Bed-Stuy

There was very little vandalism of cars in Bed-Stuy back in the day because the fancy rides "the Lex coupe, the Beemers, and the Benz" often belonged to people who were involved in unsavory lines of work. The big car theft racket in the ghetto was stealing the computers out of American-made Fords, Chevys, etc and reselling them. Those cars tended to be owned by older working class folks who were less likely to shoot you if you were messing with their car. Prior to that it was the hubcap scam where guys would steal your hubcaps, go sell them on Atlantic Avenue where you could go buy them back by the end of the day.

This still pretty much holds true in the hood. So long as you don't have one of the top 10 car theft cars you're probably not going to find your window broken or your tires missing. Living in a neighborhood with lots of foot traffic and many streets with people on them at all hours of the day and night has its advantages.

Posted by: LC Arnett at September 25, 2009 11:44 AM

LC...Lexus, Mercedes, Range Rovers, BMWs, Chysler 300s on almost evry block these days!!!

Posted by: daveinbedstuy at September 25, 2009 11:52 AM

this is a good reality check

Posted by: Minard Lafever at September 25, 2009 11:59 AM

I think the rotors will warp from having to support the weight of the car. They're hard, but I don't know that they're thick/strong enough to hold up a car. And if the calipers are resting on the ground, they'll be damaged too.

Posted by: Sparafucile at September 25, 2009 12:01 PM

1) that is a Coupe not a sedan
2) Now that I saw this I want to leave work and run home to make sure all my wheels are on my G sedan!
3) is it too much to ask to throw some cinder blocks under there? Criminals these days have no respect

Posted by: AndYouWillKnowUsbyTheTrailofRenters at September 25, 2009 12:04 PM

the thing about this is that if most of us had seen this taking place we would have figured the person or people doing it were the owner of the car. Dont you think?

Posted by: bitter_bubble_buyer at September 25, 2009 12:07 PM

Dave, no one messes with those cause no one knows whether they can get potentially shot and whether a person of questionable character actually owns them.

In terms of car theft, it's pretty easy to do and those bolt wheel locks don't help, trust me on that one. A couple of professional guys can walk away with 4 tires in under a minute, even with wheel locks. There are tools that take those things off in a few seconds. The messed up part is that they left the car on the ground and usually what most pros would do is leave the car on bricks. firstly, it makes the thief's life a lot easier and it saves the person owning the car a bunch of expenses if his car is propped up. If you have very expensive wheels, the theifs might even leave the car standing on 2 jacks (seen it before as well) because a jack costs something like 40 bucks and the rims can cost up to 5 grand or 2 grand on the black market so it's worth the expense.

I bought a car before on an auction and it had the secret locks and I didn't realize that I didn't get a key with them when I bought the car. I needed to replace my tires after a while and I brought it to the tire guy by my house and he took them off in a couple of minute with a special tool he has that breaks the lock. Just imagine a larger version of a took that takes the nails out of the wall that have broken heads.

Posted by: Kensingtonian at September 25, 2009 12:11 PM

If you have nice rims/tires use a wheel lock, they are lugnuts that have an unusuak shape and need a specific key to loosed or tighten.

Posted by: bmfesq at September 25, 2009 12:14 PM

"I think the rotors will warp from having to support the weight of the car. "

The rotors will be fine. They are hardened steel, (bc they get super hot from brake calipers). plus, replacement rotors are pretty cheap. OTOH, letting the car sit on rims severely jeapordizes the tie rods, and those ain't cheap.

And judging by the rust on the rotors, this car has been sitting a few days.

bummer.

Posted by: bowl of dicks at September 25, 2009 12:33 PM

I think someone's under there.

Posted by: Minard Lafever at September 25, 2009 12:40 PM

If anyone is interested, on the other side of the car is a crushed house paint can under the driver's door. Assuming this was used to hold the frame up while taking the wheels?

Too add insult to injury, the can dented the door and left a giant glob of white paint on the car.

Posted by: GreeneRph at September 25, 2009 12:53 PM

What the hell is wrong with people?!?!?!

I have actually parked my car in exactly that spot a few times. Thanking my lucky stars that that has never happened to me.

Posted by: jdoo at September 25, 2009 1:14 PM

And the sad thing is the traffic pigs will start giving tickets now when its not moved for sweeping.

Posted by: williamsburgguy at September 25, 2009 2:19 PM

if it wasnt for those "stupid traffic pigs" our nyc taxes would be even MORE expensive. i say keep write those tikkies up ladies! ticket illegally parked bikes as well, we need all the revenue we can get!

*rob*

Posted by: Butterfly at September 25, 2009 2:49 PM

That was my car on 16th Street. If anyone saw anything (even a suspicious car) PM me. Dying to find out more...

M*thaF**kercs

Posted by: DJAnyStyle at September 25, 2009 5:51 PM

Seriously, DJ?

Dave, I've also noticed cars go unmolested in Bed Stuy. Last year there was a nice old Jaguar parked outside a block away from us. Too funny.

In contrast, two or three times a week last year I'd come out of our apt in Bushwick and find glass all over the ground because someone had broken into a car on our block.

Also, if you're up by the lofts around Flushing, you'll see ravaged and burnt out cars all over the place. BushwickBK has posted a lot of photos of them. It's a dumping ground for stolen cars. And maybe a lot of the auto body shops in the area are doing work on them....not sure.

Great place to get your car fixed for cheap though. I recommend it.

Posted by: mopar at September 27, 2009 10:17 AM

Honestly, I'll take broken glass over stolen wheels any day. It's amajor f**king ordeal - I would EAT the mutherf**kers, if I caught them.

Posted by: DJAnyStyle at September 29, 2009 6:34 PM

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