Old Sounds in Harlem

**stache** · July 10th, 2008, 03:56 PM

Yes but they're not in the park making a bunch of noise.

**lofter1** · July 10th, 2008, 08:00 PM

"a bunch of noise" < < > > "the sound of West African drums"

No matter how you look at it (or listen to it) I don't see how anyone can side with folks who resort to emails filled with this:

“Why don’t we just get nooses for everyone of those lowlifes and hang them from a tree? They’re used to that kind of treatment anyway!” ...

“I hope you all agree that the best thing that has happened to Harlem is gentrification. Let’s get rid of these ‘people’ and improve the neighborhood once and for all.”

Legal prosecution is just what that idiot needs.

**stache** · July 10th, 2008, 08:13 PM

But I think this will more than likely be resolved in court.

**lofter1** · July 10th, 2008, 08:29 PM

The only one who appears in legal jeopardy is the purported e-mail writer (who denies he wrote it, and blames a phantom hacker for getting into his computer -- the new version of "my dog ate ...").

The drummers aren't being taken into court, as far as I can tell.

Am I missing something?

**stache** · July 11th, 2008, 01:08 AM

No, but this one will unfold further.

**Luca** · July 11th, 2008, 02:42 AM

I'll have to assume that the "nooses" comment was either a very bad joke or, indeed, a malicious plant. Even if one THOUGHT that way, they'd have to be suicidal to write it.

I mean, it's NYC, not Mississippi (with all due respect to Mississippi).

**stache** · July 11th, 2008, 07:31 AM

Cops do it all the time. Our new Gov. just made it a crime to use noose imagery in connection with a written threat.

**Ninjahedge** · July 11th, 2008, 09:21 AM

When talking about black culture, you do not infer nooses and swinging from trees.

It is only one step away from asking for a burning cross.

As for the drums, yes I can see them being noisy and disruptive and people have a right to complain.

BUT, and this is a big but, they have been there for 40 odd YEARS now. People should do some research on this before they buy. It is not like these guys were hiding or anything.

You just have to think of it as one long train once a week. You bought the house near the tracks, complaining about the noise it makes is just plain silly.

Also, this is NYC! You are sitting home every Saturday all day? Maybe you are nursing your hangovers. They do not seem to be playing late night, the complaint is just silly.

Oh, also, if you are going to be buying a place for several million, you may want to see how well it is built. Some actual solid masonry, or some acoustic foam on the exterior walls might have made this much less of an issue, but instead the developer used cheaper pre-cast forms that you can probably hear strollers on the sidewalk through and now they are finding out what they bought.

Suckers.

**195Broadway** · July 11th, 2008, 10:08 AM

Reminds me of the idiots that move near an airport, then complain about the noise. I have NO sympathy for the residents of that building.

Steven

**lofter1** · July 11th, 2008, 10:56 AM

I hate the noise of the garbage trucks outside my windows at 1 AM + 3 AM.

I hate the throngs of shoppers blocking the sidewalk in front of my door at 3 PM.

I hate the rude vendors hawking their wares every day of the week.

I hate the honking from taxi drivers 24/7.

It's NYC. I've heard it all for half my life.

I deal with it.

**Ninjahedge** · July 11th, 2008, 02:32 PM

There are a lot of things to like and hate about the city.

Some things you can change a little (litter) some things you can't (crowding).

The problem with a situation like this is that you cannot just say, 100%, that EVERYTHING in the city is as it is and should not be changed so therefore deal with it. If that was the case, no improvements would ever be made.

It is as anti-new york as you can get and reminds me of the Redneck Republican chant "If you don't like the US, get out!".

But, as I have said before, there are some things that do not fall into the path of activist change. These drums being one of them. The only "crime" that these people have perpetrated was disturbing a bunch of newcomers with something that has be a cultural icon for 4 decades.

If this was a new group coming into an area with a bunch of long-time residents complaining about how their area was being changed/intruded/ruined because of this new noise, then that is different.

Maybe these drummers should file a complaint that the building in question is ruining the feeling/neighborhood and should be put somewhere else!

NiMFY's!