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Wednesday, January 13, 2010

All Strung Up, Above DUMBO

Baby dolls, DUMBO
Photo by myself in DUMBO, around Columbia Heights and Old Fulton Street.

Above, an odd memento I spotted last weekend, on a walk near the Brooklyn waterfront. Two baby dolls were strung together were hanging from a telephone wire.

There is an urban tradition of stringing things up from telephone wires. Typically you see pairs of sneakers up there. The technical term is shoe tossing, and the exact symbolism is not clear.

Mark told me that the colors of the sneakers tossed around Greenpoint, a predominantly Polish neighborhood, referred to the Polish flag (red and white). One could say then that the sneakers marked the edges of gang territory.

Click here for a photo of stuffed animals strung up. Perhaps toys mark the territories for younger gangs?

Related posts: The Jazzman, 34th Street, 7 More Random Things, 7 More Random Blogs and Holiday Cheer, Already in Bryant Park.

9 comments:

Olivier said...

original ;o))

Washington said...

Hi Kitty.
Very good and funny picture! I like the color of the bricks. In Brasil it is common to find kites hanging on the power wires (which is pretty dangerous).

Luis Gomez said...

Funny shot but somehow disturbing.

dianasfaria.com said...

Baby doll tossing?! I've never seen that before!

Anonymous said...

Your photographs are absolutely amazing. I've never been to New York, so for me, your photos tell the story of the great city. Perhaps you should consider selling some of your photographs on http://www.ListyPosty.com

Torilpia said...

Poor babydolls :o/ :o)

The shoe tossing has happened in Norway as well .. guess we'll have to try everything you do "over there" :o)

Fascinating picture :o)

..

Have you ever used a tarot deck?
It really is exciting :o)

Hugs!

Fashion Schlub said...

ha! they're like crazy suicide babies! great find!

Pat said...

Hi! I don't know how I've missed your blog, but your photos are wonderful, and I will add your blog to my list! Can't comment on all of them, but this one reminds me of a similar one I took in Seattle of a 'suicidal' teddy that looked about to leap from a window...

I've been to NYC several times and love the city.

Anne H said...

Long time reader - first time commenter -you know the deal...
Wow!...just wow!