David W. Boles on NYC Shoefiti Meanings
David W. Boles explains shoes on wires in a post on his Urban Semiotic blog:
Shoes on a Wire « David W. Boles’ Urban Semiotic ™
“Shoes on a Wire” is a well-known street semiotic that drugs are nearby and available for purchase.
In New York City there is a special sort of whistling Dealers use to communicate with each other and with their buyers. Sometimes the whistling is a warning the police are nearby and other times it is used to push people away from claimed turf. In special instances the whistling calls in backup. I haven’t figured out the exact meaning and replication of the sounds yet but it is a fascinating phenomenon for further investigation.
July 18th, 2007 at 12:09 pm
I was wondering how they find the drug dealer, the people who come 2 the 1 in my neighborhood always seem to know exactly where to go.