Could somebody check if my phone number is posted outside 196 Grand St. in Manhattan?

April 18, 2007 1:56 PM

Could somebody check if my phone number is posted outside 196 Grand St. in Manhattan?

So, on Monday I got a voice mail at work from an officer in the 5th pct of Manhattan saying that my building at 196 grand was vandalized, yadda yadda. Since I don't own any buildings, and have never had anything to do with 196 grand street, I kind of shrugged it off. Today I got another message from some real estate developer about that same property...They both used my full name...WTF? This number isn't even listed. My name *is* on my outgoing message though, so maybe that's where they got it, and there's just a typo on a sign at the building or something.

Would someone in the Little Italy mind checking for me? It's right between Mulberry and Mott.

Ta!

posted by TonyRobots to Grab Bag (21 answers total)

Response by poster: Oh, I realize you don't know my work number, but if there is a number, and you could report it here, that would be great...
posted by TonyRobots at 1:58 PM on April 18, 2007

I like that your solution to getting annoying calls based on it being being posted on a building is to (potentially) get that same number posted on a high traffic forum on the internet.
posted by ill3 at 2:07 PM on April 18, 2007 [2 favorites]

Something smells a little fishy....
posted by Floydd at 2:09 PM on April 18, 2007

Posting the last 4 digits would be sufficient for TR to know whether his number's posted there without exposing him (or anyone else who's number is there) to additional unwanted calls.
posted by DevilsAdvocate at 2:10 PM on April 18, 2007

Response by poster: I swear I am telling the truth -- this is the first I've heard about anything external to my own somewhat bizarre voicemail situation concerning this address.

The fact that my username is TonyRobots, and this blog the picture was posted on is called MusicForRobots is a coincidence.

Last 4 digits is fine. Why am I connected to this thing?
posted by TonyRobots at 2:13 PM on April 18, 2007

How about you call these people and ask them? It's possible that they were given a wrong number directly (accidentally) and I'm sure they'd appreciate knowing about it and telling you how your number came to be involved.
posted by anaelith at 2:18 PM on April 18, 2007

Response by poster: I did call them back, and the officer who left me the message wasn't on duty, but I chatted with the guy who answered and he didn't really know anything, except he remembered that something had happened at that address when I mentioned it. My guy works "midnight" so I was supposed to call back at 11:30pm or so.
posted by TonyRobots at 2:23 PM on April 18, 2007

In Chicago a few years back I was getting calls for awhile from people asking to see the apartments I had for rent. I believe I called one of them back and she said she saw my number on the sign outside a building advertising places for rent. I assumed I had been assigned the number of a property management company that had gone out of business/changed their number.

So yeah, not totally unheard of to be asked about a building you don't own.
posted by epugachev at 2:40 PM on April 18, 2007

196 Grand Street
posted by Flashman at 2:49 PM on April 18, 2007

It appears nobody has done what you actually requested yet. I should be in the city this Friday and Saturday, if work permits me to leave this hell that is Chicago and actually go home for the weekend. If that happens, I'll head by there - I have errands in the area anyway.

Unfortunately my digital camera recently kicked the can, but I can give you a verbal report. Email in profile in the meantime if you have any other questions about the building (seems like a lot's been going on there recently).
posted by allkindsoftime at 5:24 PM on April 18, 2007

and then I looked at your profile and saw you were in Brooklyn and realized it might be a hell of a lot easier for you to catch a train in and check it yourself...but if I have the time I'll try to get to it.
posted by allkindsoftime at 5:26 PM on April 18, 2007

Response by poster: Yeah, I really thought there would be someone who lived on that block who could just run outside and answer the question for me...I was imagining a kind of wonderful, offbeat victory for askme. I still have hope. Otherwise, I might swing down there tomorrow myself.
posted by TonyRobots at 5:43 PM on April 18, 2007

Response by poster: But thank you allkindsoftime, very kind of you!
posted by TonyRobots at 5:53 PM on April 18, 2007

Don't leave us out of this hipster melodrama, let us know what happens.
posted by geoff. at 7:15 AM on April 19, 2007

I think this: Hipster Riot Party might have something to do with your phone calls.
posted by backwords at 7:52 AM on April 19, 2007

I think backwords may be on to something.
posted by Floydd at 9:32 AM on April 19, 2007

Response by poster: Clearly the party was the source of the cop's call, and probably the developer's as well...but why me?

Another piece of the puzzle (though I HOPE it's not relevant) is that my place (in Williamsburg, FWIW) was broken into 5 years ago, and a lot of identity documents were stolen -- passport, birth certificate, social security card. Just putting it out there for the sleuths in the crowd...
posted by TonyRobots at 10:18 AM on April 19, 2007

There is no phone number outside the door. The place looks like hell, and though the door was ajar, I didn't go inside. Maybe someone else will have more nerve? I suspect the phone number is in there, on the placard where the super's info is supposed to be. It's plausible that a bad landlord put in TonyRobots's stolen name and number to avoid actually hiring a super. But I'm just guessing because I didn't want to be arrested, or attacked by some gang straight out of an 80s movie.
posted by Doctor Barnett at 11:27 AM on April 19, 2007

Response by poster: Apparently we've made gawker...

Thanks for the detective work, Dr. Barnett. Any other aspiring Wikipedia Browns want to help out? Haven't gotten any more calls yet, but if I do I'll ask how they got my number...
posted by TonyRobots at 2:22 PM on April 19, 2007

Does your number end in either a 2239 or a 9784? Those numbers were posted on the construction site next door, at 198. Like Doctor Barnett said, 196 has no numbers posted outside.
posted by saladin at 5:15 PM on April 19, 2007

Response by poster: Nope. Looking for a xxx-6647. Thanks, though, saladin...

Maybe this is a dead story.
posted by TonyRobots at 7:28 PM on April 19, 2007