What is the significance of shoes on telephone wires

In some parts of New York City, the most pervasive theory seems to be related to drugs. Apparently, the shoes indicate sites where they are sold.

Aside from my one friend, everyone within the group — all of whom are long time New Yorkers - knew this, which struck me as strange. According to this theory, bullies steal the shoes off their victims and toss them on the wires, where they cannot be retrieved. The shoes can also be used to identify gang turf, signify that a person has passed away or to commemorate an event, like the end of a school year or a wedding.

Alternatively, they could have no meaning at all. Maybe people have just begun to fling shoes out of boredom. Although why would you want to sacrifice a perfectly good pair of sneakers? The wide range of explanations makes it difficult to really know the whole story. Slinging shoes over a power line could be no more than us letting that side of ourselves run riot.

Then again, the whole thing could be merely an invented tradition, with people doing it because they see others doing it. Fact Checks. Old running shoes hanging from trees and power lines are 'gang signs. Legend About this rating. Who put the shoes there and why? The list of explanations goes on. Bullies take them off defenseless kids, then sling them up out of reach as the ultimate taunt.

Gang members create an informal memorial at the spot where a friend lost his life. But Andy Friesen, a year-old dishwasher at a nearby restaurant, identifies with the boot tosser. His old black Adidas currently hang near his house. Friesen said shoe tossing is his way of marking territory. Friesen said his current shoes, a pair of green Nikes, are soon heading skyward.

I might as well throw them up on a wire. They hang in his hometown too. Marshall thinks a more likely explanation is schoolyard bullies looking to torment a weakling. Copyright owned or licensed by Toronto Star Newspapers Limited. All rights reserved. To order copies of Toronto Star articles, please go to: www. White tennis shoes, Queen St.