There's a qualitative difference between wanting to live in a bunker, and having the front door key to my house be on the Internet for anyone with a blank and a bastard file to copy in half an hour.

Not that penthouse problems will ever be my problems, granted. But let's not be too absurd here.

Almost every single family home on the planet can be broken into just by smashing a window. That's a far bigger vulnerability than the possibility of hacking someone's elevator. Most burglars are not very tech savvy but everyone knows how to swing a hammer.

I think there are a lot of people who wouldn’t break a window to steal from a house but who would steal from a house if they found the door key.

Twenty years ago we had a Boy Scout in the neighborhood that was kicking front doors in and doing snatch and run burglaries, purses, cameras (phones weren't a thing yet). Mid day. Do you know how loud that had to be?

Most people lost more from the door/door frame damage than they did from the theft.

We used to buy popcorn and snacks from him when the scouts were fundraising. Great opportunity to case places....

I really don't think so? It's an equally serious crime either way.

My friend used to live in a building like this. It is assumed that everyone else in the building is equally rich and also have their own floor, so they would be able to ride up with you as you would with them. The problem now with air BNB is that you don’t really know who’s supposed to be in the building or not as many of the residents list them when they are away, which is often(either visiting their other properties or travelling recreationally/for work).

These buildings also change hands, whether between family members, or just outright sales, more so if a unit in the building is currently for sale, someone could access the building by showing interest, not even with the real estate agent but just telling the doorman you have a viewing. You wouldn’t have to hack the elevator at all and I doubt this perpetrator did. It would take a pretty vigilant doorman to stop this/determine the identity and purpose of all visitors.

Most of the doormen are there to provide additional services to the residents, like having a cab waiting when they are on their way out and other small conveniences, not so much as gate keepers especially since 99.99% of the people entering are no cause for concern.

You're less likely to get caught using a key than breaking a window.

It’s also just much easier. That’s why the owners use the key instead of breaking a window.

I agree it is easier to use a key, but the reason owners don't break windows is that is damaging.

The main reason a thief wouldn't want to is that is loud and suspicious looking, much more likely to be noticed. People seeing someone they don't know fucking around with smashing a window in town might call the cops, if they seem someone they don't know using a key they assume they were given it by the residents

Utterly untrue. Clearly you've never lived anywhere dangerous - bars are a necessity.

What are you saying? That privileged suburb experiences growing up can't be extrapolated for all people?

Not sure that kind of talk is allowed here, HN feels very strongly about how all knowledge can be extrapolated from first principles if you grew up in a nice enough suburb.

It's my pleasure to point out the technicality that the original person to mention breaking windows never specified which windows that were being broken. Maybe they're breaking into a locksmith shop and then breaking into your house?

The noise and evidence of a broken window acts as a strong deterrent - as well as a warning system to those inside. Using a stolen/copied/fabricated key is comparatively silent.

See my other post about the local kid kicking in front doors.

Also, other than "high security" locks, it is easier to bump a lock than it is to get a duplicate key. Most people have mid grade entry sets on their house. Anybody can learn to bump those, with some practice, and it only takes about twenty or thirty seconds, particularly on an older, worn, lock.

I taught myself, decades ago, and was surprised how easy it was. My father always said, locks just keep honest people honest.

If you have that kind of money you can build a concrete wall with a vault door in front of the elevator.

It seems the victim had a very comfortable situation, but the building itself don't seem to require "that kind of money".

Per the article:

> ...found inside a $2 million Lower East Side condo...

It may sound absurd for folks outside of NY (or Bay Area), but $2M barely gets you a 2/2 in Manhattan these days [1].

[1] https://newconstructionmanhattan.com/nyc-apartments-by-price...

>>It may sound absurd for folks outside of NY (or Bay Area), but $2M barely gets you a 2/2 in Manhattan these days

$2M USD can buy an older stock 3-bed 2-bath or "classic six"[1] co-op apartment in Manhattan.[2] Anything north of $2M for a 2-bed 2-bath is more likely to be in an expensive neighborhood, an explicitly expensive/luxury building or new (and likely luxury) condo unit building. This last category is pertinent to NYC real-estate because most apartment inventory is co-op compared to condo.[3]

[1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Classic_Six

[2] https://streeteasy.com/3-bedroom-apartments-for-sale/manhatt...

[3] https://www.nytimes.com/2012/10/07/realestate/getting-starte...

Welcome to life outside of developed countries. This is life even for some countries considered 'developed'.

While there is some correlation of murder rates and GDP, it's rather noisy: https://wernerantweiler.ca/blog/2017-10-04-a.pdf

The GINI seems to be a somewhat better fit: https://i.imgur.com/vYSsLMw.png

I am not convinced by the gini fit. There must be something else. Apart from that: because of not keeping up with stats, i always thought that south africa has the most murder per capita (apart from war zones). What has happened: Jamaica is almost double. Did SA get better or did central america take a significant slide downwards?

Well the victim's business was in developing countries. Perhaps his killer or killers were based there too.

This sounds a bit extreme. Which ones are the “outside of developed countries” and how many of them require walking around in body armor everywhere?

This has been the norm growing up in the Philippines. We lived in a gilded fortress and we're not drug dealers. We learn about the dangers of being kidnapped before we enter grade school. I can go on, but it's not much different from life in many parts of South America, Africa, and South & South East Asia. You're not required to wear body armor, but seeing that there are armed guards posted outside of a KFC with body armor and either an assault rifle or shotgun; it's not a terrible idea either.

Yes, it's very different from the sheltered life of a developed country.

I happened to be next to a store in Central Mexico when an armored cash pickup truck showed up. It was a MUCH more intense scene than the pickups I've seen in the states. There were multiple guards in the parking lot, guns drawn, that looked very alert; they weren't just going through the motions.

Nothing happened and the stop was done in a couple minutes, but it reminded me of how different the daily lives of those guards must be from any job I've ever worked.

I find it concerning that so few people are aware of the differences between their middle or upper class lives in the US and the average life for a citizen in less privileged places. To many, the thought of carrying a weapon or wearing armor to protect yourself is insane. And then there's the ones who have seen what the world can throw at you buying ar-15s and plate carriers and being villainized for it.

The diversity of human experience is truly staggering.

Hey I think you may have meant respond to another comment. In case you did mean to respond to the comment I put up: I totally agree that there are places that are "very different from the sheltered life of a developed country". I've been to India a few times and have seen a wide range of places in terms of both landscape and wealth.

The purpose of my previous comment is that, depending on how we define "developed" (which is very blurry! Think about the range of wealth within the US or India for example), it's not the case that you need to walk around with body armor everywhere in each country that's not "developed". The parent comment I responded to seemed to imply that "wear body armor and stay in window-less houses" == "life outside of developed countries".

See parent comments/thread for more context. If you see a mistake or if I misunderstood something, please feel free to point it out.

I meant to respond to you.

He’s kind of exaggerating, and but not totally. When I said that my family and friends lived in fortresses, it’s along those same lines. While the house is somewhat normal aside from the iron window gates (it was not windowless), the outer structure is not. The outer fence is a large tall concrete wall, with metal gates which are sometimes automatic. The top of the wall is lined with a combination of wire, metal spikes, and broken glass. Every household is fully armed. Some families even have security guards both onsite and as an escort. Some families have a perimeter of fences.

Even with all that, someone who worked for one of our family friends got his face blown off by simply answering the gate. It’s hard not to be paranoid if you ever live in one of those places. After moving to the US decades ago, one of the luxuries I really enjoyed was being able to walk in most places without the need for an armed escort or concealed firearms. Feeling relatively safe in a non-fortified home is also nice. I didn’t realize it was the norm in the developed world outside of movies

Ah I see. I just realized that being able to safely walk around my neighborhood is something I took for granted; I didn’t give much thought to safety til your comment. That’s something to be grateful for and I’ll keep that in mind on my next walk.

Thank you for sharing

You can tell when someone's broken your window

So you’re afraid of coming home and there’s someone hiding in the house? How often does this actually happen compared to homes secured differently? It’s not like most houses have some impossible to pick locks...