apartment therapy changing the world, one room at a time

OHMIGOD, so sorry.

That sooooo sucks.

Oh god, I'm so sorry to hear that!! Good luck getting everything straightened around!!

I'm so sorry to hear this...let us know if there is anything we can do to help.

Oh my, I'm so sorry.

I hope the cops catch the villains.

Unsettling.
Let's hope what comes around goes around...

You have my sympathy; I've been through that myself (my old apartment was burglarized twice). Absolutely miserable to go through. Weeks from now you'll be discovering more was taken than you had initially thought. Just be glad no one was there when the break-in occurred.

That's awful. Good luck with everything.

That is really an awful thing to go through.

So sorry.


Susan

So sorry! That's awful. It was awful enough when my car's been broken into...I can't even imagine if I had to deal with burglary.

That's terrible. I know what it's like to be a victim of burglary. It just sucks. No two ways about it. I hope your insurance provider is prompt.

Maybe this could prompt a topic on home security?

That's terrible. I'm with Anne Marie, hope karma comes back and teaches those perps a lesson.

Is your office location published on the blog? Perhaps they read that you guys were going away this weekend...

I'm guilty of not doing this, but I do hope all your data is backed up somewhere.

and maybe a discussion on the importance of apartment insurance...it's really affordable and came in handy (and essential) when my apartment was broken into and my computer was stolen. such a violation, i'm so sorry you have to experience this.

That is horrible! I am glad you are okay.

And shame on the person who did that on MOTHER'S DAY. Their mother should be ashamed...assuming she cares at all...

Very sorry to hear this... Hope it goes well from here on.

Home security would be a great topic to cover, and renters insurance is essential!

I have a very low-tech burglar alarm: a wind chime that hangs over my front door (on the inside). My door is always kept locked, but whenever it is opened the chime sounds somewhat loudly. Better than nothing!

I can't say anything more than what's already been said here. I'm so sorry. You must be both livid and shocked.

If the windchimes rattle when nobody's there does it still make a sound?

My point being - what good are they if you're not around when someone comes in?

oh my god you guys! i'm so sorry!

if there's anyway i (or all of us!) can help with anything, please let us know!

grace

so sorry, these events are so random and yet so disturbing for all. i'm sending positive thoughts your way.

This is terrible. I'm so sorry.

We obviously love AT and want nothing to harm it or you--what a violation!!

How terrible! Hope everything gets resolved.

Oh how crummy! Maybe there was a surveilance camera from a nearby business that caught something. Hope you guys are okay...

oh, how awful!

I remember when my apartment was broken into, and the fingerprint people came, thinking, "wow, if I were a kid, this would seem really cool, and instead it's all awful." All I could think about was my freaked out little oversensitive cat.

And I had only got around to getting tenants' insurance the week before. I had to feel relieved that my downstairs neighbour was burgled, too - since I was sure otherwise the insurance company wouldn't believe me.

I'm so sorry you're having such an unpleasant day.

Like everyone else, I'm super sorry. You guys provide such a wonderful service, cheering everyone else up on crappy rainy Monday mornings like this one. If there is anything at all that I can do to help, please do let me know. I do have an old laptop you could borrow if you need to. (No wifi or USB, unfortunately, but it does have Windows 2000). Or a digital camera. Or a bottle of good tequila and a friendly kitten (kidding about the kitten).
Be well!!

F*CK!

That is terrible. I'm glad people were all unharmed.

Best wishes.

though most of us don't know you personally i'm sure i speak for all when i say i couldn't have been more saddened if this had happened to someone in my family. really you are family. and we all hold your site in such high regard that it feels like even a greater lose. but what can't be taken is your spirit and flair for making this our first stop every day. best of luck and only positive thoughts sent your way.

My condolences and sympathy, along with everyone elses! And original blues, your story reminds me of coming home one evening after a day on jury duty. We'd been cooped up in the jury room for two hours while the lawyers were trying to settle the case first, and to while away the boredom, everyone was telling "war stories" about having their apartment burglarized, some folks more than once. I said, "Gee, I guess I'm really lucky ... I've lived in my apartment for 15 years and have never been burglarized ... and AS I WAS SPEAKING, it was happening!!! I came home and found my door was already unlocked when I put my key in, and I thought, "Okay, very funny ... now, who's pulling a prank?" When I walked in, the lights were on and a drawer was opened, but I knew no one was in the apartment because the cat was sitting calmly on the couch. I walked into the bedroom and saw the computer on the desk and thought, "Whew, they didn't get into this room, I guess," ... and then looked down, and saw the mess all over the floor and the bed, with every drawer in my desk and dresser having been emptied out as they searched for jewely (which they got). I couldn't get my lock changed until the following morning, so I slept that night with the rowing machine up against the front door... I figured it would make a tremendous crash falling over, if anyone tried to come back!

i can't believe that!

Sorry guys. i hope they catch them.

Aw man, how awful. I'm sorry, I hope they catch the assholes who did this.

Aarrgh! How terrible and frustrating. Hope you have good backups and all.

I'm so sorry to hear this. I hope they are able to catch whoever did this.

I once had to clean out an apartment after the fingerprinters had been through. I tried a lot of products, and I found that the easiest way to get the powder off the non-glossy painted walls was toothpaste and elbow grease. (It came off with just water on the shiny surfaces, though.)

Following along in Chris (nyc) footsteps, let's make this the beginning of a thread on home security. And remember what Anne said, if there's no one to hear an alarm, no matter what kind it is, it might not stop the crime in progress. But by golly, if someone's going to break into MY STUFF, I at least want them to be annoyed by sound. Yeah, I had my car broken into.

Simple alarms, that are great for while you're home or traveling, just hang on your door knob:

This one can be carried while walking too, just pull out the chain to sound the alert. I have one something like it, just for personal (not for the door knob) use.
http://www.tbotech.com/door-knob-alarm.htm

Just for the door knob:
http://tinyurl.com/ew9js

Before going out to seek a security specialist and installing the pricey options, check this out:
http://www.productsforseniors.com/security.htm

Enter/exit delay, remote control, under $30.00. Could be used daily in the "softer chime mode" in an office, to alert Maxwell and co. that someone's entered (if it's a big or winding office).

My aunt lives in a senior apartment complex, and they have a rotating "check" for health/safety. All they do is put out a door hanger on the outside of their door, after they get up, to indicate they are okay to the person walking the hall. If someone doesn't put it up, they are called to be sure they ARE okay.

It would be to all the office tenants benefit to take turns checking the floor. If one of the offices is occupied on the weekends, maybe they could be convinced to walk the hall, just checking for obvious/unusual things.

And one of those alarms going off would be obvious.

Since this is the week in The Cure where folks are working on their office areas (I'm behind, but others are keeping up), you (Maxwell) might be able to find local people who can loan you things necessary to keep your office running... Or maybe folks in The Cure find they don't need all the stuff they have and you could arrange to buy it.

Oh, there may be ways, ala motels with bolted-to-the-table lamps, to create some kind of "cover" for some computers. Bet David and Im could come up with something that would look cool and be strong via their skills and friend with a metal shop!

Hidden storage, whether it's a locking safe or not, might be useful for things that can't be bolted, like cameras and laptops. Even a corner could work:
http://tinyurl.com/lgjjr

Look at the picture before it to see how it looks closed.

Big hugs to you, nobody wants to be raped and pillaged, and it takes time to get over the feeling of being violated. I'd always prefer the pillaging to the raping, though...it's stuff. Just stuff. No one was hurt physically. For that we may all be thankful!

If you own, it's worth putting in an ADT type system. You get a break on your condo/homeowner insurance, and it alerts the police/firedepartment etc. They also have a panic button, which is great.

I can't say enough about getting proper deadbolts. A lot of doors can be kicked in without much effort, make yours one of the tough ones.

Review the likely entrances and exits to your place. Doors, windows, fire escapes, terraces, etc. Make sure you've got them covered with appropriate locks and latches and even grates (where necessary).

Since we all keep lots of important information on our computers it's probably a good idea to think about that a bit as well. I keep my computer password protected. If someone were to steal it at least it would be very difficult for them to get at the data. And remember your monthly backups! Back up to an off-site location or burn a CD/DVD that you store away from the computer.

Keep your insurance up to date, and make sure you have records of important purchases to back up any claims.

If someone wants to get into your place badly enough, they are going to do it. The aim is to make it difficult and minimize the damage if they do.

Maxwell, please accept my condolences and best wishes as well.

I am so sorry..what horrible news!

You need anything you know where to find me!

I've been burglarized so many times in my life, I can barely count. As a kid living at home with my Mother in TN, I came home from school and walked in on burglars in our home. In TN with my grandparents we returned home from a family trip and walked in on burglars in their home. With my Father in NJ, the home was burglarized. In TN in my early 20s, worst incident: had my home broken into while I was in bed asleep- was tied up and gagged while my home was ransacked and robbed. I've had a car stolen in Memphis, and I once had a neighbor scare off a burglar breaking into my apartment through a window when I was away. I had my apartment robbed in Miami, and I had my hotel room burglarized in San Francisco two years ago.

I may sound like a bad person to get burglar proof advice from, but I can walk into an apartment and spot the security exposures there almost instantly. It's intuitive. I don't even have to think about it. Most people are blasé, and think I'm paranoid, but I've had good experience (or should I say, bad experience) that makes me believe I'm a bit of an authority on the subject.

With my recent home purchase, the first thing I did was replace some of the window bars and install a burglar alarm. We also have a dog.

Police say that a dog is the #1 deterrent against burglary. Another piece of advice is: No home is burglary proof, but it doesn't have to be. Most burglaries are crimes of opportunity. Your home only has to be more difficult to break into than your neighbor's. Neither of our neighbors on either side have window bars or burglar alarms, and only one has a dog.

Some things you just cannot account for- for instance, when we walked in on the burglars at my grandparents home, it was an inside job. My grandparents had a burglar alarm, but their home was broken into by a former employee of the burglar alarm company who knew how to disable the alarm. He had been fired, had drug problems, and went on a crime spree specifically burglarizing homes that had his former employers burglar alarms installed. Which leads to the next point:

ALWAYS have insurance. It might not get your family heirloom back, but it will compensate you at the value you have it insured at.

what terrible news. this must be so annoying to deal with on a monday morning after a weekend away, outside of the general awfulness of a break-in. please accept my condolences.

What a shame! So infuriating. I hope your thieves get caught.

The deadbolt advice is too right--when my place was burgled last winter it was easy for the thieves because I only had the doorknob lock fastened.

Original Blues, I had the same experience--I had purchased insurance only a month before: I was afraid the insurers would think I faked my robbery. And though they did come through, it was an incredibly tedious process getting them to pay up, as I didn't have receipts for anything. They made me send them my owner's manuals for all the stolen electronics.

We can all see that you are handling this awful thing with poise and grace--inspiring.

(Andree, it's not *your* "just stuff", so ease off on the sanctimony. Also, I think you would have done well to edit out the lighthearted asides about rape and where it ranks on your scale of preference. Ha bloody ha.)

You're right on with the dog Chris. My lines of defense are:

1. Doorman
2. Very alert dog
3. Phone
4. Collapsible baton and the willingness/training to use it.

In a few weeks (5/30 to be exact), it will be one year since my apartment was broken into -- and yes, it sucked. I had insurance, backups, not a lot of stuff, and did everything "right" (changed the locks, barred the fire escape, taught the cat to bark...). I was jittery for a few weeks but somehow turned the corner when I applied up the mantra "don't take anything personally".

Sure it sounds funny but if you can begin to feel like it wasn't YOU some bad guys were picking on, the entire ordeal is much less awful. My robbers were neat, left no trace, and were polite enough not to make a big mess. I thank them for their professionalism and hope that whoever ended up with my laptops, in the end, maybe needed them a bit more than me.

Might not be realistic and overly idealistic but I sleep just fine these days.

Chris, my god! I hope you win the lotto.

K, having been both raped and pillaged, I can freely express my own personal preference of one over the other.

Back off.

It's not a question of what you "can" do, Andree. It's a question of sensitivity, and of appropriateness. Having said that, I'm done talking about this.

Thank the gods for small favors.

http://www.randomhouse.com/wotd/index.pperl?date=20001201

Ass

One of you AT people, just remove my posts and K's as well. I'm tired of people coming out of the woodwork to attack whatever I say.

email if some bottles of rum would make you feel better (they're not opened) and I can have them dropped off. Take care!

As Dwight Shrute would say: "Eff!"

Hi there. I just wanted to say how sorry I was to hear about your loss. Especially on a Monday morning. How awful.
I am planning to move to N.Y. in October and am a 24 year old girl who will be living on her own. I can totally sympathize with your experience and appreciate everyone's advice here. Especially the advice about not taking it personally- it makes it a lot easier to prepare for these things looking at it that way. I feel that the best thing to do will be to purchase a dog and properly train it, have a doorman, make sure all entryways are secured by alarms and that the locks are changed. We go onto this site looking at $1000 wall fixtures and $4000 sofas but the very best investment you can make is much more fundamental than that- and I would much rather have a couch from Salvation Army and be able to sleep peacefully at night than be sitting in a beautiful Eames lounger with some $30 baton lodged underneath it. Again, sorry for your loss and if you need some really good vodka you know where I am.

what a horror - so sincerely sorry. i'm sure you have insurance - and i'm sure that doesn't even begin to cover all the hassle involved. sons and/or daughers of b*t*hes.

("daughters")

This has been a real eye-opener. Maxwell et al, I'm so sorry this happened! I hope the thieves get caught and the building owners tighten security!

Thanks for posting all that information, Andree, and thanks for the reminder to get that darn tenant insurance. Any recommendations? State Farm looks like it has some options...

I hope you guys are doing okay.

i have allstate, and have had them for over 15 years. fortunately (*knocking wood*), i've never had to use it.

(although reading this, realizing i've paid 15 years of premiums and never filed a claim...)

Getting robbed sucks. When our house got robbed, it turned me into a right-wing nut for a few weeks. It makes you believe in mass incarceration and the death penalty. Actually, like Bill Maher, I am a liberal who believes in both those things but anyway. That sucks

Renter's insurance and whatnot on Gothamist. My name for a link or below:


http://www.gothamist.com/archives/2004/08/31/renters_insurance.php

I'm a day behind - but just wanted to say I'm sorry to hear about the theft.