UPI
NEW YORK — A New York City couple have been the repeat victim of 911 prank calls, having answered the door to police and fire department officials more than 150 times.
Mamadou and Assetou Sy have papers documenting more than 150 false emergency calls at their upper Manhattan home, the New York Daily News reported.
Over the past two years, everything from fake injuries to fires to reports of gunfire have brought police and fire officials to the couple’s door.
“Every time someone knocks on our door, we say it must be the police,” said Assetou Sy, 52. “And most of the time, it is them.”
Recently, emergency responders have repeatedly shown up to the Sys’ home, sometimes twice in one day.
“We cannot understand how this could be happening,” said Mamadou Sy, 57. “How can people play around with the Fire Department and the police like this?”
The Sys, originally from Mali, have lived in the Dyckman Houses in the Inwood neighborhood for 17 years and said they have never had this problem until recently.
“We are American citizens and taxpayers like everyone else,” Assetou Sy said. “We don’t need this.”
Police and fire officials say the prank calls eat up resources and time.
“False alarms draw units and resources from actual emergency calls and put the lives of those responding needlessly at risk,” said Frank Dwyer, a New York Fire Department spokesman.
“We can never not go,” said New York Police Department Deputy Inspector Kim Royster. “We will always go.”
The Sys said they have complained to elected officials and the New York City Housing Authority, but the option of emergency transfer could place them anywhere in the five boroughs.
“This is my home,” Mamadou Sy said. “We have a lot of memories here. We are not going anywhere.”
Copyright 2011 U.P.I.
All Rights Reserved