Results tagged “siren”

After a successful pilot program, the NYPD is adding a new siren called The Rumbler to over 150 patrol cars; this bad boy blasts a palpable sound wave that can be felt up to 200 feet away. According to The Rumbler's manufacturer [pdf], the siren has "the distinct advantage of penetrating and shaking solid materials, allowing vehicle operators and nearby pedestrians to FEEL the sound waves and perhaps even see their effects through a shaking rearview mirror." The company also warns that the siren and speakers "may cause hearing damage," and those who use it are encouraged to wear ear protection.

That shrill siren you may hear downtown will just be part of a test. According to NotifyNYC, the city's public messaging program, "Starting at 9:00 AM this morning and continuing on and off for several hours, Hudson County, NJ will be testing their emergency alert siren system. Loud sirens associated with this test may be heard in Lower Manhattan." (Hudson County includes Jersey City, Bayonne, Seacaucus and Hoboken.) NotifyNYC is only in four pilot communities in the city—Lower Manhattan, SW Staten Island, NE Bronx, and the Rockaways —but even if you don't live there, you can still sign up.

                            

Yesterday was an appropriately blistering day for this year's eighth annual Village Voice Siren Music Festival at Coney Island, which, with the right frame of mind, can be a total blast. Yesterday had everything we've come to expect from the annual indie rock extravaganza: massive crowds of dehydrating hipsters, fresh clams on the mobbed boardwalk, and a bulging, unmanageable lineup of 14 bands on two stages.

Since beloved Washington State punk band Sleater-Kinney dissolved two years ago into an "indefinite hiatus," drummer Janet Weiss has carved out a new niche for herself in Stephen Malkmus's small family of musicians, the Jicks. Weiss played an active role in the creation of Malkmus's fourth full-length "solo" album, Real Emotional Trash, which came out in March. In its wake she's been tearing up the road in the U.S. and Europe with Malkmus and company; on Saturday they'll be headlining, for free, the annual Siren Music Festival in Coney Island. We caught the Portland-based Weiss for a few minutes earlier in the week as she was about to board her flight east.

Every year we're drawn to the Coney Island shoreline by the sirens...or at least, The Village Voice Siren Festival. This year they seem a bit more on top of things, announcing their initial lineup today -- a full two months before the show!