Brooklyn Heights Residents Reminded to Lock Doors Because They Live in New York City

Lock your doors. Even if you live here.

This story kind of blows our minds. In Brooklyn Heights, people apparently feel so safe that they don't bother, most of the time, even locking their doors, or their windows. Maybe we're paranoid. (Yes, we're paranoid.) But come on! It's the city! (We have bars on our windows, too. They bring us comfort.) Anyway, given the ease of break-ins, there have been break-ins, the New York Times City Room blog reports -- four burglaries in the past five days. None involved a forced entry.

Police officers from the 84th Precinct alerted the executive director of the Brooklyn Heights Association about the burglaries, and the director, Judy Stanton, sent out an e-mail to 1,200 neighbors on Thursday morning. "This neighborhood is so safe, but not everybody puts on their city smarts and remembers to do the common sense thing and lock their doors," she said. Not everybody thought they had to -- until Thursday.

Now, some residents are locking their doors, or officers are locking them for them. The burglaries involved thefts of "headphones, cell phones, tie clips, an old computer, and $80" (not a great take) as well as "diamond earrings, a ring, a bracelet, two Rolex watches, and $300" (better). In one break-in, someone got a computer and a PlayStation 3. Another feared burglary was actually just a messy apartment.

Lessons: Lock your doors, even if you live in Brooklyn Heights, especially if you live in Brooklyn Heights, especially after this burglar-catnip article telling everyone Brooklyn Heights residents don't lock their doors. And clean your apartments so you don't think they've been burgled when you really haven't, because that's got to be embarrassing.

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