I recalled we had discussed a previous story about the tailor Tony Cecchini, but here’s a recent one (I’m catching up with Émilie Côté’s city stories).
Updates from March, 2024 Toggle Comment Threads | Keyboard Shortcuts
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Kate
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Kate
Nice La Presse piece on the Westmount Library, marking 125 years this year, with photos of the building and the adjoining greenhouse.
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Kate
A Nigerian family that came here via Roxham Road in 2017 is about to be deported even though the parents have been working as orderlies and two of their kids were born here. Community groups have been protesting the deportation order.
On April 2, it was announced that the family has been given a six‑month reprieve so they can organize a request to stay on humanitarian grounds.
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Kate
Vermont police are warning visitors to Montreal about GPS tracking devices put on their cars here. But why?
Blork
I’m thinking it’s basically this: thief spots a desirable car in a place that’s not convenient for stealing. Tags the car and watches where it goes to be parked overnight (which is more convenient for stealing). Steals car when convenient.
Kate
I would’ve thought it a waste of a good Airtag if you stick it onto a vehicle that’s likely about to leave town, but maybe they don’t care.
Blork
The cost of doing business. (Plus maybe they steal those too.)
H. John
After reading the article, I wondered how widespread this use of AirTags is.
They were introduced to the market in the spring of 2021, and Fox news San Francisco reported in Dec 2021 about the car theft use. Ontario news outlets reported multiple times in 2022 about the same thing.Blork
Airtags are pretty widely used, by my understanding. Mostly for legitimate uses, but there is definitely abuse, such as people using them to track the whereabouts of spouses or girlfriends, etc. And this car theft thing. Apple tries to make it difficult to do those things (if you have an iPhone you’ll be warned if an Airtag that isn’t your own is closeby over time or distance), but that only works if (a) you have an iPhone, and (b) you understand what the warning means (as opposed to just dismissing it the way we spend half our lives dismissing irrelevant and unknowable notifications).
Even the cover for my Apple TV remote control has a slot for an Airtag! (It’s aftermarket, not an Apple product.)
maggie rose
Been making the rounds on Vermont news. https://www.wcax.com/2024/03/28/montreal-criminals-targeting-local-travelers-with-airtags/
Ian
You can get fully integrated airtag knockoffs for under 5 bucks a pop on aliexpress.
Chris
>I would’ve thought it a waste of a good Airtag if you stick it onto a vehicle that’s likely about to leave town
They could easily have accomplices back in Vermont.
Blork
Probably not, because that would require someone to drive a stolen car back across the border to Montreal. (On the assumption that this is part of a ring of thieves stealing locally and shipping them out from here, which is the most likely scenario.)
Losing a few AirTags here and there is nothing for these thieves. If the vehicle is here, and gets tagged here, there’s more of a chance that it’s someone staying here at a hotel (or Airbnb) than someone who just happens to be at the end of their trip and is heading home that day. A few might be heading home on the day they’re tagged, but odds are most aren’t.
dhomas
As Ian mentioned, there are other brands of trackers that are compatible and supported by Apple’s “Find My” app (I’ve bought some for my parents that were Eufy-branded). They are much cheaper than Apple-branded versions.
If you have an iPhone, you will get an alert if an unknown tracker is near you for an extended period of time. I don’t know if this would work in the context of a car because the tracker doesn’t move with you all the time the same way it would if it’s in your purse, for example.
Also, Android phones since version 6.0 (2015) will now send you alerts for unknown trackers, including AirTags (and compatible models). If you see such an alert on your phone, do not ignore/dismiss it. Someone is likely tracking you.
It will show up something like this: unknown tracker alert
Chris
>because that would require someone to drive a stolen car back across the border to Montreal
No, I mean: the team in Montreal looks for Vermont plates and plants a tracker, the team in Vermont steals the car when it’s back in Vermont.
Blork
Chris, I know that’s what you meant. What I mean is they’re being stolen with the intent of shipping them internationally via the Port of Montreal. So if that’s their shipping point (where they have all their corrupt connections already established) then stealing a car in Vermont isn’t going to help them.
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Kate
TVA notes a plan to convert an older Chinatown building to 66 Airbnb units although the owner has no permits or permission. But isn’t ignoring the rules part of the philosophy of disrupting things commercially?
GC
No surprise to see who one of the current owners is!
Uatu
How many air bnbs do we need?
Kate
At that scale it’s like opening a hotel, but cheaper for the owners.
Ian
Funny how most “disruptive” businesses are a regulations and/or tax dodge.
Chris
>How many air bnbs do we need?
Who is ‘we’?
If you own a building, and want to make some money, you maybe only need the one building of airbnbs. Those owners have no control over how many others do the same.
How many cars do ‘we’ need? If ‘we’ is you and me, we maybe need only one each. We have no control over how many others do the same.
So like many things, it’s great for each individual separately, but when everyone does it, it becomes bad for everyone collectively.
Ian
That said outside the city there is absolutely no reason to have an AirBnB anywhere at all but there is no public transportation so everyone actually does need to drive.
It’s also worth noting that even Plante siad that she thinks it is completely reasonable for some kid that lives in Pointes-Aux-Trembles that goes to CEGEP downtown to drive as public transportation is insufficient.
I wonder, Chris, do you live centrally and have most things like work and groceries and schools conveniently located to where you reside? I’ve noticed most anti-car activists live conveniently within biking distance of all their every day needs.
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