Ignoring alarms in the city isn't about giving a damn about crime. It's about knowing that 99% of the time when a car alarm goes off and you look out your windo

Ignoring alarms in the city isn't about giving a damn about crime. It's about knowing that 99% of the time when a car alarm goes off and you look out your window there's nobody within 100 feet of the damn thing. It got set off by a pigeon or by someone driving too close and making the windows rattle a bit. Then it goes off ceaselessly all night when you're trying to sleep. That's not a warning system. It's a hair trigger and a nuisance. NYC introduced an ordinance about 10 years ago severely fining anyone whose alarm doesn't turn off automatically after 2 minutes. It's still legal to have one that's on a hair trigger and gets set off again 30 seconds after turning off as long as it turns off within 2 minutes. Thankfully they've become less common altogether since then.