LeFrak City Tenants on Life With NYPD’s New Spy Robot

A daily mix of stories about cities, city life, and our always evolving neighborhoods and skylines. [Curbed]( FRIDAY, APRIL 21 THE SECURITY STATE [LeFrak City Tenants on Life With NYPD’s New Spy Robot]( “She would get stuck if she was surrounded by a bunch of little kids.” Photo-Illustration: by Curbed; Photos Getty Images The robot egg looks friendlier than the robot dog. The four-legged “Digidog” from Boston Dynamics prowls with an unsettlingly insect-like crawl. But the K5, an “autonomous security robot” made by a California tech company called Knightscope, comes across like a child-size marshmallow that sort of glides. It’s “similar to like a Roomba,” Jeffrey Madrey, the NYPD’s chief of department, said earlier this month while introducing the new autonomous fleet alongside the mayor. The K5 can travel up to three miles an hour, has 360-degree HD recording capabilities, and talks. (“We are here to get stuff done,” the robot told the mayor. “Hashtag GSD.”) The general idea is that using this particular bot to patrol Times Square and the subway below will keep New Yorkers safe — offering “real-time situational awareness” and “physical crime deterrence,” according to Madrey. But if you ask tenants at LeFrak City, who lived alongside their own Knightscope K5 for the better part of two years, the robot — which management named Rosie — was really just a slow-moving Ring camera. “She would get stuck if she was surrounded by a bunch of little kids,” says one tenant. [Continue reading »]( [Exclusive Anniversary Offer:]( Get a limited-edition tote plus save up to 60% on unlimited access to Curbed and everything New York. [Learn more about RevenueStripe...]( The Latest [One of the Last Private Townhouses on Washington Square Park A Greek Revival on “the Row” where Edith Wharton once lived.]( By Adriane Quinlan [Heavier Vehicles in Aging Parking Garages Are a Recipe for Disaster An engineer sees the risk of more collapses like the one on Ann Street.]( By Alissa Walker [Talking to an Ant Guy About Peak Ant Season “You could have hundreds trailing into the kitchen. People get grossed out. They feel like they’re being invaded.”]( By Clio Chang [The Rent-Stabilization Board Is Proposing What Exactly? Demystifying that 15.75 percent.]( By Kim Velsey [Learn more about RevenueStripe...]( [Read More From Curbed]( Introducing The City Desk, a weekly newsletter about New York. [Sign up to get it every Thursday](. [GET THE NEWSLETTER]( [logo]( [facebook logo]( [instagram logo]( [twitter logo]( [unsubscribe](link.nymag.com/manage/588/optout-curbed?email={EMAIL}&hash=6c53b63a8e3fad70ad4ef13004527437¶m=curbed) | [privacy notice]( | [update preferences]( This email was sent to {EMAIL}. Was this email forwarded to you? [Sign up now]( to get this newsletter in your inbox. [View this email in your browser.]( You received this email because you have a subscription to New York. Reach the right online audience with us For advertising information on email newsletters, please contact AdOps@nymag.com Vox Media, LLC 1201 Connecticut Ave. NW, 12th Floor Washington, DC 20036 Copyright © 2023, All rights reserved