Shoefiti - Bushwick, NYC Shoe flinging or “shoefiti” is the practice of throwing shoes whose shoelaces have been tied together so that they hang from overhead wires such as power lines or telephone cables. This practice plays a widespread, though mysterious, role in adolescent folklore in the US although shoe flinging has also been reported in many other countries. A number of sinister explanations have been proposed as to why this is done. Some say that shoes hanging from the wires advertise a local crack house where crack cocaine is used and sold (in which case the shoes are sometimes referred to as “Crack Kicks”). It can also relate to a place where heroin is sold to symbolize the fact that once you take heroin you can never ‘leave’: a reference to the addictive nature of the drug. Others claim that the shoes thrown commemorate a gang-related murder, or the death of a gang member, or as a way of marking gang turf. However, the practice also occurs along relatively remote stretches of rural highways that are unlikely scenes for gang murders, and have no structures at all to be crack houses. Other less sinister explanations have been cited. Some claim that shoes are flung to commemorate the end of a school year, or a forthcoming marriage as part of  a rite of passage. In Scotland, it has been said that when a young man has lost his virginity he tosses his shoes over telephone wires to announce this to his peers. It has been suggested that the custom may have originated with members of the military, who are said to have thrown military boots, often painted orange or some other conspicuous color, at overhead wires as a part of a rite of passage upon completing basic training or on leaving the service. In some neighborhoods, shoes tied together and hanging from power lines or tree branches signify that someone has died. The shoes belong to the dead person. The reason they are hanging, legend has it, is that when the dead person’s spirit returns, it will walk that high above the ground, that much closer to heaven. Yet another legend involves that shoes hanging from telephone wires signals someone leaving the neighborhood onto bigger and better things. Of course, only each individual shoe-thrower knows why his/her pair of shoes now hangs from a wire. Duhh!

Shoefiti - Bushwick, NYC

Shoe flinging or “shoefiti” is the practice of throwing shoes whose shoelaces have been tied together so that they hang from overhead wires such as power lines or telephone cables. This practice plays a widespread, though mysterious, role in adolescent folklore in the US although shoe flinging has also been reported in many other countries.

A number of sinister explanations have been proposed as to why this is done. Some say that shoes hanging from the wires advertise a local crack house where crack cocaine is used and sold (in which case the shoes are sometimes referred to as “Crack Kicks”). It can also relate to a place where heroin is sold to symbolize the fact that once you take heroin you can never ‘leave’: a reference to the addictive nature of the drug.

Others claim that the shoes thrown commemorate a gang-related murder, or the death of a gang member, or as a way of marking gang turf. However, the practice also occurs along relatively remote stretches of rural highways that are unlikely scenes for gang murders, and have no structures at all to be crack houses.

Other less sinister explanations have been cited. Some claim that shoes are flung to commemorate the end of a school year, or a forthcoming marriage as part of  a rite of passage. In Scotland, it has been said that when a young man has lost his virginity he tosses his shoes over telephone wires to announce this to his peers.

It has been suggested that the custom may have originated with members of the military, who are said to have thrown military boots, often painted orange or some other conspicuous color, at overhead wires as a part of a rite of passage upon completing basic training or on leaving the service.

In some neighborhoods, shoes tied together and hanging from power lines or tree branches signify that someone has died. The shoes belong to the dead person. The reason they are hanging, legend has it, is that when the dead person’s spirit returns, it will walk that high above the ground, that much closer to heaven. Yet another legend involves that shoes hanging from telephone wires signals someone leaving the neighborhood onto bigger and better things.

Of course, only each individual shoe-thrower knows why his/her pair of shoes now hangs from a wire. Duhh!

(Source: tumblr.com)

  1. onaivatco reblogged this from theshazzamity
  2. acitydissolving reblogged this from theshazzamity and added:
    interesting because I only ever see...so I always thought
  3. blackholebroadcast reblogged this from neighborhoodr-bushwick and added:
    I saw a downed power line yesterday that brought two pairs of Chucks down with it. It was like finding the pot of gold...
  4. pursuitofny reblogged this from neighborhoodr
  5. lookbothways reblogged this from rosiesiman and added:
    Recently we tried to get shoes hanging on a wire for the last shot of a spot.
  6. rosiesiman reblogged this from theshazzamity and added:
    Story Behind Shoe Flinging aka “Shoefiti”
  7. caseanova reblogged this from neighborhoodr
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