Swinging shoes mean I remember you

By SCOTT KARA

These shoes are made for walking ... but in urban Auckland they're just hanging out.

The sight of aged shoes tied together by their laces and hanging from powerlines is becoming commonplace in the streets of Auckland and other parts of the country.

It is not a new phenomenon, but the number of shoes - usually old-style basketball boots called Chuck Taylors - seems to be increasing.

Many theories and rumours exist to explain why people want to entangle worn-out shoes on powerlines.

The shoes most often dangle on lines stretching across streets, and are frequently placed outside the homes of their owners.

In January, two mates from Grey Lynn hung a pair of shoes to remind them of a mate who moved to Australia.

Koni Paea and Israal Lo-Tam admit throwing their first pair of shoes over the powerlines in Rose Rd because they saw it done in the movie Friday, starring rapper and hip-hop artist Ice Cube.

But in January they threw up a pair of holey Chuck Taylors, and these had more significance.

The shoes belonged to their good friend David Lea, and the boys say his shoes, now hanging outside Koni's home, are in memory of him.

David is the son of a minister who led the United Church of Tonga on Richmond Rd before moving to Australia.

"At first, it was just one of those things you see on TV and when you see it, you just do it," says Koni.

"But the other pair was to remember a mate who went to Aussie."

Tattooist and hip-hop artist Otis Frizzell says he does not know too much about the phenomenon, but believes it came from 1970s' New York.

"The big kids started doing it to the little kids. It's just kids fooling around.

"It's the big kids being mean to the little ones."

Frizzell says the suspended shoes are a good taunt because "you can see them but you can't get them."

Another theory - or more of a rumour - from police is that some of the shoes mark cannabis-selling "tinny houses."

But Chris Fowlie, spokesman for the cannabis action group Norml, says he doubts the shoes have any connection to drug houses because dealers want to stay anonymous.

"They are quite happy being non-descript, and I don't think they want to draw attention to themselves in this way."

At one stage, about 20 pairs of shoes were hanging on the powerlines outside Mt Albert Grammar School.

Streets in Mt Roskill, Mt Eden, Mangere, Otara, Herne Bay, Ponsonby, Grey Lynn and other parts of Auckland are all littered with suspended shoes.

They have also appeared on the powerlines of Hamilton and Rotorua.

The most common shoes used are old-style basketball boots, but a tiny pair of girls' shoes and black school shoes have also been spotted.

Powerlines company Vector says it has noticed the shoes and does not consider them dangerous.

Spokesman Mathew Bolland said the company did not encourage the practice, but the shoes would not cause power cuts.