MANHATTAN — An Inwood couple has been the victim of more than 200 prank 911 phone calls over the past two years — a relentless harassment campaign that is devastating the household, according to their daughter and a published report.
"It’s traumatizing. It scares you," said the 19-year-old daughter of Mamadou Sy, 57 and his wife Assetou, 52, the founder of the Malian Cultural Center in The Bronx. "You don’t sleep soundly. You have to be on your toes."
The plight of the Sy family, first reported in the Daily News, has brought cops and firemen to their home of 17 years at the Dyckman houses "every other night," said the daughter, who did not want to be named.
"It’s not a decent hour," she told DNAinfo. "It’s like three in the morning and four in the morning."
The daughter said that the Sys have been visited by emergency workers for complaints about everything from gunfire to injuries to reports of fires with most recent call coming on Friday.
"We feel like we know every other cop now," she said.
The Sys, Malian immigrants, say that they have brought the situation to the attention of the NYPD, the FDNY and the mayor's office.
According to the daughter, the FDNY recently pulled the audio from some of the 911 calls and played it back for the family.
"All those tapes had the same male voice," the daughter said. The family, which has also had their car and apartment door vandalized, has their suspicions about who the perpetrator might be.
However, the daughter said that her family has not received a visit from police investigators in the case.
"[The prank calls] just becomes annoying and it drains the resources of the city," she said. "We were hoping that something would be done."
Her mom wants to move out, but she and her husband are afraid of where they might end up in the city housing system.
"It really breaks our hearts," the daughter said. "As any family you want to feel safe in your own home."
The NYPD and FDNY did not immediately respond to requests for comment. The Housing Authority did not immediately comment and the mayor's office referred inquiries to the NYPD.
