priceritephoto.com story gets worse, photographer Don Wiss gets death threat

[ellis_vener_photography]

THOMAS HAWK'S DIGITAL CONNECTION

 

 

TUESDAY, DECEMBER 13, 2005

 

Brooklyn Photographer Don Wiss Threatened if He Doesn't Leave the Country He Will Be

Killed

 

?

PriceRitePhoto's store, photo by Brooklyn Photographer Don Wiss

 

I received a troubling email earlier today from Don Wiss saying that he received a phone

call today from someone telling him that if he didn't leave the country he would be killed.

Wiss also reported another call from an anonymous caller accusing him of running him out

of business. Don Wiss is a Brooklyn photographer that I have mentioned previously in my

posts about sleazy New York bait and switch camera operators operating out of Brooklyn.

Wiss has done an excellent job chronicling the actual storefronts of many of the shady

camera dealers in Brooklyn and has provided helpful visual information for consumers that

might do business with these operators and in some cases scam artists.

 

Wiss posted the photo above of the sleazy camera operator PriceRitePhoto that I had been

previously threatened by.

 

Although I suppose after hearing an actual voicemail of a camera dealer threatening to

break a customer's neck that it shouldn't surprise me to learn of Don's calls today, it still

sickens my stomach. How is it that these criminals can act with immunity right in Spitzer's

back yard? How can camera stores get away with death threats here now in the year 2005

in the United States of America.

 

Printed below is the email Wiss sent me earlier today.

 

"As you no doubt know, someone posted a link to your Brooklyn camera story on Slashdot

on 12/1. One of the comments mentioned my donwiss.com/pictures/BrooklynStores web

site. I had the most hits ever.

 

Yesterday donwiss.com had a DOS attack. 497 simultaneous connections. My host cut me

off so not to bring down the other clients on that server. I then switched my dns to a

backup host.

 

Today I received two phone calls at work. First one like blaming me for driving them out of

business. Says they have already shut it down. But, of course, he didn't disclose what

business, and they had caller id turned off.

 

I then got a second phone call. He told me to watch my back. He said if I don't leave the

country I will be killed. Now nowhere at my site do I pass any judgment on the dealers

here. So why blame me? My question is have you been threatened? Of course, living here in

Brooklyn makes me a convenient target."

 

To hear the story directly from Don click here to read his post in the rec.photo.digital

newsgroup at Google.

 

I think Wiss has done us all a favor by showing us the actual storefronts of many of the

Brooklyn businesses doing business online, and he's right, he makes no judgement as to

the credibility of any of these operators. Recently through Wiss' site I found evidence that

might suggest the real owner of PriceRitePhoto is an individual by the name of Chaim

Pikarski.

 

Wiss is taking this threat to his life seriously and said he would be filing a police report

today.

 

 

 

POSTED BY THOMAS HAWK AT 5:21 PM

[chiswick_john]

What did Wiss expect? - these 'dealers' thanking him for pointing out the error of their ways.

[dg1]

Chiswick John wrote: "What did Wiss expect? - these 'dealers' thanking him for pointing out the error of their ways."

 

 

So now it's ok to kill people if they point out a crime? That's sort of blaming the victim isn't it? Besides he didn't point out the error of anyone's ways, he simply posted photos of storefronts, including unquestionably reputable dealers such as B&H.

 

Unfortunately in the context of the priceright controversy Wiss' pictures are easily taken to imply something negative about any of the dealers pictured, which frankly I think is a bit unfair to the "good" dealers who have store fronts lumped in with the "pricerights" of the world.

 

But should his life be threatened? For crying out loud, you're saying, "well, that's what you get"! I don't think that's right. Pretty soon we'll all be packing iron and killing anyone who gets in our way.

[bobatkins]

Can you name any "good camera dealers" in Brooklyn with images on Don's website?

[oceanphysics]

There aren't any. But he has a Manhattan site.

 

Maybe my faith in humanity is unjustified, but it's hard for me to believe that anyone would not get the point of comparative photos like these:

<p>

<a href="http://www.donwiss.com/pictures/ManhattanStores/h0002.htm">B&H</a> vs <a href=http://www.donwiss.com/pictures/BrooklynStores/h0048.htm> another fine store.</a>

[john schroeder]

I can't see why this guy would be so angry. A relative will open the same business at the same address under a different name and keep pulling the same stunts. It's my understanding that this business model has been used in Brooklyn for years.

[manuel_franz]

Back in the days when I lived in NYC, I made it a point to take a personal look at many of

these photography "establishments." What I found (if I found anything) was simply that they

were anything but established. After checking out about five of them, it was exceedingly clear

that there are not too many reputable stores in NYC that sell online. I, for one, only shopped

at B&H. Don has my support and I am sorry to hear about these threats - but, it is NYC and it

is business - shady business. While it is not okay to threaten someone's life, Don must have

been aware that he put himself in danger by revealing what some of these places look like.

[nigel d]

The threat of violence now moves this to the realm of criminal. The police have the ability to investigate and access phone records to find the real source of the threats.

[dg1]

Bob, I don't know about all the dealers pictured, but Don's site has a photo of the B&H Warehouse, and Abes of Maine. I assume no one questions the reputation of B&H, I hope, but also I've dealt with Abe's of Maine, and have to admit I was treated well, there was no bait and switch tactic, and I've been happy with the purchase. Certainly 'buyer beware' applies anywhere.

[vivek iyer]

Any violence or threats should be condemned and dealt with legally. And any photographers with websites and links to various sellers is part of a free market economy. No need to castigate one over the other. It is a source of income for those site owners.

[andrew robertson]

These Brooklyn camera store guys are almost all members of a certain ethnic Mafia (not

Italian).

 

They are bold criminals, and certainly don't like getting screwed around with. I for one can't

figure out why the FBI hasn't run them all out of the country yet.

 

I would advise Don to call the police and the FBI, to start a paper trail.

[chiswick_john]

"So now it's ok to kill people if they point out a crime? That's sort of blaming the victim isn't it?" - if you upset or provoke the bad guys you are going to get hurt - that is the job of the law and it's officers and officials. If Wiss wan't expecting this to turn nasty he is very naive. Anyway - serious bad guys don't make threats - they just take action - Wiss is obviously only dealing with idiots.

[oceanphysics]

<i>And any photographers with websites and links to various sellers is part of a free market economy. No need to castigate one over the other. It is a source of income for those site owners.</i>

<p>

And of course doing it as a source of income makes anything OK. Brilliant reasoning.

[oceanphysics]

<i>Anyway - serious bad guys don't make threats - they just take action</i>

<p>

Bullshit. Serious bad guys make a LOT of threats. Gangsters learned a long time ago that you only need to actually crack a few heads. After that, just the threat gets the job done. If you don't believe me, google <i>John Gotti threats</i>.

[katherine_dancer]

1) And people wonder why it is I don't deal with Brooklyn camera stores and instead buy 200 miles away at Penn Camera of DC and Laurel, MD (as I am frequently in that area anyway).

 

2) I think it should not be Mr. Wiss who needs to leave the country. Perhaps the FBI and police should take an interest in this case and put some wiseguys behind bars.

[bruce_rubenstein]

Just for the record: I've lived in Brooklyn for 52 years, and have been buying camera gear for around 28 years. The one camera store that I've dealt with in Brooklyn (when this made sense) for most of that time is Focus Camera. Granted, I haven't done mail order with them, but for walk in sales they've been fine.

 

Note: I have no connection with these folks other than being a customer for a long time.

[troyammons]

Pretty ballsy move by Don Wiss. I do have to wonder how smart is is to Sh!t where you brush your teeth though.

 

No wonder he is getting death threats. If not criminals they are trying to make a living like anybody else, although a lot more unscrupulous, but then again I can think of a few professional occupations that are shady and unscrupulous too.

 

As far as I am concerned this was a really stupid move on his part, considering it is NYC his own home.

[rich_taylor____mequon__wi]

I'm a pretty street-wise guy who grew up in NYC, and so I've developed my own instincts about when and how to get in somebody's, or some business's, face. Personally, I wouldn't make a crusade against these guys because there's a definite downside. If I got burned, which I have (not by the Brooklyn stores, but in other situations), I usually chalked it up to experience and made a point of not repeating the error. Taking it to the next level is reserved for special occasions.

 

On the other hand, I have to give Wiss a lot of credit for acting on his convictions and following his obvious outrage with the actions he has taken. It's not something I necessarily deem to be a wise move, but it is deserving of recognition. I wouldn't have done it, so my hat's off to him. Others will benefit.

[beauh44]

Rhetorical question: Why do so many magazines (Pop Photo, Shutterbug) allow these guys to advertise year after year when they *know* they're crooks? (I know... the crooks buy the ads, but still)

[jason_sprenger1]

Hmm, a little of James Nachtwey's world right here. Images from reality really are powerful things.

 

Some photog's dream for such opportunities, some foolish, some noble. Such photos may not win Pulitizers but it is photojournalism.

 

Thinking this over, nice snapshots of store fronts would be nice over by the "Member Recommendations" section of this web site, wordlessly adding to the value of the resource.

 

I doubt that Don can ride his bike everywhere, maybe other folks could contribute too. I understand some folks around here take pictures.

[w_t1]

If you live in NYC you should call up Dateline NBC and get them to do a story on it, ala the internet predators (trapping doctors, rabbis, teachers, etc.) which they re-ran last night. I'm on the left coast. Tom

[lex_jenkins]

When I was a safety inspector for federal OSHA an owner of an auto shop I inspected became outraged that I found anything wrong in his shop. The place was actually quite clean and safe but they did have gasoline in open, unapproved containers, which is pretty dangerous under the best of conditions, let alone in a shop where ignition sources such as welding equipment is used.

 

While the owner - an immigrant to the U.S. - didn't threaten me personally (I always got along with folks I inspected), he bellowed "Tell your boss to come see me. I grab him by neck and I show him my place is safe!" I explained to him that first of all my boss had a neck thicker than most people's thighs and would require a very large hand to grab, and that doing so would probably be a violation of federal law. He calmed down and just paid the minor fine.

 

Many if not most camera and electronics shops in NYC are owned by first or second generation immigrants to the U.S. While I don't condone threats, some of what they say is hyperbole and doesn't necessarily indicate any intent to follow through.

 

I was told by a missionary (a story that was separately corroborated by visiting professors and businessmen) that automobile accidents in the country where he was stationed were sometimes settled by public arguments. The person who loses the argument winds up paying for the damages. If true, that would certainly tend to encourage honing one's skills at using intimidation to get one's way.

 

Still, this is the U.S. and anyone who demonstrates a pattern of this sort of behavior should be reported to the authorities.

[rich_b1]

"If Wiss wan't expecting this to turn nasty he is very naive."

 

I have seen Don Wiss's storefront shots for a couple of years with no hackles raised. All of a sudden, over this Thomas Hawk blog, we have threats of broken necks and murders.

 

I'm 57 years old, live in the NY area and don't consider myself "naive". I would hope most of us are past the Dodge City, Tombstone or Untouchables-Capone mentality and feel that we can speak and act relatively freely in this country. Its certainly not perfect, but its also not some lawless narco-empire. Even most scammers don't resort to threats or violence. They just move on to greener pastures (change names) when the heat is turned up. Do we really have to fear what we say and print if its truthful?

 

I hope that the authorities nail these SOB's and return some sanity. Thomas Hawk & Don Wiss are doing everyone a great service, and should be thanked and supported, not criticized or any blame whatsoever placed upon them.

[Tim_Lookingbill]

I live in a small town in Texas, cattle country to be precise,

incidences similar to the subject of this thread rarely occur here.

If they do, a simple call to the police even on minor

disagreements that grow heated are solved by having the police

arrive.

 

No arrests are involved, no one presses charges, but the person

making the threats already gets the idea how issues are solved

no matter what country they're from. A record is made by a

respectable third party, the police, which helps quell any fear of

future retribution.

 

I do this all the time when I feel things are getting really out of

hand. The police in my town encourage this method over

vengeful vigilante tactics.

[watermelon]

I was threatened and mocked on the phone to a brooklyn camera store a while ago.

Apparently during my conversation their company policy on shipping to the UK was changed

and British Customs needed to see a memory card with the camera to prove it wasnt a bomb.

Extra $300 please ('mayte'). Was shocked to see that such shites can still operate in America

and even more shocked that there are americans dumb enough to buy from them - which

must happen or they wouldnt exist.