Empire State Building / Herald Square car alarm zap mystery

This article caught my eye:

Empire State Building car zap mystery
In the shadow of the Empire State Building lies an “automotive Bermuda Triangle” - a five-block radius where vehicles mysteriously die.

No one is sure what’s causing it, but all roads appear to lead to the looming giant in our midst - specifically, its Art Deco mast and 203-foot-long, antenna-laden spire.

“We get about 10 to 15 cars stuck near there every day,” said Isaac Leviev, manager of Citywide Towing, the AAA’s exclusive roadside assistance provider from 42nd St. to the Battery. “You pull the car four or five blocks to the west or east and the car starts right up.”

In fact, I saw this happen to my dad’s car when we went for dinner at Keen’s back in November. Fortunately in his case, only the alarm wouldn’t turn off from the key fob - we were able to unlock the doors manually, setting off the alarm, and then starting the car. It sure would’ve sucked had the car not started as it was freezing that day.

As a kid, I also remembered this phenomenon in Lower Manhattan - I think the car alarms would fail if we parked on Park Row on the Chinatown side of the Brooklyn Bridge. Or if you parked under the Police HQ.

Hm, I just noticed you can’t drive down Park Row anymore? Wow, I haven’t been in that area for a longgggg time I guess.