A startup is deploying armed bodyguards to NYC | Hacker News Reader

A startup is deploying armed bodyguards to NYC

radius.nyc

44 pointscorporate_law64 comments

I think it was Antonio Garcia Martinez where I read some content he made that drew a bunch of parallels to the US as very similar to LATAM in a lot of ways. I was fortunate enough to spend some time doing the digital nomad thing in Panama and personal security is way more explicit in places like that. Barbed wire around houses, big security systems, armored vehicles, etc. etc. because people didn't particularly trust the government to take great care of them. I some of these things happening in the US and its a bit concerning. I often and harshly criticize the police but they have a lot more accountability than a private security detail does. Feels like as a society we are making decisions taking us down a path of low trust and more violence. I don't pretend to know the answer though.

The linked website isn't real. NYC is very safe and doesn't remotely need this level for security for 99.9999% of people.

I'm aware this is a joke and also am aware that NYC is largely safe. It clearly struck a nerve however and I think thats for a reason which is things are heading that way generally.

who says this is a joke?

Well "joke" may not exactly be the right word since it's not actually funny, so how about "satire"? The point is, it's definitely not REAL.

> I often and harshly criticize the police but they have a lot more accountability than a private security detail

Maybe you should reflect on your police position then. Try to compare them to real alternatives, not with an ideal.

I think this is a joke or something a la MSCHF, their spokesperson is the Gigachad lol.

good choice of spokesperson but MSCHF always takes cred for their things

Their COO is the Smoking Man from the X-Files and their Chief Systems Engineer is the Slenderman

I feel safer already

I tend to agree that it's a joke (or some marketing ploy) simply because this service makes zero sense.

Usually in security you need multiple people to guard one person of interest. This "start-up" suggests the exact opposite, one person guarding multiple subjects, with a total of 10,000 persons of interest around the city. Right.

You have to give them credit for the amount of work they put into the presentation though - this makes me think it's more of a marketing stunt than some college student screwing around.

Edit: Okay, just clicked the Team page and it's beyond any doubt a gag, I bet the reveal will happen soon.

That and the fact they provide "zombie mode" as a feature

This doesn't really make any sense to anyone actually living in NYC

They don't really explain how they are guarding you and not the 79 other strangers on the block or your subway car

Will an armed ex-military person confront every panhandler talking sh* on the subway? Will they first yell "IS ANYONE IN THIS CAR A PAYING MEMBER OF RADIUS? PLEASE SHOW ME YOUR MEMBERSHIP CARD AND I WILL MOVE THE DIRTY PANHANDLER AWAY FROM YOU"

All of the explanations are about how they are patrolling all subway lines and 24 neighborhoods, but no mention of how you as a member have better protection than the person next to you

Other than that, its a smart idea because there is virtually no crime in these neighborhoods, just hysteria. So i'm sure they've figured their guards won't have to actually do anything

It's not so much that this business is a bad sign, as for all I know it's a hoax/PR stunt. It's the fact that it is totally believable t hat it could be real, that is a bad sign.

It MUST be fake -they are using the infamous "Gigachad" as their spokesperson mascot.

It's well made but the intent is clearly satire. I don't see how anyone would believe this is real.

Poe's Law.

Anyone taking this seriously is very gullible.

Whole thing is laughable, stock photography, "I am very badass" language. Submitted by a new user.

I mean the gigachad meme spokesperson is kind of a giveaway

If the gigachad weren't shirtless, it would be 100% credible.

feel better now https://twitter.com/radiusNYC/status/1622615163638513664?s=2...

"Lethal, but mostly peaceful mercenaries."

This is some elite level trolling!

Mostly peaceful mercenaries to properly handle mostly peaceful protesters.

Look at their numbers: "1000 elite bodyguards operating 24/7/365 across key areas of the city...", they say they're only accepting 10,000 clients, and pricing starts at $99/month ("basic") or $499/month ("elite").

Either their uber-elite agents are being vastly oversold, or the arithmetic of their actual revenue sources (and how they expect to meet payroll each month) is worth examining.

(Yes, or they aren't real after all.)

This is interesting, and I'm not sure if it's good or bad for society. Bad if they only protect wealthy paying clients (most likely scenario), but good if they protect opportunistically, and/or also involve the police.

The business model seems to be based on "zone" coverage, but the question will be how effective this is when actual situations take place. They're either there or they're not. It's unlikely to have an "SLA" in terms of response time in minutes since they have a flat monthly fee, while supporting swings in demand like New Years vs a normal day. My guess is the profitability of this rests on the inability of users to see how many staff are actually around. They could have 20 people on-duty and no-one would be the wiser. "Needed us? Sorry, unlucky on that one." ¯\_(ツ)_/¯ Super interesting while being mildly dystopian.

Wow, what FUD scaremongering:

>murder rates are up 50%

Overall, multiple sources I found indicated they're up 30% (yeah, still not good at all, but it still means the startup is overstating the relative rate increase by 40%)

And for NYC itself where the startup is focused, the murder rate is now on the decline [1]

And the whole thing, presentation style etc., seem so over the top that I wonder if it's satire or some type of attempt to get viral attention for a product/service yet to be revealed but a bit different than the private-security-as-a-service presented here.

[1] https://www.nyc.gov/site/nypd/news/p00071/nypd-citywide-crim...

While there’s undoubtedly demand for Blackwater meets Uber in the nouveau riche set, I don't think this goes far enough in securing the arriviste’s perimeter. How can I be sure my Gigachad operatives aren’t also being hired by my many opponents and detractors? How can the same foreign aristocrat who is after me be using the same Gigachads as me on a gig-work basis??

To be fair, that does already happen, and that’s why I have Gigachads watching my Gigachads. My own Gigachads are sworn enemies of my opponent’s Gigachads, and STILL, they are constantly selling each other out, often over jewelry or strangely-chambered boutique firearms. I think this is just another bunch of dilettante college kids I don't trust with my perimeter.

I love that the header "hidden in plain sight" has a photo of a person with an ear bud with a coiled phone wire heading into his jacket. It's 2023. You'd be more hidden in plain sight with a pair of headphones picked up from the Apple Store.

“Blackwater, please meet Uber.”

It’s hard to imagine anyone saying this without irony.

This is just a disgusting way to promote any product!

Another giveaway: “Close quarter combat training, including hours of practice in places with close proximity to others, like the subway.”

Are we sure this is not a marketing stunt for a new movie or game? It just looks so over the top that it's hard to believe it is real

$20 on this.

> Meet your new private army.

“what could possibly go wrong?”

Very funny, laughed at the gigachad, would be a great idea for a videogame.

For reality, we are still a few decades too early.

If people are going to upvote this obvious joke, can we get the title edited not to mislead?

Gigachad, references to GTA5 etc. and the website looks like from Hitman. Who is the clientele? Rich millennials?

This must be some kind of gerilla marketing for something.

I think it's satire? But hard to tell.

As someone who grew up in NYC in the 1970s and 1980s when the mob ran the city, this type of stuff is hilarious to me.

This is the more-dystopian form of renting an exotic car for your crypto conference red carpet walk.

their video is kind of chilling https://twitter.com/radiusNYC/status/1621578982725386240/vid...

Or allow concealed carry and stand their ground for responsible citizens to protect their lives.

Problem solved.

How much longer until we have Bubrclaves with their own private police forces ?

The account “corporate_law” was started approximately 2 minutes before posting.

This is a great art project.

Anyone immediately think of Stephenson’s Enforcers from snow crash?

So the Guardian Angels but they only help rich people?

Whole lot could go wrong if this is legit.

Their manifesto is something else:

https://www.radius.nyc/manifesto

I was thinking this was a marketing stunt, but after reading the manifesto, I'm thinking possibly left-wing trolls.

This line in particular:

As long as you’re on our "GRID" there’s a mean motherfucker cum RADIUS agent no more than fifty feet away, watching for signs of trouble,...

Near the bottom, the fact that it even says "cum" lol

Right and actually "cum" is a perfectly cromulent English word that they're using correctly here...except that today people would usually say "slash" instead due to the secondary meaning "cum" has picked up.

English, because who wants logic.

I tend to forget you can use that word in a normal way, too many memes and rarely seeing it used that way except in like movies and shows, and my brain assumes troll when I see it.

aristocratic

Caught your act once at the 9:30 in DC. Add a couple of guitars and a drum kit and you have GWAR.

www.56secure.com A very similar service has existed in India for the past two years

Peak LARPing.

zombie mode sounds intriguing

is this legal?

More or less.

There's no law against paying intimidating people to stand in a particular place. That's what clubs do with bouncers.

And they have no more authority to use violence than any other citizen.

In states like NY though they can have a considerably easier time getting carry permits since they can argue it’s with cause better than a random private citizen.

Also the obvious thing to do is offer your services for free to judges and prosecutors. The dark cyberpunk future is on its way and inevitable barring a total collapse.

There is theory, and there is practice.

Depends on what they do...

I was walking in Las Vegas and private security started following me in a vehicle. I ignored them and kept walking. They followed me for several blocks, driving very slowly right behind, and occasionally severing at me. I recorded them and called 911. The police showed up right away. The police had a long chat with the private security about public spaces and intimidation.

Marketing? Yes, it's a little shady but usually legal. Your mother is probably still not proud though.

Reply on news.ycombinator.com