In the middle of reports of widespread Time Warner Cable outages in New York’s East Village late this week, one building supervisor has decided to hold a local cable node hostage. This node controls cable and internet not just for his building, but several others on the block. His price for access? Free cable.

Local blogger Adam broke the story on his blog Adam’s Life after he called up Time Warner Cable demanding answers about why his internet was out:

Finally, I connected with a service rep. He sounded young. Stumbled a little bit over the script he was reading. I assume he’s new. This will be important in a moment. I asked him what the heck was happening. And he told me this:

The box that controls the cable, internet, pretty much everything else for Time Warner Cable in my area of the East Village is located in the basement of a building. In order to service this box, Time Warner Cable needs to contact the super of the building and be let in.

The super of the building, according to the service rep, REFUSES TO LET TIME WARNER INSIDE.

“Why is he refusing?” I asked.

“He wants free cable,” the rep responded.

Apparently, Time Warner has tried to reason with the man, but he refuses to budge. Today, he’s refused to answer the door or his phone. He’s cut off all communication.

“It’s a very unusual situation,” the rep said.

Time Warner Cable confirmed the story to the Village Voice. “We did have to remind the landlord of city ordinance that requires us to have 24/7 access to our infrastructure,” a company spokesperson told the paper.

After they published the story, Adam’s cable and internet came back on.

Less than 24 hours later, it was out again. Maybe the building supervisor decided he didn’t like True Blood after all and wanted a different cable package.

Someone Is Holding Time Warner Cable Hostage For Free Cable [Adam’s Life]
East Village Super Held Time Warner Cable Hostage For 24 Hours [Village Voice]

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