The New York Observer reported last week that a 24-year-old Jewish woman had become “mayor” of Jerusalem’s Temple Mount on Foursquare . (Foursquare is a mobile application that allows users to broadcast where they are at all times; the person with the most “check ins” at any given location becomes mayor of that spot. Slate ‘s Jessica Grose explains it all here .)
Ariela Ross planted her virtual flag on the Temple Mount — possibly “the most highly contested 324,000 square cubits on the faceof the earth” — despite the fact that Jewish law forbids Jews from walking on the site, “due to the possibility of treading on the remains of the ancient Temple.” I suppose all’s fair in love and meaningless Internet competitions. But it got me thinking: What other highly inappropriate sites have been claimed by click-happy Foursquare users? Below, a selective list of the most curious, newsworthy, and/or squirm-inducing mayorships we found:
Rikers Island:
http://foursquare.com/venue/1312669
San Quentin:
http://foursquare.com/venue/62631
The Grassy Knoll:
http://foursquare.com/venue/335146
Sing Sing:
http://foursquare.com/venue/4945822
Al-Masjid al-Haram
(aka The Holy Mosque of Mecca):
http://foursquare.com/venue/3734792
Park51
(aka the “Ground Zero Mosque”):
http://foursquare.com/venue/6985403
Fresh Kills Landfill
:
http://foursquare.com/venue/214218
Three Mile Island:
http://foursquare.com/venue/694589
The United States Holocaust Memorial Museum, DC:
http://foursquare.com/venue/123039
The Vatican:
http://foursquare.com/venue/1250941
The
Branch Davidian compound
in Waco, Texas:
http://foursquare.com/venue/6546426
Guantánamo Bay:
http://foursquare.com/venue/1916112
The Auschwitz Museum:
http://foursquare.com/venue/4581346
Dachau:
http://foursquare.com/venue/199446
Are you a mayor of one of these sites? We want to hear from you! Email us at nina.rastogi@slate.com . Found any other notorious Foursquare mayors? Nominate your favorites in the comments.
