help. lenny kravitz sings about a '165'er'. what is that ?

[syzygy]

i need help with one line from lenny kravitz's 'mr. cab driver'. in the last stanza, second line (highlighted). here's the song:


Mr. Cab Driver won't you stop to let me in
Mr. Cab Driver don't you like my kind of skin
Mr. Cab Driver you're never gonna win

Mr. Cab Driver won't stop to pick me up
Mr. Cab Driver I might need some help
Mr. Cab Driver only thinks about himself

Mr. Cab Driver
Mr. Cab Driver

Mr. Cab Driver don't like to way I look
He don't like dreads he thinks we're all crooks
Mr. Cab Driver reads too many story books

Mr. Cab Driver pass me up with eyes of fire
Mr. Cab Driver thinks we're all 165'ers
Mr. Cab Driver fvck you I'm a survivor

Let me in

Mr. Cab Driver
Mr. Cab Driver


this must be police jargon. what is a '165'er' ?
i can guess but doesn't anyone know definitively.

 

[thereds]

Thats a lot of Cab Drivers.

Typical new-Lenny.

 

[syzygy]

thereds, i don't understand. cab drivers profile all dreadlocked black males as 165'ers.

165'ers must be a class of misdemeanor or felony criminal; perhaps loiterers ?
hoodlums ? jamaican yardies ? toking rasta boys ? crypts ? bloods ? what ?

the song doesn't specify location. i'm not up on lenny's bio so i'm clueless as
to where he was, what he was doing, or what had happened when he scratched these
lyrics out.

when you said 'new lenny', this could be something late that coincided with a
small controversy here in new york city that swirled around cab drivers bypassing
hailing black pedestrians.

 

[Amused]

Well, it's not an LAPD radio code. I'll try NY, since I figure LA isn't known for cabs anyhow.

 

[Amused]

Well, it's not NYPD either. Where is Kravitz from, anyhow?

 

[RossMAN]

All I know is 187 = death and 420 = pot. What does 165 mean?

 

[Amused]

In the context of the song, "165ers" appears to mean either robbers, murderers, or criminals in general. The cabs pass them by because they think they're going to rob or kill them.

 

[MrBond]

From his video for "Again" it looks like he's in NYC. It's definatly a large city, but it doesn't look like what I remember of LA

 

[BigSmooth]

I searched for the New York Penal Code on the web, and I think section 165 does relate to robbery/theft.

 

[warcleric]

165 is a name of a gang in Harlem. Corresponding to 165th St. in Harlem.

 

[syzygy]

thanks bigsmooth. penal code numbers or police
jargon are usually made into shorthand slang by
hooligans who've been through the courts, county
jail, etc.

warcleric, it may be a name of a gang, but lenny
must have been referring to some of his own
personal experiences, and he was never a member
of any harlem gang.

the dude is half-jewish on his father's side; his
mom is bahamian.

 

[creedog]

that is actually an old song of his first album...