Enough With the Marauding Teenagers!
A couple of months ago as we were walking East on Greene Avenue between Waverly and Washington we noticed in our peripheral vision someone approaching fast from behind. When we spun around, it was a teenage boy, probably about 15 years old, who had crept up and was hovering inches from the back of our…
A couple of months ago as we were walking East on Greene Avenue between Waverly and Washington we noticed in our peripheral vision someone approaching fast from behind. When we spun around, it was a teenage boy, probably about 15 years old, who had crept up and was hovering inches from the back of our head mocking us provocatively to the clear delight of his jeering friends. Ever risk-averse, we quickly walked out into the middle of the street and starting dialing on our cell phone. With a few shouts, the pack continued down the block. We jogged back to a police car we had noticed parked back on Vanderbilt, told the cops what had happened and went home. The next day we heard that a woman had been mugged half an hour later a few blocks from there by a bunch of teenagers. We’ve heard of several similar instances in the area in recent weeks. And it’s not just Clinton Hill. A post on Brooklynian describes how a trio of teenage girls (19, 17 and 12) mugged five different people in Prospect Heights on Saturday night (and how only one of them decided to press charges) and an email we received yesterday told of a violent mugging of a twenty-something male by a group of boys at around 8:15 Monday night at Dekalb and South Oxford Street in Fort Greene (above). What can the community do to combat this activity? Obviously greater police presence would help, but given the paltry resources the NYPD devotes to this part of town, it’s going to take a lot of vigilance on the part of residents in terms of reporting even small incidents of harassment and pressing charges. And everyone should be aware that a lot of these muggings are happening during daylight hours, often between the end of school and dinner time, so it’s a good idea to minimize iPod and cell phone usage during those times. Please use this comment thread to document other similar incidents that you know about in recent months as well as to suggest ways to address the problem.
1:37…I agree with you…but THAT wouldn’t happen in the part of Bed Stuy that I live in. Other parts, CH…I guess so.
Affluent Liberal,
Do you think voting for Obama makes you cool or in touch with the black community? You think if you have an Obama button they will leave you alone?
“Actually it is full of white and arab business owners, tradespeople, professionals and police officers. It is not safe for black teen thugs and that is a positive. We take care of the crime problem here.”
Oh yeah, I forgot Bay Ridge’s crooked cops, boiler-room hustlers and potential terrorists. My bad.
“What’s with the idiotic get a dog advice? People aren’t going to have their dog with them on their walk home from the subway after they leave work. People don’t take their dog to work with them.”
Disguise yourself as a “Blind Person” and put a handle on the dog! LMMFAO!!! Oh man, you Asshats crack me up. Hey Brownstoner if you have any “Beef”, tell them you know The What. My Rep is Thorno…
Later Asshats!
The What
Someday this war is gonna end…
Quality thread. Hysteria, posturing, bullshit, race baiting, more hysteria, WhatSpew, more bullshit, occasional thoughtful post, more hysteria, some hysteria, some posturing and a little more WhatSpew.
Useless.
Idiotic comments like 10:37 are just mind-boggling.
What is with the “Welcome to Brooklyn” comments? There is nothing inherent in Brooklyn that causes this, nor are these incidents unique to Brooklyn. If anything, they are more common in other cities.
This doesn’t happen in 80% of Brooklyn. It only happens in African American parts of Brooklyn. It does not happen in Asian, White, Latino, or immigrant black (West Indian or African) areas. Only “native” black teenagers do this nonsense. I have no idea why. Of course, most teenagers of all races would not consider such actions, but let’s not kid ourselves about who does this nonsense.
As for the silly “kids are doing it because they are poor”, what are you smoking? Latinos are the poorest residents of NYC, and they do not do this! Immigrant blacks have roughly the same incomes as native-born blacks, and they do not do this! It has nothing to do with economic poverty. This will not happen to you in Haitian/Jamaician East Flatbush, or in the African parts of the South Bronx. It will happen where there are concentrations of subsidized poor African Americans. Sad but true.
This has nothing to do with the economy. It has been going on for decades. If anything, it’s much better than in past years.
Also, people are not being targeted because they are white. They are being targeted because they are “non-ghetto”. Bougie blacks and anyone who looks semi-intelligent or gainfully employed could be a target. People wearing “Stop Snitching” T-shirts and rapping to themselves will be ignored because they are “down” with this twisted cultural norm.
The people who have not been mugged can shut up already. They are just lucky. These losers could victimize anyone who is not subscribing to their cultural norm.
The positive thing is that this is beginning to recede. Either these teenagers are less stupid or maybe it’s just because this demographic is in severe decline throughout NYC. While the black population in NYC is in decline, the growing West Indian/African community is masking rapid decline in the African American community.
I wonder if places like Atlanta and Charlotte have an uptick in such incidents, since this is where many former residents are moving.
These incidents were MUCH more common 10 years ago, when it seemed like everyone had such a story. Now it is the exception and not the norm, and the police crack down on such patterns.
For some reason it’s ridiculously funny conjuring up the image of Brownstoner being harassed by a bunch of fourteen years olds and fumbling for his phone quickly to call the cops. I’m sure the kids got a good laugh as well.
I may be an anomaly but I’m a petite white women living in Bed Stuy and I’ve never been harassed-except by the harmless drunks in front of the liquor store. Full disclosure: i work daily with children, so I know how to deal with kids. Be simple but yet firm with these kids and that would solve 95% of these incidents. Part of problem is that Brownstoner and the like walk in their neighborhoods like they are the only ones that exist. So of course people can take you by surprise, you never noticed them before anyway on your way to Choice every morning. Every once in while you’re reminded that you need to interact and recognize people’s humanity.
What’s with the idiotic get a dog advice? People aren’t going to have their dog with them on their walk home from the subway after they leave work. People don’t take their dog to work with them.
“Nice, very cite cute but, if you don’t put you name on it, it don’t mean anything!”
Aaaaaand you have just been successfully trolled, dear.
Shall I address the cases of Kleenex, Spam and Nutter Butters to “The What”, General Delivery, Lodi, New Jersey?