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.
don’t kid yourself about all this “carrying yourself with some sense of awareness of your surroundings” or “not looking scared” because there is no rhyme or reason for kids to jump you. i was tackled by two kids (maybe 10 years old) on Eastern Parkway near Underhill at 6pm. there were people around, they did nothing. did they think these kids were playing or something? after they tackled me, they cut my face and stole nothing from me. after the police showed up and took the report, they told me i should have “kicked their ass.” sorry, but i have a bit of a problem kicking the shit out of kids only 9 or 10 year old, period.
bottom line is, i wasn’t scared, or listening to an iPod, on a cell phone, nothing. there’s no way to justify something like this. these kids were looking for a thrill or something. i doubt my unwillingness to wail on small kids reads in my body language, or hell, maybe it does. my point is, there are kids in the neighborhood that will rob, mug, or just beat you up for the sole reason that you don’t share their skin tone. it’s effed up, but part of living in the hood. and i’m not leaving.
To all the folks suggesting that they have never been victimized because they stay aware, look tough/street smart and can avoid being an easy mark, nice for you. But I’m guessing you are also a few things that some of us are not:
1. Male
2. relatively large
3. Black (given the “talk street” ref)
Not especially helpful to many of us, and disturbingly close to blaming victims while suggesting no other or long-term alternatives.
I’m surprised no one has responded to this post: “In the swanky neighborhoods of Mexico City, Sao Paulo, Lima, etc, rich folks who live in the million-dollar mansions usually do not show themselves too often on the street. They know the income disparity between themselves and the city’s poor. Americans, clueless about socio/economic issues, delude themselves into thinking that this is an egalitarian city where everyone has the same shot at success and wealth.”
Spot. On. We’re in a catch-22, as a culture.
And I believe, psychologically speaking, EVERYone is pissed off. On both “sides”. And that a huge part of this is the we/them thing. If you can’t begin to identify with someone or your projection of their motives, then you can’t empathize. It works both ways. The kid thinks, “oh, they can always get more of that, easy. I can’t. I deserve it too! And they don’t give a f*ck about me anyway”, while the adult thinks: “Godda**it!, little punk hoodlum, animal, freak,… horrible parents! Leave us alone…Go away! Out of “our” neighborhood…” and so on.
And it seems to me that the bigger picture requires getting more community centers and great teenage activities (considered worthwhile by said teens) going; community outreach to the tune of town hall meetings to plan and work together, pitching in both money and time, a level of genuine involvement from “rich folks” we don’t see a lot; getting involved early on with little kids at risk, really injecting yourself, (being a big brother/sister? weekend volunteer work?); increased police patrols; and finally, get the Republicans out of office. For God’s sakes. Bottom up or top down? I don’t know. Grassroots activism AND a huge change in the sociopolitical structure.
Posted by: at June 18, 2008 11:15 AM
Learn this phrase: Not in the face!
as the economy continues to sour things may get worse before they get better
i hope no one gets hurt or attacked but be on your guard and be careful
walking 7 blocks from a subway @ 2am drunk is not smart
u cant blame me my friends for getting a little crazy. it is my culture. we are mad about money and sh!t.
u got a nice computer here! need to lock u door better when u go to work lol
B-O-O H-O-O! you were robbed of your expensive electronic toys. Go back to your over-priced condo/brownstone and lick your wounds you big baby. Welcome to the real Brooklyn you clueless squares…
The suburbs are filled with die-hard Brooklynites who were mugged and beaten up by our true lifetime denizens.
A train, Utica Ave stop, about 6 months ago. Two young ladies (12-14) tried to start up with me as I was carrying my baby up the stairs in his stroller. I called one of the girls a brat and told her to mind her business. Got to the top of the stairs at Fulton Park and was talking to the token booth clerk who was taking a smoke break when one of the young ladies came back and stood at the bottom of the stairs like she was going to start something again. I told her if she came up she would have to take her chances, because I would kick her back down the stairs. Then the token booth clerk stepped in my line of vision and told me to calm down. By the time she finished speaking to me, the young lady was gone.
BTW, idiot at 10.09, love your racial sterotypes you usless POS. All blacks have carpet knives/box cutters and are looking to beat down whitey. Just stop posting already. You contribute nothing and now you’ve had your 15 minutes via your friends at NYMag, so go find another little pond. What’s more, you are a f*cktard. It’s obvious that you’re incapable of parsing any of the cut and paste you post ad nauseum or of making any type of intellectual or analytical contributions to this board. Your impotent attempts to portray yourself as some sort of visionary re: the economy or RE are laughable. If you want to talk about asshattery, you wrote the book. So go away.
11:04 is the biggest Asshat so far…and there have been more than the usual number commenting here today
Gabby…do an Asshat of the Day