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.
i have lived in nyc my entire 37 years and luckily have never been mugged or attacked
in my younger stupid years i was frequently going to unsavory areas to cop drugs
and the only advice i can give you is be very aware of your surroundings and look you do even if you do not know exactly where you are and where you are going
people constantly ask me for directions wherever i go – that is because i always look like i know exactly where i am and where i am going
do not walk around blasting your ipod off in never never land and playing with your i-phone or blackberry -it is just common sense
nyc is really safe these days but there is always that threat of danger
now in the summer months it is always worse as more people are on the street late at night and at all hours so just watch your back and be smart
a job and beautiful apt in nyc does not come with a street manual for street smarts those are learned over time spent here
so don’t think you are so street savvy when you are not and wathc your back
Get a stun gun. Whip that shit out when someone starts harassing you and give it a spark. whoever was harassing you will hightail it out of there.
I was robbed once- 1994 gun to the back of my neck held by a teenager while his partners were in a car behind us- this was in my parents neighborhood in an upscale section of queens.
I walk fully aware but not paranoid.
I’m six one, 205 and study and teach martial arts and most of the advice so far is illogical impractical and spoken by people who probably have never been in a fight.
When you study strategies and techniques for dealing with multiple attackers(3 or more) you realize despite preparations training( throw in a box cutter and your chances are very slim) the best move is to find an exit, period.
I’ve lived in clinton hill for 10 yrs and can fend for myself luckily I haven’t had to yet,but my wife is tiny and not from the city, my advice(along with basic self defense techniques) to her besides the obvious is to take the long way around and walk down fulton rather than gates, be vigilant in scanning ahead and behind her and if confronted offer no resistance.
Is mace legal to carry?
and I think it said he lived in Harlem so was clueless to begin with????
10:30 and 10:39 here.
My last post was actually addressed to 10:33, Putnamdenizen.
“an accounting of a recent attempted mugging/harrasment in Bed-Stuy via Twitter: http://paolomastrangelo.blogspot.com/2008/06/dear-nypd.html‘
OMG! Hell I would rob this Asshat myself. People you are living in a war-zone. the engagement is you! If you are walking around like this Asshat, you will be assaulted.
The What
Someday this war is gonna end…
I don’t know if a barber would help a bald person.
10.30 – yea so get on to everyone except the parents who “raise” these kids eh?