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 think the Black Community is really lacking in role models to stand up and talk about the culture that Black teens are embracing. If a white person states something, he/she is racist. When Bill Cosby spoke out about problems in the Black community, he was labeled an Uncle Tom. I’m glad Barack Obama started the dialogue the other day. Where are the fathers??? 80 percent of Black children are born out of wedlock. It all comes down to the break down of the family. The problems are all related. You need a father figure and positive role models to stress education, values and morals. These kids are dying for someone to lead them and mentor them. Stay in school, get educated, and stop having babies out of wedlock! I may be labeled a racist for stating this, but the Rev. Al, and Charles Barron should be the ones preaching this.
“Fearing the cops would give me some heat for my response I simply dropped the knife next to napping soul. When the cops arrived I told them that the kid pulled that knife on me – they were more than happy to file the charges.”
Nice. Taking a page from the NYPD’s book. Good work.
Funny Denton I too always carry a a knife with me about that size or a box cutter but not just for protection. Once walking from the train back in 89 I was accosted by two teens who punched me and demanded my wallet – me being only a few years older then them at the time. Conveniently I grabbed a piece of cyclone fence post that was being discarded and beat one of them unconscious while the other ran off. Fearing the cops would give me some heat for my response I simply dropped the knife next to napping soul. When the cops arrived I told them that the kid pulled that knife on me – they were more than happy to file the charges.
8:06, I didn’t get a chance to ask. Perhaps cuz I was talking on a cell phone as I entered the park. I was seeing a doc in the building at the end of Willoughby. I wouldn’t give them credit for being smart enuf to know that the pouch on my waist was a digicam. But I also had a backpack. Umm, lots of potential in there.
But I was aware of them, made eye contact, saw it coming down. I’m white. Maybe cuz I’m 53, even tho rather large. I’d have to agree with some other posters that you could be buppie and be in the same boat.
The cop car that drove me outta there was marked 84, I think. I could be wrong.
Good post Denton. But I’m wondering, why would they select you to jump — not that I doubt your word. Because you were carrying a digicam? Are you white or black? I’m just wondering about their, er, selection criteria.
I’m just a 5’8″ white lady, so that doesn’t leave me with as many options.
Is FG not in the much-maligned 88th precinct? That’s the other question. People seem to be saying that response in FG is better than in Clinton Hill and the neighboring parts of Bed-Stuy.
questions, questions.
4:28 PM: Next time you’re threatened by marauding stroller moms, don’t back down – mace ’em.
The thing is, these kids figure they are in a “white” area and figure they’ll get some cheap payback for white privilege and just harass or assault any white person. The constant prtraya in videos that any minute, black males will get arrested, they figure, hey, if it’s bound to hapen sooner or later, why ever try to go straight? I’ll just be a crazed as possible.
Calling these kids “punks” or “trash” feeds right into them. You have to make them feel conncted to their world, make them see the “old lie” of gangbanging has no meaning, and that the worst thing in the world is to get in trouble with the law.
“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?”
They DO leave me alone. With or without my Obama button. I live in a black neighborhood. Never had a problem.
4:51, are you nuts? There are only a few large cities in the entire country that have a lower murder rate than NYC. There are many reasons to hate and discredit Rudy, but his single-mindedness about fighting crime and the successful results are not one of them.
In 2007 Philadelphia, with a population of 1.5 million, had 394 murders. If NYC had the same murder rate we would have something like 2,200 murders.