Murder Up in North Brooklyn, Down in South
The number of murders in North Brooklyn spiked 34 percent in the first half of the year while just about every other comman center saw declines. There were 59 homicides in the Brooklyn North Command (which includes precincts 73, 75, 77, 79, 81, 83, 84, 88, 90, and 94) through June 10 this year, versus…
The number of murders in North Brooklyn spiked 34 percent in the first half of the year while just about every other comman center saw declines. There were 59 homicides in the Brooklyn North Command (which includes precincts 73, 75, 77, 79, 81, 83, 84, 88, 90, and 94) through June 10 this year, versus 44 in the same period in 2006 and 36 in 2005. The main cause? According to John Jay College’s Richard Curtis, it’s a rise in “disrespect shootings” by teens, which includes such death-worthy offenses as looking at someone’s girlfriend the wrong way, as someone did around the corner from our house last year. Of course, all parts of North Brooklyn are not created equal. While murders in Bushwick’s 83rd Precinct rose from 2 to 6 in the first half of 2007, Brooklyn Heights and Boerum Hill have none for the second year running. Street crime in those tony nabes has risen considerably though: Robbery is up 21 percent, assault 12 percent and grand larceny 4 percent this year. None of this is exactly news for real estate brokers to play up.
Surge in Slayings Shocks Brooklyn [NY Post]
When I first moved to Brooklyn I was concerned about crime, even though I was moving to one of the safest and most expensive neighborhoods. I bought a 2-bedroom apartment in a doorman building for $180,000. A year later it was worth maybe half that. That was 1990.
Now that the boro has become so expensive, I don’t know if people still know that there is a real crime problem out there. When you spend millions on a house, perhaps you do not think of crime stats. But you should.
As far as the RE market is concerned. I think the time to buy in North Brooklyn is NOW. While crime is up, while the sub-prime market is collapsing, while the economy is unpredictable. If the house makes sense the reality is that Rents are still high, Cost of living is still rising and Brooklyn will always be Brooklyn, with the good and the bad.
Very true, 2:21. This is a societal problem, and if I knew all of its root causes, and how to fix it, they’d be giving me a Nobel Prize. I don’t have very many answers. All I do know is that on some level, this becomes everyone’s problem, not just the problem of the black community, or those in the projects, or those in East New York, or the police, or however you want to box “Them”.
We, as communities, need to find ways to reaffirm the value of human life. We need to give hope to these kids, so that they don’t think life is hopeless, and therefor worthless. People don’t want to hear it, but there is a spiritual emptiness in many of our youth, and there needs to be found a way to reinstill hope for themselves and the future. I’m not talking about religion, either, although if that works, fine.
What can we do? If we have neither the time, skills or inclination to get in there and put in time, we need to find a program or group that works, and support it as best we can, money can do good things. We need to stop bitching and moaning that the schools in the hood suck, and see what we can do to make them better, by pressuring the city, the community boards, the churches, our elected officials, the PTA’s and parent groups, whatever. Nothing changes if we are complacent, or worse, use these communities we’ve moved into as hotels, where we sleep, but do all of our other living elsewhere.
Chances are no one on this board will get shot by some kid, but feeling that this does not affect us, and therefore is not our problem, only reinforces for those kids, the perceived, and let’s face it, for most, – the truth, that their lives don’t have the same worth that “better” lives do. How can callousness and disregard help but to be a by product?
Please note – I am not saying that murder is in anyway justified, or excusable, for any reasons, or that the predators who do exist should be patted on their heads for their misfortunate lives. I simply point out that if you choose to live in a complex community such as Bed Stuy, Bushwick, etc, know that, as Spider-man always quoted “with great powers comes great responsibilities” – with our new
(relative) wealth comes the responsibility to help make our communities better places, not just for us and “our kind”, but for all. This is good for the soul, as well as for property values.
Elephant in the room: someone needs to help the young black community in the BK. Disrespect crimes = people so lost they need serious help. I don’t know what the answer is or the strategies needed, but this generation is going to be very very lost if a turnaround doesn’t happen STAT.
Brenda,
I am both anon 1:04 and anon 1:40. So, glad to see I’m batting .500. For the “staid and boring” reference, see Friday’s open-houses thread.
And, I agree that I don’t see the city sliding back unless you have a repeat of the crack wars or ’70s urban blight (but who saw them coming either?). The point is, perceptions matter more than facts when you’re talking about market psychology and crime.
Anon 1:40, you sound very silly. “Staid and boring” versus “high risk of assault” is an absurd straw-man construct. Frankly, the most dangerous projects sound pretty damn boring between bursts of gunfire. Everyone else, now I’ve bawled him out, please don’t be tiresome and reprimand him any further.
And yes, Anon 1:04, you are correct: If we have 1 or 2 high-profile yup victims, the climate could change markedly. (And that could arise from nothing more than random statistical variance.) For all that, I can’t see the city as a whole ever sliding back to anywhere near the chaos I recall from the 70s and 80s; people (not just at the high end,either) just have too much at stake to cut and run.
This may be a bit inappropriate in terms of language but appropriate in terms of message…
A statistic is like a woman’s bikini they show you one thing, but what is conceals is far more interesting.
When considering these statistics one must look at the entire picture. I don’t think the sky is falling in Brooklyn as some readers have mentioned, but rather they seem to be short term anomalies that some times pop up in statistics.
We must all consider that we do in fact live in an urban village. from time to time there will be an occasional crime. This has existed throughout out the entire history of man. Unless something unforeseen happens, crime is and will be a part of life.
We, as conscientious citizens must try our best to thwart those that would like to disrupt our civilization. Nonetheless at the margins bad things will happen.
As far as property values plunging, I doubt that that the “gentrifiers” will allowed their property values to plummet because of senseless crimes. When it comes to all things money related, people have a tendency to rise up and subdue those who might threaten their interests. We must remember the golden rule…he has all the gold makes the rules! In this case, it is the universe of “Brownstoners” who have the gold (at least on paper). They will create the “rules” to protect themselves.
BROOKLYN NORTH => SECTARIAN VIOLENCE
TROOP SURGE ONLY SOLUTION!!!
“yet everyone likes to talk badly about park slope, which is still, along with brooklyn heights, boreum hill and carroll gardens the safest of the brownstone neighborhoods.”
You mean “most staid and boring.” Get with the program.