Subway Shooting In Midtown

A home care worker was shot in Brooklyn yesterday. The home care worker was just going about her day, on a walk with her elderly patient. Two men nearby were in an argument, one pulled out a gun and started to shoot, and the home care worker got caught in the crossfire. That story was buried somewhere in the newspaper, around page 29 or so. The model's story, however, continues to be front page/page 2 news, with HUGE closeup pictures and more weird personal details we don't really need to know. (She lived in a high rise on 50th Street? Must be nice to have a rich daddy. I doubt she's "struggling" all that much.)

Sally, you are deliberately misrepresenting what I said. I am not blaming anything on minorities - rather I indicated that minority activists objected to the constant depiction of young black men as criminals on TV news, and that this in turn has resulted in a decline in crime coverage. This is true and factual.

Blaming lousy news reporting on minorities is classic Sterling. Nothing new about his point of view. Guys like him have been around for millenia; the working class bigot constantly squabbling with friends and family over the important issues of the day. But he's better realized by Carroll O'Connor on "All in the Family."

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Archie Bunker: If your spics and your spades want their rightful share of the American dream, let 'em get out there and hustle for it like I done.



Mike Stivic: So now you're going to tell me the black man has just as must chance as the white man to get a job?

Archie Bunker: More, he has more... I didn't have no million people marchin' and protestin' to get me my job.

Edith Bunker: No, his uncle got it for him.

Sterling! Dude! Where you been, buddy? Seriously. And BTW, I know a lot of cops, none of them drink Pabst.

I'll say again... she got her name in the paper because she got shot. She got her picture in the paper because she looks hot. To think that these considerations (as well as the race, sex, class, etc of victims and perps)doesn't enter into the equation is to deny the obvious.

For the link challenged, here is Max's previous comments:

"OK, not to be totally un-PC Holly, but these guys are a product of their culture (more likely Pakistan than India - look at the names- mainly variations on Muhammed etc not a whole lot of Raos or Patels- because the Indians are higher up the chain imigrant-wise, but thats another topic) and their culture does not take a very favorable view of young women out on their own, at night, drinking. They have not been assimilated to our liberal culture and proabbly feel these women are whores. Noit that that is any excuse, but I talk to these guys (I have been to the subcontinent a few times and like to see where they are from etc)and at times am falbergasted by what they say about women, jews, new york and America. And I doubt too many are reading the NYTimes. Just be very careful and try not to be alone late at night."

*COUGH* racist *COUGH*

gee max, i really hope you're not alluding to the south asian reaction to your racist comments a few weeks back...

http://www.gothamist.com/archives/2004/05/18/cab_driver_rapes_passenger_in_her_home.php

While I appreciate the comparison to Rush, you're wrong about a couple things. One, I think the media loves a pretty female victim, regardless of race - this is because good-looking people look better on TV and in photographs than non-good-looking people, and sell more papers.

Secondly - and I did try to blur this because it's an ugly fact - the majority of crimes committed by blacks are against other black people, and nearly all violent crimes against blacks are committed by blacks. So the media can't cover the one without the other - they can't report a black woman getting raped without describing the suspect. So it's not ME who equates victim and perp - it's people who are trying to spin race imagery who equate them.

Some crimes are so sensational that they can't be ignored, and make it into the papers. For instance, long-running serial rapists are usually reported on, but not one-time or less-tenured serial rapists. If you go back and view old newcasts from the 70s and 80s, or dig up archival copies of the Daily News or Post from that period, I think you'll be AMAZED at the amount of crime coverage. Or pick up the Jersey Journal, which to my knowledge still runs an often-harrowing police blotter column for the towns and cities in Hudson County, right across the river. The column reports every significant police dispatch event.

Sterling, your concept of "short term memory" has one fatal flaw. Who is the victim. Who is the suspect.

9 times out of 10, if the suspect is African America, Hispanic or generall not caucasian the news reports are all over it.

If the victim is young, white and a woman the media is also all over that.

The bias does exist. But you are blurring the lines in effort to equalize victim and suspect when that is not the case at all. Nice try though. Reading your posts is like reading Rush Limbaugh. Only without the AM static.

Always appreciate the Sterling. Funny how people freak when given a different point of view.

Bec: When I was growing up the most common words on the TV news were "Police are looking for a young black male between [height range] tall, [weight range] pounds." At the same time the video would show a perfectly average young black man who could've been any one of 50,000 guys in New York. Activists complained that this was causing people to connote young black men with criminality - and newsroom editors in New York and elsewhere said, "You're right. We're going to cut down on this sort of reporting." And they did.

The only thing that annoyed me here in this thread is that it is yet another example of the short memories of people who bitch about racial conspiracies. Minority crimes are under-reported, not because there's some secret plot by white people, but because that under-reporting was deliberately sought out by minority activist groups 15-20 years ago.

No one made that point, which is a valid and important one. Now you shush.

Sterling: How is adding more rhetoric to an already dead argument helping a situation that obviously frustrates you? Making generalizations and assumptions about people who YOU claim do nothing but make generalizations and assumptions doesn't help your case. "...because you're all complaining." No we're not. So shush.

being a vigilante didnt help bernie goetz's run for mayor but oprah wont stop asking charlize theron about how she shot her step dad. also 50 cent turned his lead poisoning into street cred. i guess it depends on who it is but getting shot or shooting someone can be a springboard to fame and fortune. just look at patt tillman.

Well, sorry Ron, but I just checked the site for the first time today. And Commentbot - for what possible reason could my comments be considered "unacceptable"? Because I accurately depicted racial sensationalism in NYC? Jody started the race-baiting at 9:12am. I'm just calling it for what it is: the usual damned-if-you-do, damned-if-you-don't nonsense.

sterling, no ones complaining but you now. we're over it

Do Sterlings's rants fall into unacceptable comment policy?

You know, it used to be that NYC crime coverage made up a much bigger portion of the TV news, and a somewhat larger portion of the print news. And do you know who complained about that? Do you remember who said that thorough crime coverage made minorities look bad? Yes, that's right - it was minority activist groups.

So now the news media gets the perfect story from their perspective: white victim, white attacker - "Who can possible complain if we cover this?" But the joke's on them, because you're all complaining. Now if it had been a white victim/black attacker, then people would be complaining that the newspapers were demonizing blacks. If it had been a black victim/white attacker, then there'd be protests at City Hall because a WHOLE DAY HAS GONE BY, and the attacker has not yet been apprehended and it's gotta be racist cops hiding the attacker in a PBA hall and drinking Pabst with him.

The reason it's getting coverage is because it will sell papers and keep asses on the couch, that's all.

If she did stage the thing, which, of course, she didn't: wouldn't that be the best. Law and Order. Ever.

chung-chung!

Well, Baby Jessica graduated from high school this week. Not sure if the publicity helped, but getting out of that well was pretty key...

so on a different note...i was thinking wouldn't it be interesting to track the career of some of these unfortunate victims, who fortunately survived and see if the publicity helped their careers at all. no, i'm not suggesting she staged the thing, but certainly all that attention can only help. remember those miners stuck in a hole several years ago, or people lost at sea, or apollo 13, or...

I saw coverage of Monica Meadows' shooting last night on NBC's 11:00 news. Pretty stupid of NBC to fill in the story by saying where she lived and even showing her "luxury apartment building in Chelsea."

I hope some day that we will all live in a world where models can go about their daily business without being shot.

I think this story took a turn for the stupid thanks to the way the local reporters wrote the incident up.

Look at the idiotic details they dug up, i.e. the blood smear on the token booth; the victim's love of musical theater; her baking abilities and her gift of peach cobbler; the cheesy mid-Western catalog photos of the victim supine in 'Jockeys for Her.'

There's a notable lack of crime stats, criminal context and/or serious crime reporting. Instead, we've got lame anecdotes about Judge Hatchett.

chung-chung!

better yet, gothamist should have a "Crime Wave" page next to weather and sports, that way everyone with an axe to grind or any axe murderer can have a voice too. c'mon people, cant we just bury the hatchet? ps we still dont know who shot the drake president in the butt do we?!? do i sense a pattern? if those flat feet from L&O cant solve the case, time to get CSI: Midtown on the case!

I think Gothamist should start a "pretty woman in danger" section so we can all be kept up the date on the safety and concerns of pretty people.

I can't imagine the heart failure Gothamist would have if they walked to their local Police precinct and looked over the police blotter. There are tons of "ugly" people who get shot and hurt every day.

Well, if someone shot me, I'd hope that someone would be looking for them. I'd hope for their sake that the police found them before I did...

if this city isnt safe for model/aspiring actresses, then the terrorists have already won!

The whole "rich pretty white girl" argument is tired, and we know both sides of the argument and heard it all before in a bazillion other comments.

What puzzles me is the manhunt; the search for the crazed shooter. What is the purpose of wasting resources on that? I could understand a manhunt if the aspiring model-slash-actress was killed, but she wasn't. The aspiring model-slash-actress is fine.

It was obviously an accident. Apparently the grunge-gunman was trying to shoot someone else but missed, so it was an honest mistake (ha)! It's hard to aim guns on a crowded train, I tell you.

There's no mystery or conspiracy, no intended victim. Even though the means was unusual (crazed grunge-gunner's weapon), this falls into the category of an accident, with the same criminal intent as a car accident. This is because the grunge killer wasn't after the aspiring-model-slash-actress; he was trying to kill the guy who stole his weed.

Of course, shooting someone is illegal no matter what, so the guy wouldn't have the "whoops, my finger slipped" argument.

If someone steals your weed; who do you tell?

*sips decaf* It's the Gothamist forums when "the race issue" gets braught up. It gets people on edge.

is it just me or are these Gothamist forums getting more hostile every day?

can't we all just get along?

or at least switch to decaf?

By the way, I completely contradicted myself in my last comment. I will now wear a dunce cap for the rest of the day.

the issue is that she's a "special victim" and now she has to meet my "unit."

For a second there I thought someone was gonna be reading her eugoogoly!

It's just very sad when a crime is treated as a greater tragedy by the media when it happens to a hot white chick than when a comparable or even greater crime happens against a minority. That's all I'm really saying.

I wouldn't say this is getting too much press... although the occupation of the victim might be a flimsy excuse for the glamour shots on the covers of the tabloids today. But back to the topic at hand, yeah it is big news when a violent attack happens in this section of town. I'll give a free pass to the media for making it a big story with its "hot white chick" victim - they have more than adequately covered the disappearance and subsequent murder case of Sarah Fox, as well as the murder in the Diamond District two weeks back (was it? I should look that up).

It's not that broad daylight violent attacks only happen in Midtown - see the guy who got shot for his cellphone on a bridge, too bad for him he didn't have any headshots available - but you'd think a sociopath would not do these things among hundreds of pedestrian witnesses and undercover cops. I wouldn't think even pickpockets hang around Times Square anymore, there's cops everywhere looking for dirty bombs and other suspicious packages...

Even as the victim is fine, I'm a bit reluctant to make a witty comment about the "clean underwear and headshots available" thing. I'm eerily remembering Lyric Benson here, who earned much "free publicity" but died of her injuries.

You guys are nuts. It's news b/c a man pulls out a gun in the middle of the subway at, yes, a major commuter hub, and shoots somebody. It doesn't matter who he shot. It's news b/c if you are one of the millions of people who commute and your ride isn't already a nightmare with the crowds, the heat, the smell, the delays, the rats and the garbage, now you have to worry about random people shooting you.

James: Come on, you don't really believe that do you? Of course it is news if someone is shot in midtown, but the jeweler who got KILLED in the diamond district didn't get the fawning media attention of the tabloids that this unfortunate model did. And that story had the international mob, a gun chase at midday, Candace Bergen, Looraine Bracco and diamonds involved. Don't be so naive.

You know, a friend of mine was murdered on the Upper West Side in 1984. She was pretty, and white, and a Harvard graduate, and she made national and international headlines. The Alarm wrote a song about her. She's also dead, killed at 23, and the publicity doesn't mean a whole lot to her family.

I blogged about her last night, reflecting on the sad story of Sarah Fox.

If we're going to take issue with the reality that the young death (in this current case an apparently random shooting, which still sure ruins a body's day) of a pretty child of privilege is of more interest than the same event visited on someone without a discernible future, then a reality check is in order.

I think the race mention is misleading here. The issue is socio-economic status, as it often is. The stories that frighten us and touch us have characters that we would, in other situations, want to be or know. The tragedy is the beauty snuffed out, the future truncated, as well as the life lost. We have little interest in rich and gifted kids who drink themselves to death behind the gated walls, but in a context where it could have been us the impact is solid.

What ever happened to that hot guy who was shot on the brooklyn or manhattan bridge for not giving up his cell phone? Could we get an update?

So far there have been 18 comments regarding this post. The number of comments regarding the above post on terror? Zero. The number of comments regarding the Republcian convention? Zero. Both are subjects which have more of a direct impact on our collected futures, yet no one seems as interested in them. I feel sorry for anyone who is the victim of a violent crime and question the priorities of the press, but the exchange here just proves that the press knows what topics will generate the most passion.

What? Screw you! I don't have an agenda. And the model wasn't murdered.

I just said I'd be really pissed if I were sitting around in a cute sundress when some creep pulled out a pistol and took aim at my cardigan.

It seems like the people who comment on murder stories have an agenda. It's really sad.

Can anyone point to a subway shooting in the last year that a) the local papers have missed reporting, and b) that Gothamist hasn't covered?

Granted, this one's getting MORE press than, say, a Mexican busboy shot dead at 2am, and it's reasonable to debate whether that's appropriate, but I'm unconvinced that the local news media are completely ignoring subway shootings with minority victims.

"You guys are nuts. It's news b/c a man pulls out a gun in the middle of the subway at, yes, a major commuter hub, and shoots somebody. It doesn't matter who he shot."

All true, all true. But it doesn't hurt that she looks great in lingere.

I'd be so pissed if I were riding around on the train sipping soda from a cup when some scruffy guy in a tan jacket shot me.

Ron hit the nail on the head.

It's more than a bit infuriating.

i like the idea of calling up the boyfriend and saying "i have some great news- your girlfriend was shot, but she's going to be fine!"

and also the idea of having headshots ready in case of accident- like wearing clean underwear.

The subway will be filled with models hoping to be shot today. Look at the press this chick is getting. I know a lot of "model" and "actresses" .... we call them WAITRESSES.

You guys are nuts. It's news b/c a man pulls out a gun in the middle of the subway at, yes, a major commuter hub, and shoots somebody. It doesn't matter who he shot. It's news b/c if you are one of the millions of people who commute and your ride isn't already a nightmare with the crowds, the heat, the smell, the delays, the rats and the garbage, now you have to worry about random people shooting you.

i heard that the motive was that her career needed a real "shot in the arm."

will lenny briscoe take the case?

da-dum da da da da da-dum!

Agreed. How many Latino's, African Americans or Asians were shot, mugged, or even -- gasp -- killed yesterday? No, no, no: pretty white people get the front page treatment on both tabloids, with, it appears, her entire portfolio divided between the two papers.

If we're going to rank the reasons why this was such big news, I'll have to go with Jody's: "it's only when pretty white people die IN OUR OWN BACKYARD (tm) that new york feels like it's under siege." THAT sells papers. Because it was in midtown and on the subway are tertiary reasons for the buzz(at best).

[Queue up Right Said Fred's "I'm Too Sexy/I'm a Model" for this comment]

[*I'm too sexy for my shirt, so sexy it hurts*]

Weird quote: "I have unfortunate news. Your girlfriend has been shot. She seems to be doing fine."

Did I miss something here? Isn't that *great* news that she's doing fine and is safe? It's especially great news, considering that other people who get attacked are no longer alive after the attack. But she's a model.

[*I'm a model, you know what I mean and I do a little turn on the catwalk*]

She's alive, safe and has got a damned fine story to tell her friends for the rest of her life. No need for a "manhunt" when there was no murder, serious injury or robbery. My friend got his face slashed mouth-to-ear on the train last year; no manhunt ensued, no calls to 577-TIPS were made. He's fine. Move along, move along.

[*I'm too sexy for my land, New York and Japan*]

On the New York 1 website, she's the TOP STORY, five stories above "Accused Terrorist May Have Been Plotting to Blow Up Manhattan Buildings." Thank god we have our priorities straight.

[*I'm too sexy for this party, no way I'm disco dancing!*]

not to be left out of the action, our local paper claims ms meadows as a hometown girl, which may, i suppose, have something to do with her fondness for peach cobbler.

In a related story that Gothamist posted, Drake Business School is closing as a result of the shooting of its president in a subway station last week.

http://www.nydailynews.com/news/local/story/198964p-171800c.html

yeah, it's only when pretty white people die IN OUR OWN BACKYARD (tm) that new york feels like it's under siege.

Yes, it's a big deal because it happened (a) on a train and (b) in Midtown. It happened at 2PM, which is in the middle of the day, which gives reporters more time to work on the story (many other incidents happen in the middle of the night or day, so there is less information available). She was also an attractive model-actress (the shooting murder in Midtown, of the diamond distrct dealer, was a big deal), so that sells papers too.

Newsday's ridiculous Photo Gallery makes me realize that I need to have my headshots in order before I make my morning commute...just in case...

Two thoughts:

* Does this stuff happen all the time, except it's only big news if it's in the middle of Midtown?

* Even if this is an isolated incident, why would these nutcase/sociopathic people choose to do this stuff right there in the heart of the city?

It wouldn't make anyone feel that much better if this had happened at Delancey St. or 145th St., but it makes people that much more uneasy when this stuff happens at a stop that millions of people use per year.

Well, at least she's alright.