NYC's Recent Crimes: Upsurge or Par for Course?

The NY Times looks at the "sensational crimes" of late and wonders if it's a part of a crime wave or simply a result of the combination of the media and the fact that there is such little crime (especially when the Mayor crows about it at any opportunity) that anything that happens is news. The Times says the crime numbers don't suggests a crime wave, but there has been a rise in "nightmare crimes," aka crimes that "lodge themselves viscerally" in people's minds. John Jay College sociologist hypothesis Adrew Karmen suggests, "[The public becomes] fearful from actual events that touch their lives. I can say, and the police can say, and the mayor can say that the violence underground is way, way down compared to what it used to be, but if somebody was on that subway car when the gunfire began or knew somebody who was shot at, that makes more difference than abstract statistical graphs. That's what influences fear level." Gothamist certainly relates to that, because riding the subway is something we do, just like running a park.

One lifelong New Yorker, Brian Townsend, tells the Times, "I remember in the 80's, I remember people fighting and getting cut up on the subway all the time. You might be hearing about it more, but now things are more like isolated incidents." That's just the kind of perspective we all need. But since Gothamist spends all our time looking for NYC crime, we hace noticed a lot of subway incident. And as it turns out, police believe that the subway shooting of a man Tuesday night was revenge-related. The Daily News had a great quote from a woman who said she didn't pay much attention to crime statistics, "If it happens to you, who cares if the numbers are up or down?" a nd saying she generally avoided the last train car and cars filled with young men.

Contact the author of this article or email tips@gothamist.com with further questions, comments or tips.

By Jen Chung in News on June 24, 2004 1:05 AM

Comments [rss]

the planet

isn't a high crime rate exactly what newbies show off to their non-New York friends? Isn't that what they want?

A higher crime rate allows the newbies to tell their kids "Oh I remember, back in the day, when model-slash-actresses couldn't even take the train in the daytime..."

King Hippo

I've never had to run from an oncoming train, and my own personal subway track experience consists of crushing coins on the rails of the elevated 7 train during those lazy days of summer. However, in grade school we did have a Q&A with a NYCTA speaker. Along with the requisite third-rail warnings, he also said 1. In the event of an oncoming train, lie down in the ditch between the tracks, and 2. Do NOT try to hide under the platform ledge, for you WILL be turned into paste.

mapman

would it not be good to have a set of emergency procedures to follow if one happens to be in front of an oncoming train? i remember reading from gothamist some time ago about the man who fell (was pushed?) onto the tracks and he went into 'kung fu mode' (which actually doesn't make sense) and lied still b/w the tracks as the train passed over. i think there's also some room under the yellow rubbery-platform thingie to hide. any ideas? experienced train-dodgers?

SP

I believe in the effect described by Michael Moore in Bowling for Columbine that there is in fact less crime, but that the coverage of crime has increased to the point of inducing hysteria. Its true that in the 80's and early 90's there was much more of this type of stuff going on, but it seems like when it happens now people think its a much bigger deal.

Jordan

Huh? Adrew Karmen is a hypothesis?

King Hippo

hehe... starter jacket. I remember those. at least it wasn't an 8-ball jacket, you might not have made it.

mike c

I remember being mugged in 1989 in the Woodhaven Blvd. station in Queens. Punks held a knife to me and wanted to take my Starter jacket! I wouldn't give it up, so instead they took $30 from my wallet. It's a much safer place now but I think you still need to be a Crazy White Boy to take certain subways to certain places at certain times.

Max

The 80's? I maybe showing my age here, but the 70's were alot worse than the relatively deluxe 80's. "Fort Apache the Bronx", "Firehouse 151", omnipresent subway graffitti and crime, black outs, a broke city, race riots, stabbings in Central Park, etc. Good times.

On topic, it does seem that crime is down, things are better and the criminal element is smaller- but more brazen.

Tim N.

Keith... nothing pansy-ass about it. It's just the way things were. It's only fun in retrospect (and even then...). It wasn't fun then, it's just how it was. '81-'85 I was in college and taking the trains and now the Davidson photos are like "Oh, yeah, that takes me back..."

In other words, don't let prematurely old boobs make you feel like a pansy-ass. :>)

james

What does the RNC have to do with the lack of transit cops this week? If you want to somehow make this political, how about all the cops spending their time keeping lines in order at Bill Clinton's book signings? Either way, it's ridiculous. Penn Station is always full of heavily armed cops.

I take the A Train into Broadway Nassau. There are always police and transit cops at High St/Brooklyn Bridge and Broadway/Nassau.

I think this is a case of a few things that have happened around the same time and the media blowing it up. Remember last summer when it seemed like children were being snatched from every street corner?

KeithS

I can't imagine. If I was mugged, especially if it occured near where I work or live, I would have serious doubts about staying in the city. I guess I'm very much part of the pansy-ass new generation of New Yorkers for whom the Bruce Davidson photographs seem like relics from a particularly menacing nightmare.

Tim N.

... and get those cops back on the street.

I remember the 80's, too. I remember when one guy, just out of school, new to the city, came in all shaken up because he had been mugged the night before. It turned into group therapy: everyone... everyone... had a war story. And no one was shocked. It wasn't "You ever been mugged?" it was "Tell us about when you were mugged." Now, I look around my office where we have lots of people working their first job in the city, and while there's still concern about crime, being mugged is a big deal to these people. For us who were here in years past, it was part of the cost of living in the city.

Anyone who doesn't think things are way, way different wasn't here then.

PS: I remember talking to my mother after the eleventh, and she asked me why was I still in the city and wasn't I afraid of being killed by terrorists. I said, "Mom, I lived in New York in the 80's. What's a terrorist gonna do?"

tscoccol

Where are the transit cops? I can't remember the last time I saw a cop on a train.

I saw a bunch of heavily armed cops by Penn Station this morning. I can't wait for the RNC to be over and done with, so we can get those bastards out of our city.