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We've been following a debate about leaving Park Slope pretty avidly. On Christmas Day, writer Douglas Rushkoff blogged about being mugged the night before while taking out the trash on his Park Slope street.
His wife, writer Barbara Rushkoff, blogged about it as well on her blog A Girl Grows in Brooklyn and revealed that the cop got "really defensive, acting as if Doug was in the wrong for not calling immediately last night when it happened." Plus, she wrote:Getting a knife pushed into your ribcage now and again is just part of the price we pay to live in a city, and New York is supposedly one of the safer of the bunch. But I have to admit, it makes me question working two extra gigs (I won't divulge which ones they are) in order to pay the exorbitant rent this part of Brooklyn - when the streets are less safe than they were in the supposedly bad parts of Manhattan where I used to live.
The deep dark secret about Park Slope is that there's tons of crime here. According to the detectives from today, Manhattan is safe, but Brooklyn is decidedly not.The Rushkoffs discuss leaving Brooklyn in their posts and in the comments, and, now, their friend and neighbor, writer Steven Berlin Johnson, enters the fray with a comment to "make the case for Brooklyn", in spite of terrible muggings that do happen. He mentions the diversity as well as the fact that crime is down in the city and pulls out some stats:
Barbara talked on her blog about feeling much safer in the east village in the 1980s. If you look at the precinct data on the NYPD site, you can see that the there were literally FIVE times as many crimes committed in the east village in 1990 than in the Park Slope precinct in 2005, even though the east village has only about 20% more people in the precinct. (Exact numbers: 5,991 crimes in the east village in 1990 vs. 1,138 in the Slope in 2005.) Interestingly, the east village in 2005 had slightly more crime per capita than Park Slope.While city touts and its residents revel in the fact that NYC is the safest big city, it's still a city and there will always be some level of crime. All in all, a very complicated, very subjective debate - what would you do in this situation (or what have you done)?
Photograph of brownstones and blue skies on Flatbush by Newington on Flickr
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Please leave so the rent will get cheaper.
Thank you.
As a current Brooklyn resident, I too have been following this debate, and I have to say that, no offense, but the Rushkoff's have come off quite whiny. It's a big city; peopled get mugged. You know what? Yeah, that sucks, but it happens everywhere. It happened to some friends of mine in the middle of Riverside Park a few years back. It happens to people in Chelsea, in the Meatpacking District, in Riverdale, in Brooklyn, everwhere. If you don't want to get mugged and fear for your safety in Park Slope, then move to Westchester or some gated community outside of the city.
Otherwise, use common sense. There's no need to paranoid; just be alert of your surroundings. These two need to get over what happened. Rushkoff get mugged, and that sucks. But he's not the first or the last person to get mugged in New York.
An easy way to compare is to check the crime stats on this site:
http://gis.nyc.gov/ops/mmr/address.jsp?app=MMR
Crime is like a sick game of statistics where you hope that the odds are with you.
haha! its all good in the hipster hood. Looks like NoBr is better!
Still waiting to find out why he was carrying his wallet to take out the trash.
I was mugged in the late 1980s. Lost about $5. The wallet and the rest of the contents came back in the mail. We had a break-in the early 1990s. Lost a VCR and some jewelry. Someone broke our car window and took our air bags a few years ago. That's it in more than 20 years.
I wonder how much money I've lost to white collar crime during that time.
I wish crime stats were displayed per square mile, rather than per capita. It would give a better sense of whether the two blocks between your place and the subway is dangerous.
Why are we paying attention to this? Shit happens, everywhere. And why is there a weird dig at Park Slope. It seems to be that NYC is over for this couple. Or Brooklyn, at least. The title made it seem that there was a backlash against the slope. Things happen and people get scared and run. That's the way its always been. Now they blog about it and it becomes an event.
as easier way to compare is see how 'white' your neighborhood...the whiter the safer
Those numbers mean very little in a post-Comstat NYC. There are incentives to keeping the numbers down in the various precints and one of the easiest ways to do that is to discourage the filing of charges.
I got mugged at gunpoint on 5th avenue and 16th street! If you can get mugged in front of freaking Anthropologie, you can get mugged anywhere.
i read a similar article in the New York Press:
http://nypress.com/19/46/news&columns/feature3.cfm
this takes place in Crown Heights, but that's only a stroll across the park!
Why are we paying attention to this?
Because when you're going to tout your city as "The Safest Big City" you open yourself up to it.
...and you can't disagree with the original premise of his post: sure the city is dangerous, by why pay more to live in a dangerous neighborhood? As a Wshington Heights resident, I've never understood.
Breaking News, a NYC resident was mugged.
Everyone guard your wife and children.
It's still a big city and there will always be some level of crime but I'm sick of hearing so many people act as if it has to be anywhere near our current level. I'm convinced we could see a serious dip in crime if we continued to push as vigorously for it as this city did just a few short years ago. The recent attitude has been that we've bottomed out. When walking around certain streets of Brooklyn, or most subway stations, or most school corridors, it's clear to me how easy it would be to take a big chunk out of the stranger-on-stranger, out in public crimes that have us all chattering and worrying just a bit here. What was the NYPD response to the wild pack style attacks in Prospect Park? Nothing much. Attacks in Central Park and Flushing Meadows? Nothing much. The very noticeable spike in aggressive and actively threatening panhandlers in the streets of too many neighborhoods and on the subways? Nothing much.
We need a return of the NYPD force size to per capita pre 9-11 levels. More importantly we need a shift in attitude and public policy from the highest levels of this administration and from everyday New York pundits (which for our city means everyone, since all 8 million+ of us have at least one opinion on everything). We need to see a rapid response, high visibility, flood the zone approach to neighborhood problems like the one in Park Slope (or in my old Harlem neighborhood, even if that's more politically difficult). We need constant visibility on the subways and in the stations and in school corridors. But more than that we need to make sure the sergents are drilling the message over and over again to actually engage when something is obviously not right. I can't count the number of times I've seen officers turning a blind eye while a homeless person or recently released mental patient has taken over an entire train car with their stench or their violent threats. Sure, it's a symptom of this administration having a miserable failure of a homelessness policy... That doesn't mean it isn't time to turn it around.
It may just be perception, but if we have learned anything from the turnaround from the 80's to the 90's and today it's that perception counts for quite a lot. It is the canary in the coal mine. It indicates to us what's likely to happen with the hard data of crime stats not too far down the line. If the overall perception throughout this city has recently been one of "we've reduced crime all we can", or "we just have to live with things the way they are", then I don't see how that isn't explicitly a return to the old "ungovernable city" dogma. I really don't think it's just my perception that people engaged in stranger-on-stranger crime are learning the lesson that they can be more brash and get away with it.
This has gotten to be a real problem. No where near as bad as what this city has gone through before, but much worse than it needs to be. Let's stop sitting around mimicking Dr. Pangloss and get back to work reducing crime but another third or two.
But J., the NYPD can't reduce stranger-on-stranger crime, they've got cyclists to arrest!
This story really takes me back. There was a time when a story like this would have been greeted with nothing more than a series of "Yeah, that's bad, but wait until you hear what happened to me!"'s.
My first job in the city, twenty years ago now, I remember a guy came in late because he got mugged the night before. All day long everyone, and I mean every last person who worked in that office, came up to him with their war story. Everyone had had an experience. Now, a guy gets mugged and it's front-blog news. Maybe the fact that this story has become such a thing is telling us how much crime in the city has really come down.
Blah...so he got mugged. File a report and move on. My bike got stolen from fence in front of my apartment two nights ago...I guess I shoulda bought a better lock.
Tim, that's my point. They need to lay off Critical Mass and get back to the real crime that still happens out there. Just because the city is a hell of a lot safer than it used to be doesn't mean it can't easily be better. Try to remember what we are talking about here: Getting a gun or knife shoved in your face, sometimes having it kill you or someone you know and care about. How can so many of you be so jaded about that?
I can't imagine how awful this must have been for the two of them but when I first read about their situation (linked from Gothamist last week) I thought they were overreacting a bit as well. I know that it's a horrible situation, getting mugged sucks, but I am going to have to agree with what some of the others have said. This happens. It happens everywhere. It apparently hadn't yet happened to them.
I live in a relatively safe area of Brooklyn as well (Greenpoint), but my husband constantly reminds me that anything can go wrong and at any given moment. Would I be pissed if something like this happened to one of us? Oh hell yes. But surprised? Not really. Would something like this make me pack up and head out? Probably not. Now, if you want to talk about the actual cost of living here or there, that's something that I can get whiney about. My husband and I both make a pretty decent amount of cash yet we simply can not afford to buy a place here. That's something to whine about. ;] That's something to move to the suburbs over.
I guess I'm surprised that they're so surprised. Did they think that Park Slope is somehow immune to crime? It sucks. It really does. But good luck finding anywhere that's crime free and entirely safe.
Just some bad luck, really.
Despite my old jaded self :>), I do agree with you, J.
J. I'd like to be clear that I'm not being jaded here. I actually got radomly assaulted by a two teenagers last winter. It sucks. However, I lived in Fort Greene at the time (moved for unrelated reasons) and no matter how nice Fort Greene is there are large housing projects with lots of problems around the corner. There are large housing projects with lots of problems near Park Slope. There are rough neighborhoods Park Slopers wouldn't be caught in at night within walking distance. The city is safe for the most part and we forget that people of all types live in the city. It is an accepted risk. When they started paying there rent they should have known this. There was no magic bubble keeping the crack heads and thugs out of their neighborhood. Yes, the cops need to do more, but it seems to be blown out of proportion. That this has become a "debate" is a little baffling and the structure of the Gothamist post is even more so.
God, I just read the wife's blog. I hope she leaves and bothers another community. Her and her yenta squad.
Crime happens. I had my motorcycle stolen in NH. The cop asked me why didn't I lock it? I said, who knew a small town on the coast of NH would have crime?
You live out in the burbs, your neighbor could be making Meth in the basement or growing weed.
You could get killed walking your doggie, according to Lt. Vincent Hanna.
It's not an accepted risk. It's a risk we can do something about. We can continue to reduce crime. To say that crime emanating from housing projects just has to be a fact of life in this city is ridiculous. It's not just the cops that need to do more, it's the New Yorkers who just take all of this for granted that need to take some ownership of the city we live in.
Okay, J. you are missing the point. I'm saying that this is getting blown out of proportion because people like to pretend that crime doesn't exist and then are surprised when it happens to them. Sure, I'd like crime in certain areas to be reduced, but I've also read about gangs turning much of the projects in Red Hook into a meth lab. It was broken up and the bad guys were put in jail, but that is some serious shit.That is a LOT bigger than a mugging. Sure, the police should patrol more, leave the cyclists alone, etc, but no matter what you do there still going to be a measurable percentage of that 8 million who are desperate, addicted, or just downright bad. To act surprised by this or to complain about brooklyn when you are confronted by those realities is naive and a wee bit absurd.
I'm glad upwardly-mobile people with children live in Brooklyn rather than the city. This means I will see less yahoos sipping their Starbucks frappuccinos walking around with those stupid front-pouch-baby-holdster things. Yuppie kangaroos, that's what they are.
WWFU, crime is not a force of nature. It isn't a random shower on a sunny day or a cold front coming in to spoil our freakishly springlike winter. It's a symptom of the buildup of many individual negative actions. We can't eliminate it, but there is nothing about the current level that we should accept as natural. Would increasing the force size, ditching "more with less" as a policy, and prioritizing presence patrols in neighborhoods, on subways, and in other socially impactful zones higher than harassing bike riders do us any good? I think that's a strong yes on that one. Do we need a good homeless policy, mental health system reform, significant improvement in our god awful education system, and public housing reform to go with it? Of course we do. But why act as if there's nothing we can do?
The internet is broken and worthless.
You can run but you can't hide. All those people Guiliani put away in the eighties are getting out.
With no jobs, they're going for easy money.
Oh, how bout that Mr. Autrey? what a guy.
actually the kops have pushed crime down as much as they can........
statistically speaking that is.
I can't count the number of times I've seen officers turning a blind eye while a homeless person or recently released mental patient has taken over an entire train car with their stench
While I don't disagree with the sentiment, being stinky isn't a crime. If the dude's sitting there minding his own business and smelling bad, tough for you.
Tim, that's my point. They need to lay off Critical Mass and get back to the real crime that still happens out there.
No, unforutnately they can't. You want the police out enforcing the city's laws and ordinances, you can't just pick and choose the ones you want them to enforce. You have a high profile event that clogs traffic with people who are making a general nuisance out of themselves once a month. The cops can't let that go. Sorry. Out of curiousity, if all the gang members in the city decided that, on the first Thursday of every month, they were going to parade through the streets, would you still be cool with it?
It's not an accepted risk. It's a risk we can do something about.
Unfortunately, you can't. In New York City, law abiding people can't "take back their neighborhoods." You think crackheads and homeless people are going to leave because you asked them real nice?
"I'm glad upwardly-mobile people with children live in Brooklyn rather than the city. This means I will see less yahoos sipping their Starbucks frappuccinos walking around with those stupid front-pouch-baby-holdster things. Yuppie kangaroos, that's what they are."
Ten bucks says "urban defender" is nineteen and grew up in the burbs.
ny is increasingly white, bland and sterile. Park Slope is a worst offender in this regard.
"Unfortunately, you can't. In New York City, law abiding people can't "take back their neighborhoods." You think crackheads and homeless people are going to leave because you asked them real nice?"
No, we can posture real loud on blogs to make our opinions known in the hope of our elected officials being afraid we will back it up with votes. Those votes can lead to higher new recruit salaries for the NYPD, a larger force, and policies from the top directing officers to intervene when a homeless person has clearly violated MTA rules - those same rules you are talking about being enforced against Critical Mass. Sure they can continue to enforce the rules against Critical Mass, but they've also been documented as going well being just "keeping the peace" when it comes to NYPD treatment of cyclists. I'll try to avoid getting sidetracked on that one though. Going back to what we can do, we can also remember how important self-defense is. My own personal experience is one of making myself a threat to anyone who attempts being threatening to me. It has worked so far, but all it takes is one time for it to go horribly wrong. That's the risk I personally choose to take instead of expecting asking nicely to do a damn.
Again, if we are looking for a permanent elimination of crime then it's just not going to happen without suicide or mass extermination. So it's not going to happen. And that's not what anyone serious here is talking about. Crime can be reduced more than it has been. It takes a comprehensive effort. One big part of that is not accepting the current job the NYPD is doing as good enough, not accepting the current pay structure as good enough, and not accepting the current force size as good enough. Another big part of that is not acting like weak pushovers to violent criminals. Crime is not random like raindrops or daffodils. We can and must take responsibility for our own actions every day and can and must confront those who act in ways that a viciously harmful to us.
"Unfortunately, you can't. In New York City, law abiding people can't "take back their neighborhoods." "
Sure you can. Put your time where your mouth is and join the NYPD Auxiliary Police Unit. 4-5 months of training and you can help the police, instead of just complaining or worrying about their lack of reach.
Most people on the APU have full-time jobs or go to school, but volunteer at night. The whole idea is to increase police visibility/presence. It works to discourage exactly these kinds of crimes, and allows the regular officers to devote their time to larger issues.
It's a small step, but it allows regular citizens to have some degree of ownership and control over their neighborhood's safety.
Wrong.
Twenty bucks says "ha" is thirty-nine, slightly balding, is white, and typed his comment while his wife called him at work, reminding him to stop by Whole Foods to buy pomegranate juice and organic baby food prior to his commute back to the Slope.
maybe i missed something, but what part of park slope was this, exactly? it's fuzzy where it starts and ends these days.
As someone who was mugged and assaulted in P/S last year and called the cops immediately, I can say that the first response was adequate, but the followup was absurd to the point of being derelict. A patrol car was on the scene within 2 minutes and we did an unproductive canvas. After being told to wait for a followup call from detectives and never receiving one, I went in person to the local precinct to find out what was going on. No one there knew what I was talking about. I restated my detailed description and was told I'd be called but wasn't.
A few weeks later, I actually recognized the guy who'd mugged me drunk in a local bar. I asked around and found out his name and where he lived. Again to the precinct house, figuring an arrest would be imminent. Again, nothing. Frequent calls for updates or any progress by detectives were fruitless.
Finally I happened to see the guy on the street when officers were attending to a fender bender. I went over and said "That guy over there mugged me on this date and at that time. I can give you the name of every responding officer and detective I've talked to over the past six months. I can tell you the guy's name and tell you what street he lives in."
The response I got was "Six months? You shoulda reported it back then." The officer was either deaf or extremely stupid. I'm generally a fan of the NYPD, but my experience with the 78th Precinct leads me to believe that it is a dumping ground for the laziest and/or most incompetent detecives on the force. I could name names, but won't embarrass them.
No, we can posture real loud on blogs
hahaha, ok.
Not to nitpick, but there is one MAJOR discrepancy in their blogs --- he says he was mugged by knifepoint and she says it was by gun point.
I'm sensing a future Law & Order episode here.
"A few weeks later, I actually recognized the guy who'd mugged me drunk in a local bar. I asked around and found out his name and where he lived. Again to the precinct house..."
Your mistake. You know the guys name and address, right?.
You should round up some friends, follow that jerk around and then pounce him and beat him within an inch of his life. Burn the word "mugger" into his forehead with a lit cigarette. Snap all the fingers on his right hand. I dunno, get creative.
It works to discourage exactly these kinds of crimes, and allows the regular officers to devote their time to larger issues.
Sorry, not going out on the street without a gun. The bad guys have them.
if you have unemployment and you have drug addicts you will have crime.
but plenty of places that are not NYC are also for shit as far as crime. i grew up in Rochester NY, which was supposed to be "a nice place to raise kids". it's also the crime capital of New York State now! they got the unemployment and they got drug problems, and now they got the murders and the crime to go with it.
crime is the reverse on the curve of economic opportunity. Guliani's "miracle" of cleaning up NYC was basically coinciding with the economic resurgence of NYC.
the good side? all the people bitching about how boring NYC is and how it was better when it was dangerous and dirty in the '70s and '80s are getting their wish. the down side? getting mugged or assaulted sucks horribly - it really fucks with your perception of the world and your sense of safety in it. it's enough to give you some serious PTSD, and yes, enough of a factor to make you want to leave an otherwise pretty amazing place like Brooklyn.
but there are plenty of other dangerous places in the world, and you can't always tell a "safe" place from a "dangerous" place just by looking at it.
p.s. the Red Hook drug bust was not about the projects being turned into a meth lab, it was as massive dealing infrastructure of crack, cocaine, heroin and pot. god forbid if people start producing meth in any serious quantities in our city.
"Okay, J. you are missing the point. I'm saying that this is getting blown out of proportion because people like to pretend that crime doesn't exist and then are surprised when it happens to them. Sure, I'd like crime in certain areas to be reduced, but I've also read about gangs turning much of the projects in Red Hook into a meth lab. It was broken up and the bad guys were put in jail, but that is some serious shit.That is a LOT bigger than a mugging. Sure, the police should patrol more, leave the cyclists alone, etc, but no matter what you do there still going to be a measurable percentage of that 8 million who are desperate, addicted, or just downright bad. To act surprised by this or to complain about brooklyn when you are confronted by those realities is naive and a wee bit absurd."
I missed that post before. I'm not missing that point. I actually agree with it. I'm making a separate point, which I think is complimentary to it. I don't want the NYPD to take officers away from the serious work they do every day, and I think do very well. I want a larger force size so they can do the rest of the jobs they should be doing but currently aren't because of the "more with less" mantra Bloomberg entered office with. It's time to ditch that approach, continue doing the very important work of cracking down on meth gangs in Red Hook, but also bring back significant presence in high visibility places. They don't have to go all out back into full blown broken windows mode, but at least some of it would be good. I've lost count of how many times I've said this now, but again we aren't going to eliminate crime... but we CAN do more than we currently are.
Volunteering for for the Auxiliary is one small thing many of us could do. Not being surprised that we don't live in Pleasantville is another. Not shrugging in response to crimes we can do more about is one more thing. And taking responsibility for improving our experience of our city through a combination of political will, police tactics, civic buy-in, and neighborhood and essential services improvement is what I think is most important of them all.
"No, unforutnately they can't. You want the police out enforcing the city's laws and ordinances, you can't just pick and choose the ones you want them to enforce. You have a high profile event that clogs traffic with people who are making a general nuisance out of themselves once a month. The cops can't let that go. Sorry. Out of curiousity, if all the gang members in the city decided that, on the first Thursday of every month, they were going to parade through the streets, would you still be cool with it?"
What law is broken? They are not a parade and they are traffic. Don't buy into the myths. If individuals break the law, the police can arrest them. Ultimately, the city is not served by a bloated, vindictive, and violent police response to critical mass.
And if the cops can pick and choose which laws they enforce (cars parked in bike lane hmm?) then certainly we as citizens should have some say.
I see the laws bent everyday so this city can flow better, and i'm cool with that. as an example cars turning just after the light changes is totally permissible to me. same goes for cyclists running a red through a clear intersection. and hello, jaywalking?
Italian Guy, that's a very good example of "civic buy-in" right there. Thank you.
on the ParkSlopeParents yahoo group, Doug wrote that some people emailed him off list that he shouldn't have mentioned the location because it would affect property values!
This is the dark reality of post-Guliani era..
Anyway, wait until 2009 and the new Al Sharpton clone to be the next crime-friendly mayor. Crime rates will resemble those that we had during the liberal paradise in 1980's.
Get rid of the housing projects, Al Sharpton and illegals and this will be safe city again.
Don't buy into the myths. If individuals break the law, the police can arrest them. Ultimately, the city is not served by a bloated, vindictive, and violent police response to critical mass.
I'm not buying into any myth, I can sit there and watch Critcal Mass once a month while I'm walking home from work. They create a dangerous situation for themselves, walkers, and drivers. Surprisingly enough, every single person riding doesn't ride along peacefully and obey every traffic law. I've nearly been hit by them both here and in Boston... it's not always "orderly". And, frankly, if a cop arrested someone making a general douchebag out of himself by running traffic lights or whatever, NO ONE would ask 'what was he doing to get arrested.'
Just because you agree with the message doesn't make it safer.
"getting mugged or assaulted sucks horribly - it really fucks with your perception of the world and your sense of safety in it. it's enough to give you some serious PTSD, and yes, enough of a factor to make you want to leave an otherwise pretty amazing place like Brooklyn."
Well put, lovelyday. I love the posters here who have a "So, you got mugged. Get the hell over it!" attitude. I got pushed down the stairs at a subway station (granted, it was Jay Street in Brooklyn) for no good reason by some enormous, crazy guy (I'm a petite female). My first thought was that I could never live long-term in or raise my children in a city where there are so many people walking around with absolutely nothing to lose. Regardless of the reason they got that way - poverty, drugs, homelessness, etc. - you're not somehow white bread or racist for not wanting to be subjected to that shit.
Say what you wish about the dangers of the suburbs - car accidents, robbery, random violence - but at least in the suburbs you're not treated as though random theft/violence is par for the course.
I do tend to agree with you, Samantha. I don't want to raise my kid here but for other reasons. So, to each their own.
I guess I was just annoyed with how whiney they sounded in their posts. Then again, I whine all the time on my site, so I'm just as guilty.
Like I said, to each their own. Gotta tell ya, tho, if everyone who was ever mugged left this wonderful city, the real estate would be helluva lot cheaper. ;]
sheesh, why is it that so many of youse blame drugs, housing projects, homelessness, n*****s, s***s, gangs, etc for crime???
listen to italian guy! wasn't that a big enough hint for ya, huh?
plenty of white folks commit crimes - violent and non-violent. don't forget the organized variety - mob and white collar.
so lay of my homies, yo!
While I do sympathize with the writer's being mugged at either knife or gunpoint, depending on which blog you read, I question the community spirit of someone who goes to bed knowing that there is an armed criminal running through the neighborhood. While I can't imagine the fear you felt, I can't abide not calling the police immediately to report it and hopefully save the next victim. You missed the point with your self centered whining and then defensively blamed the police when they questioned you. Please do move, Brooklyn does not really need your self centered indulgent attitude. It is not always about YOU!!!!!
if people are serious about crime. they shouldn't tolerate pan handlers and need more cops on the beat.
Why does anyone care if some blogger wants to leave Park Slope? There are many people in Brooklyn who actually worked hard to remain in their communities when crime was really bad and many others were leaving the city. How about if those people who are not committed to Brooklyn leave, so that rent will decrease and those who really love it and understand it can afford to stay.
I love sweeping, idealistic, declarative statements that ignore the fact that humanity will never, ever adhere to any ideal, or that humanity is inherently flawed.
There's a lot of people on here making those statements. I'll write one now off the top of my head:
"Criminals should just stop committing crimes, then all crime will stop."
Aren't I a political genius?
Quite frankly, if I paid $2000+ rent or paid half-a-mil on some apartment in Park Slope, I'd be pissed as hell that I got mugged in my backyard. I'd wanna move out too.
You folks crack me up! "Oh the crime . . . it's dreadful!" "I can't deal with this place"
After I graduated from college, I lived for a brief time in that mecca of hipsterdom, Cleveland, Ohio.
zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz
I've been here in the City for awhile now, and I will gladly put up with a little filth, an occassional mugging and subway flashterbators. Why? Because New York is New York! The greatest city in the world.
How does that old saying go?
When New York is bad, it's bad. But when it's good, it's really, really good. Which is why we put up with the bad.
Cleveland was a boring shit hole.
You want safe? Move to Salt Lake City, Utah.
'nuff said.
When choosing a neighborhood to buy a residence, research the adjacent neighborhoods.
Galen, that's all well and good unti you have a gun pointed at the back of your head (as I have, in a different, but also gentrified neighborhood in Brooklyn). As one poster pointed out, it changes your perspective mighty quickly.
Galen, that's all well and good unti you have a gun pointed at the back of your head (as I have, in a different, but also gentrified neighborhood in Brooklyn). As one poster pointed out, it changes your perspective mighty quickly.
Right on, BrooklynNative. Especially if the gun story is correct.
My neighbor got mugged right before Christmas by gunpoint, he called the cops immediately. They were able to connect his mugging to 2 others and quickly found the guy, did a line up and already indicted the guy. And this is on the CH/Bed Stuy border. I was shocked at the speed in which they acted in this situation. His willingness to report it immediately spared others from the same fate or something bad happening when that gun kept being drawn.
Crime exists everywhere. No one is immune to it. Certainly not some pretentious, well to do, white man. Gotta love his sense of entitlement and privilege.
What really blows my mind is that he didn't call police when it happened!!!! His wife says that the cops were defensive and asked why he didn't report the mugging until the next day. WTF!?!?!?
Waiting until the next day, even the next hour, to call the police is like waiting until the train leaves the station to get on. Cops need to be called immediately if there is going to be any hope of catching the mugger. They'll put you in their car and drive around with you to see if you can spot the guy, they can take you back to the precinct and have you look at mugbooks while your memory is still fresh.
Bottom line: this guy was incredibly naive to wait so long before reporting the crime.
Is her kid's name really "Mamie" or a really unfortunate nickname? Either way that is the real travesty here. Egads.
After reading her blog, I think it is safe to say that she should move to New Jersey or upstate. Or better yet, North Dakota. I normally hate when people say that. But she wants this idealized version of an urban city that just isn't going to happen. And previous posters are right, Brooklyn doesn't need people like that. It is a safe bet that neither she nor her husband give back to the community in any productive way.
Is her kid's name really "Mamie" or a really unfortunate nickname? Either way that is the real travesty here. Egads.
After reading her blog, I think it is safe to say that she should move to New Jersey or upstate. Or better yet, North Dakota. I normally hate when people say that. But she wants this idealized version of an urban city that just isn't going to happen. And previous posters are right, Brooklyn doesn't need people like that. It is a safe bet that neither she nor her husband give back to the community in any productive way.
And has the issue of knife or gun been clarified? The wife seems a little dramatic. Plenty of people raise kids alone. It's not that bad.
white folks really need to calm down.
you took over the neighborhood for your fucking double wide strollers, your tacky ikea furniture, and your horn-rimmed spectacles. we need fewer whiners. if you don't like crime, move to the suburbs where you likely belong. that's where you get the white-collar crime, or crimes committed by disgruntled white teenagers who have no reason to be disgruntled, unlike the disenfranchised black youth that likely mugged the whiny blogger. sure sucks being undereducated, poor, and forced out of your community, and then having your face rubbed in it constantly. There's larger problems (wack education system, lack of jobs, drugs, poverty) in this city aside from crime, but we don't hear anyone whining about fixing that. Every man for himself!
crime in the suburbs, mailbox baseball, hanging out at the commuter train station, TP'ing the houses,
Let them move Upstate, I'm guessing not that far upstate because there's white trash up them there.
You wanna see ghetto? Go to an A and P Upstate, they haven't changed one bit. And, it's white people.
How do I know this? We just had one of these "brooklyn" couples buy a house down the road from us.
Already they're starting trouble. The went onto posted property without permission and had not contributed anything to the community.
You see, here We help each other out and don't take too kindly to strangers.
Okay, I was just reading over her blog again, and DOUBLE WTF!!?!? The muggee doesn't call the cops because "their daughter's sick" and there's a lot "going on." Yet he has time to call and cancel all his cards AND call to shut off his phone service? First of all, that process probably took a good half hour to hour (if I know phone companies in that type of situation), second of all, if the phone hadn't been turned off, the cops might have been able to do a cell site order and track it, or at least see what numbers the perp was calling to track him down through friends; third, she's definitely got a bunch of yes women and yes men posting comments to her blog. None of the commenters mention how absurdly inane their response to this mugging was.
And you know what? The next guy or woman this mugger attacks, and god forbid hurts, that's going to be partly on the Rushkoffs, for thinking that this is only their own discomfort, and not thinking of it as something they had a responsibility to act on for society's sake, even in that moment of stress. And yet the insipid comments on her blog bemoan the lack of community in Brooklyn. Yeah, like the sense of community that would prompt an effort to catch this guy before he hurts someone else??
If you have the presence of mind to cancel your credit cards and your cell phone plan (and really, how much would a few calls have cost them?), then you DEFINITELY have time to call the cops immediately and try to catch the mugger before he stabs (or shoots?) the next victim.
Yeah, I'm going to go ahead and agree with the majority on this one. Stop the whining. I've lived in Park Slope for four years and I've never seen crime as a problem here, even after my friend was mugged at Gun point two years ago around the block from me. I grew up on Long Island and know more people who were mugged there than in the city. So get over yourself. Sh*t happens. You live in a major metropolitan area. A higher population usually means a higher crime risk. The real problem in Park Slope isn't the crime, it's the baby stroller etiquette.
i can't belive how hardly any of these comments begin to touch on the real problem here: the root of all "street-level" crime which is poverty. don't like the prospect of getting mugged in front of your comfortable park slope apt.? work to help make ny a more economically just place for everyone to live. people don't mug people for fun. we aren't dealing with "evil forces" here. lessen the suffering of economic inequality and you'll see a huge drop in crime. incientally, crime rates have dropped so markedly since the '90s because the poor have been pushed out. crime isn't the problem, its poverty and the classim that refuese to address the issue.
and christ, how pathetic! Barbara Rushkoff complaining about not having the 2 million dollars to buy a brownstone with "old world" charm and "decorations" (?). its like all these new brooklynites have this gated community mentality and can't belive there are actually poor people in the world to ruin their urban martha stewart dream for them. they think THEY'RE poor! these upper-middle class people rule the suburbs, the small towns, manhattan....where do they expect everyone else to go?
and christ, how pathetic! Barbara Rushkoff complaining about not having the 2 million dollars to buy a brownstone with "old world" charm and "decorations" (?). its like all these new brooklynites have this gated community mentality and can't belive there are actually poor people in the world to ruin their urban martha stewart dream for them. they think THEY'RE poor! these upper-middle class people rule the suburbs, the small towns, manhattan....where do they expect everyone else to go?
hmm, i like crime! guess i don't have to move to the suburbs. you know, since i like crime so much. that makes a lot of sense.
come on, nobody LIKES crime. i think the least anyone could do is give them the benefit of the doubt in their reaction. sure it may have been a little self-centered, but who isn't? and chrid, to claim they have no right to feel bad for themselves because they haven't actively been working to change the economic situations that led to the mugging is just about the lamest thing i've ever heard. what have YOU done? what have any of us done except whine like the Rushkoffs on a blog? we're all hypocrites.
Chris, I also noticed that she said it was a gun while he said it was a knife. This seems like quite a big discrepancy in their stories. Strange.
I also think it absurd that they waited until the next day to call cops. My wife was mugged in Carroll Gardens a year or so ago. We called the cops immediately and the caught the guy about 45 minutes after we spoke to them. And according to the police we spoke with, if they're going to catch the mugger, it'll probably happen in the period immediately following the mugging when thge 'trail' is still fresh.
While I guess it's to be expected, the personal attacks on the Rushkoffs [comments on their daughter's name, "yenta", etc.] aren't helpful.
However, the factual discrepancy between knifepoint and gunpoint can be cited as an example that Barbara Rushkoff might be prone to exaggeration. Like many a story, the myth gets bigger with each telling. It makes me question her account of the actions by the NYPD.
And by her own admission, she was dealing with a sick child at the time which often makes someone short-tempered.
"people don't mug people for fun. we aren't dealing with "evil forces" here. lessen the suffering of economic inequality and you'll see a huge drop in crime."
Sorry, but I do actually stand in moral judgment of somebody who forcibly takes a person's belongings/cash via the threat of or use of violence. There are plenty of poor people who don't hold people up and who do their best (often without successful results, admittedly) to earn money legitimately. The Robin Hood justification is crap - the people getting mugged are just everyday city-dwellers minding their own damn business.
in response to people saying if you didnt have poverty you wouldnt have crime...you should know that plenty of robberies are done simply for the thrill or fun it - you can make everyone millionaries and there will still be crime...its in the cloth you can't get rid of it completely.
if you don't like crime, move to the suburbs
Yeah man, cuz crime is SOOOO COOL!!!!
I lived in Park Slope from 1993 to 2005, and I've lived in Red Hook ever since. I've never been mugged or the victim of a violent crime in either place nor has anyone else I know (this is not to say it doesn't happen, I'm just sticking to personal experience here). The one time I was mugged was on a crowded train platform at Broadway-Lafayette at 5:30 on a weeknight--rush hour. The commuters didn't do squat, but the cops were great in all honesty. My father lived his whole life in the city and was mugged several times across the span of his life. Once also on his trainride home from work. The point is violent crime exists in urban areas and you can't assume it's not going to touch you because you've found some safe pocket.
hate to break it to you all, but this was talked about on another message board yesterday and it seemed to me that the whole thing is a hoax. gunpoint...knifepoint....there's a huge difference. not that crime can't happen in the slope...i know it does...but this particular incident did not.
Wow. We come whiny? That is incredibly insensitive. I've lived in NYC for 22 years and have never been mugged, but this went over the line. To get mugged, at gunpoint, in your front yard at 9PM while taking out the trash? Look, I love Park Slope and I wish we could stay. But between the overinflated prices and the rise in crime, it just isn't worth it to us. Maybe to other people it is. And to those people, I wish you well, safety and good neighbors. And btw, I wasn't "exaggerating" -- it was the detectives that deciphered Doug's description of the weapon (he kept referring to the barrel) that led them to believe it was a gun, not a knife. They have an opinion on who the mugger is and he uses a gun. Jeez, I haven't been thru all the comments here yet, but man, have a heart.
Ms. Rushkoff -- sorry, but you do come off as whiny. You complain that the police were irritated that you didn't call them immediately after the crime. Well, of course the police were pissed. If you had called immediately, maybe they would have been able to catch the guy! You go on to complain about the cost of your apartment, as if the high cost of your housing should somehow guarantee that you never have to deal with crime! This makes you sound incredibly entitled. It's sucks big time that your husband was mugged, and it isn't surprising that this incident would make you consider relocating. But your husband's mugging really has no larger meaning in terms of whether or not Brooklyn is a decent place to live. Unfortunately, the tenor of your post suggests otherwise, and I think that's why you're getting this response.
So Long, Farewell.
don't let the door hit ya, where the Good Lord Split ya.
You guys are a rough bunch, but I do appreciate it. Yes, it was my fault for not calling the cops that night. I lived in an NYC for a few decades where cops treated muggings as if kids had keyed your car. Sometimes they don't even take a report for such a thing. (As some commenters on my blog have mentioned.)
As for the gun/knife thing, I explained that on my blog. I had really remembered it as a knife until I described it to the detectives, who said I was describing a gun. It's a common phenomenon when you're in shock. That was my fault, and my bad. I hadn't been mugged in a while, and did not respond appropriately. I get that, and if someone else was hurt, it is in part my fault. I'll have to live with that.
As for all this other stuff, what gives? I am happy for those of you who can afford a 1.5 million dollar two bedroom apartment. Mazel tov, really!
But I'm working a ton of jobs to make rent, and can't buy or rent anything near all my 'writer friends' places. And I suddenly felt stupid for being in a knot about it. That's all. Nothing against NYC or Park Slope. I just can't afford to raise a family in this neighborhood. The people I know making the case for Brooklyn on my site send their kids to private school. That's a great thing, too. But it kind of pulls the rug out from under the illusion of community. We do contribute; we're here and contributing for real. Sometimes, like when I share info on how to apply for a nursery program, I get angry emails from people saying they were counting on the obscurity of the application process to give them a competitive advantage. By sharing the application procedure with the community, I had leveled the playing field. I'm sure this happens outside Park Slope, too, but it struck me as particularly strange, given the reputation of community spirit here.
There are other neighborhoods in the city, and beyond, where we can get a separate bedroom for us and the baby. And still get mugged, on occasion. Many of the parents I speak to at the park are making the same difficult choice to go somewhere they can afford. This needn't have meaning for anyone else. Nor does a few hundred families leaving Park Slope mean they're all going to the "suburbs." Just that they're not getting those stockbrokers' bonuses, and will go gentrify *other* places.
If our post-mugging whining really prevented anyone from finishing a meal or enjoying their day - again, sorry! I think the whining had more to do with the way real estate agents tell us it's really smart to take out an $800,000 loan.
The whining was really more self-flagellation. I forgot that this isn't some millionaire's paradise - it's just a part of city. Good and bad. But nothing to weep about not being able to afford, anymore.
And if it feels good to tell us to go away or make fun of our daughter's name, I understand this is just your way of participating. I'm intrigued that a little whining could elicit so much response rather than just a shrug, but I guess that's the way of the internet.
It was a hard week. We won't make the same mistake again, and again: I'm sorry if anyone got hurt as a result of my post-mugging negligence, and I'm sorry if anyone was really pained by something any Rushkoff wrote. Next time, as soon as you experience symptoms, stop reading.
But this certainly isn't worthy of an online conversation. The bigger story of prices in Park Slope may be, but not whether or not we responded whinily.
Maybe if you're working so many jobs just to make ends meet, you should spend a little less time blogging and a little more time on gainful employment.
Actually I'm 34, single, full head of hair that currently needs the attention of a barber. I've never bought pomegranite juice but I've heard it's good for you. I live in a diverse neighborhood with a wide range of income levels. I've been a victim of violent crime several times, call 911 when I witness crime, attend my block club meetings and have grown tired of people like you who think crime is somehow cool and urban and that law abiding taxpayers who don't like it are a baby stroller army hell bent on destroying your cool Fort Apache faux gritty urban wonderland. You should relocate to Trenton or Detroit - - you'd love it there. And what does being white have to do with anytthing?
"Wrong.
Twenty bucks says "ha" is thirty-nine, slightly balding, is white, and typed his comment while his wife called him at work, reminding him to stop by Whole Foods to buy pomegranate juice and organic baby food prior to his commute back to the Slope."
Ms. Rushkoff -- If you cannot afford to live in Park Slope then you must move. It's really that simple. Lots of us did that a while ago -- the Slope is damn expensive. In case you are not aware, there are many other neighborhoods in New York City that cost less and many of them are just as safe as Park Slope (yes, your husband's mugging notwithstanding, Park Slope is a safe neighborhood). What about Sunset Park, Bay Ridge, or Midwood? What about Sunnyside in Queens? The people in those neighborhoods have children, just like you, and they mostly send their kids to public school. If you can't run with the big dogs who are all sending their kids to private school, then a) leave NYC or b) if you prefer to stay here, accept that you are simply not as wealthy as they are and do the best with what you have.
This whole thing is awful. At the bottom of it, a man got mugged at gunpoint. That is truly terrible. And yes, I think Rushkoff should have called the police ASAP, but what is with all the name calling? And mudslinging? And leave the poor child out of it. I am a lifelong (66 years young) resident of Brooklyn and have seen it all. Love it or leave it. It looks like they are leaving it.
Rushkoffs, the fact that you’ve found it necessary to seek out this discussion in a public forum unrelated to your blogs and to chastise those participating in it while restating your rather flimsy and supercilious personal conclusions as to your neighborhood might go a long way to explaining why you’ve gotten such a strong reaction. You’d like to move? Then move. We don’t really care about the details and you certainly don’t need our approval. You’re not the only people to experience crime or struggle to make ends meet or, moreover, to have lived in the city long enough to have experienced several different iterations of it, a fact you both seem to think supports your reaction of somehow writing off an entire neighborhood and borough. You go be happy elsewhere, as is your right. In the meantime, the rest of us would appreciate if you’d stop insinuating and excoriating all over our shoes – just ’cause we disagree doesn’t mean we’re somehow coldhearted, mentally inert, trust-fund baby, yuppie stockbroker bastards who don’t have a care in the world (aside from being mean to you, of course).
And if you can’t take a little harsh response, you may want to think twice about putting your life out on the internet. I hear they let just anyone use it these days.
They need to leave the city. Their kid will be mugging someone in 15 yeas.
Last I heard it was free speech in these here parts. People here are really pushing the limits. Ramble, go die please.
Just because Ramble speaks the truth.
Dear Rushkoffs:
Again I state that I empathize/sympathize with the situation that supposedly befell you with the robbery but I take issue with your handling of the situation and the tone of your writing. You and your wife brought the issue to the forefront with the public with your separate blogs and you two can't even get your stories straight.
Instead of doing the right thing and calling the cops, you take care of YOUR financial affairs and then both of you use it as fodder to self-righteously bash the neighborhoods community spirit when you both actually showed your true essence, take care of me and fcuk the next victim. Let me get the timeline straight, you get mugged by either a knife or a gun, cancel the credit cards and cell phone and then both of you rush off to blog to your blogging acolytes. You wait a day to make the report and then get strident when the cop calls you on your shit. How pretentious is that?
You both come on today and continue the side stepping of responsibility to call and report an armed robber, by making up a story of how the cops from years gone by handled incidents, so that absolves you. Your wife comes on and whines that the comments are insensitive and that the cops are the ones who caused the misunderstanding about the knife/gun description. Do you both live in the same house?
You are both over-reacting and yes it may be fear that is causing you both to act like overindulged children who are facing some reality, perhaps back to the therapy couch.
Do you by chance know the Grimm Brothers? You know the guys that penned those fairy tales many years ago. It makes me wonder if you lost the property to street prostitute and you are making this all up to get over on the wife.
Dear Rushkoffs:
Again I state that I empathize/sympathize with the situation that supposedly befell you with the robbery but I take issue with your handling of the situation and the tone of your writing. You and your wife brought the issue to the forefront with the public with your separate blogs and you two can't even get your stories straight.
Instead of doing the right thing and calling the cops, you take care of YOUR financial affairs and then both of you use it as fodder to self-righteously bash the neighborhoods community spirit when you both actually showed your true essence, take care of me and fcuk the next victim. Let me get the timeline straight, you get mugged by either a knife or a gun, cancel the credit cards and cell phone and then both of you rush off to blog to your blogging acolytes. You wait a day to make the report and then get strident when the cop calls you on your shit. How pretentious is that?
You both come on today and continue the side stepping of responsibility to call and report an armed robber, by making up a story of how the cops from years gone by handled incidents, so that absolves you. Your wife comes on and whines that the comments are insensitive and that the cops are the ones who caused the misunderstanding about the knife/gun. You are both over-reacting and yes it may be fear that is causing you both to act like overindulged children who are facing some reality, perhaps back to the therapy couch.
Do you by chance know the Grimm Brothers? You know the guys that penned those fairy tales many years ago. It makes me wonder if you lost the property to street prostitute and you are making this all up to get over on the wife.
Sidestepping? You're just an idiot. Enjoy your evening.
And I should also thank all the people who have emailed me, lately. They're sending private communications because they're not as stupid as I am to go post in public what happened to them. Their stories are really sad, some of them. Getting doors broken down in the middle of the night in Park Slope, and not being believed by the cops, tales of underreporting by NYC to keep the stats looking good, and, more relevant, a dozen-or-so ex-ParkSlopers who got priced out even earlier than we did, writing to say there's terrific alternatives.
I wouldn't want to end my participation in this thread on anything but the positive note of thanks for the support and understanding both for what happened, and my own personal, and flawed, reaction to it.
Don't blame me, I didn't vote for bloomberg.
Or, the fool before him.
I wanted Wiener in CH.
Well, I WAS really sympathetic, until I realized you didn't call the cops until the next day. WTF? We don't need people who witness, let alone experience, a crime letting the criminal stroll away to possibly attack another one of us. There is absolutely no excuse whatsover for that, unless you're in the hospital. In which case I'd guess the cops would have figured it out.
I witnessed a purse-snatching near my block a couple of years ago. Say what you want about the 78, my experience is they show up fast, in force. I went in a car with them, immediately, for a canvas. I wasn't the victim, just a witness.
Please do move. ASAP.
I agree. Where was that community spirit in letting a man with a gun to continue to roam the streets and do nothing about it? This issue has not once been addressed. I do agree, you are avoiding certain questions. That's too bad. It might, perhaps, facilitate a productive discussion.
"Rushkoffs, the fact that you’ve found it necessary to seek out this discussion in a public forum unrelated to your blogs and to chastise those participating in it while restating your rather flimsy and supercilious personal conclusions as to your neighborhood might go a long way to explaining why you’ve gotten such a strong reaction. You’d like to move? Then move. We don’t really care about the details and you certainly don’t need our approval. You’re not the only people to experience crime or struggle to make ends meet or, moreover, to have lived in the city long enough to have experienced several different iterations of it, a fact you both seem to think supports your reaction of somehow writing off an entire neighborhood and borough. You go be happy elsewhere, as is your right. In the meantime, the rest of us would appreciate if you’d stop insinuating and excoriating all over our shoes – just ’cause we disagree doesn’t mean we’re somehow coldhearted, mentally inert, trust-fund baby, yuppie stockbroker bastards who don’t have a care in the world (aside from being mean to you, of course).
And if you can’t take a little harsh response, you may want to think twice about putting your life out on the internet. I hear they let just anyone use it these days."
Isn't this the truth? Well said.
cats otta the bag. "park slope" has been a dangerous place for quite some time. The number of reported crimes is lo relative to those actually committed.
This is the best Park Slope controversy since someone found a a boys/girls hat and tried to return it.
I got mugged on Thanksgiving in PS. The guy took my bag, but luckily I had my keys in my pocket. I lost my favorite wallet, but at least there was only $8 in it. When I got inside I was so shaken up that I didn't call the police. A few days later, urged by friends, I called. The cops came and scolded me for not calling sooner, but they said that the fact that I called was something, as most people don't even report the crime. They were very blase about the whole thing, and one cop even told me that I shouldn't expect to get anything recovered. I was told to be on special alert as this neighborhood is the city. I thought I was being extra careful, but I guess not. Daisy, you are right, PS IS dangerous. When I got mugged lots of people came out of the woodwork to tell me the same kind of stories. There are a lot of stories like this out there.
From the Rushkoffs: "Sidestepping? You're just an idiot. Enjoy your evening."
Why thank you for your informed reaction Rushkoff, this has really turned into an intelligent debate.
Dear Rushkoffs:
Thank you for agreeing to not sharing the minutia of your daily life here. Go back to your agreeable minions that wait to hear about your every scintillating thought and your equally repulsive and self-centered reactions on you and your wife's oh so community spirited blogs.
I was particularly impressed by your outing of the process to get into a nursery school, boy you must be the toast of the soft-palmed intelligentsia, with that heroic gesture.
If your fear is making you so defensively twisted and the therapy couch will not be able to help you process this incident, please do move, but please spare us from the aching drivel that passes for a cogent and well thought out plan about how you have come to this decision. Just move and do it quickly and quietly,like adults.
(Drum roll) Move along, true heroes coming through. There are true everyday joes who get involved and they my dear scribbling thespian are true New York heroes: Subway superman Wesley Autrey and the guys who caught the baby, Pedro Nevarez, and fellow rescuer Julio Gonzalez.
You on the other hand, is what is truly wrong with residents of this city, you don't take any responsibility and then have a temper tantrum and blame everyone else and because you have been privy to an education, you insist upon sharing that in what you think passes for intellectual discussion. Please do not try and engage any true real thinking NY residents with your self-indulgent blather. Your true sense of a discusion has come through with your latest retort. it reminds me of a spoiled child when he gets sent to bed and must yell something as the door hits him in the backside.
"a dozen-or-so ex-ParkSlopers who got priced out even earlier than we did, writing to say there's terrific alternatives"
Well.....duh! Where on earth did you get the idea that the only place to live in Park Slope? This is absolutely typical of people who move from Manhattan to Park Slope.
Daisy, you are right, PS IS dangerous. When I got mugged lots of people came out of the woodwork to tell me the same kind of stories. There are a lot of stories like this out there.
No offense, Daisy, but that's a fairly dumb comment to make. Any area in the city is dangerous. Park Slope no more or less so than any other. At night, be aware of your surroundings...maybe get off the cell phone (or on it if it makes you more comfortable) as you walk. And take precaution on certain streets. It's common sense.
But this could happen on the Upper East or West Sides. It can happen in Murray Hill late at night or in any "ritzy" area of the city. If you think Park Slope is any more or less dangerous than any other neighborhood, try moving to the South Bronx or the East 110's. You'll want PS back in a hurry.
Let's see if we can turn this into something that can be effective. Feel free to add to the list....
Reasons that the Rushkoffs waited to report armed robbery.
1) Had to wait for effects of smoking to pass.
2) Couldn't use phone cause they were on the net blogging.
3) He's a Jew.
4) He supports Israel.
Brooklyn Native, I think I love you.
About catching muggers, I shared an anecdotal story. My friend got mugged right before Christmas at gun point in [b]Bed Stuy[/b], an neighborhood not known for it's safety. He reported it immediately, and the cops not only arrested but indicted the guy within days--the day after Christmas to be precise.
Because he felt it necessary to protect his community and try to avoid this guy attacking another person, he reported it immediately. And he spared others from the same fate. That is a true community minded person.
Well that's waht happene when you hipster doofuses decide to "Improve" a neighborhood that never asked for it ! I understand everyone has the right to move into any neighborhood they want. You have to take into consideration the cost (As far as your safety is concerned)of that move . Your moving into a hood with a wide range of income . Undoubtably your going to jack up the cost of living and therefore displace some of the lower income folks already there ! You can't blame them for reacting this way, I'm not saying it justifies robbing anyone . Just think for a minute and put yourself in there shoes . You built a life in this hood and someone with money comes in and radically changes everything about . How would you feel ?
Never forget that Less Crime is Possible.
The worst thing to do when crime is down is celebrate: the best thing you can do is keep fighting it.
Wow, talk about blaming the victim! Whatever you may think of Doug Ruskhoff, don't act as if he brought this on himself:
1. He and his family are not personally responsible for the gentrification of Park Slope.
2. Why are we assuming that the perpitrator is even a resident, let alone a resident displaced by middle/upper class people moving in?
3. Who cares what his daughter's name is.
4. If you don't like Doug and Barbara's blogs, don't read them.
If they want to leave, let them leave. Stop bitching at them, telling them they never should have moved to Park Slope in the first place, and then berating them for wanting to leave.
Matilda, here's the thing. If they were just another couple who got priced out of Park Slope, or who got mugged and scared and decided to leave, I think anyone would say go ahead and God bless, I hear Bay Ridge is cheaper, whatever.
But when you've got a writer in a public forum making some grandiose case that his mundane situation (middle-class couple with Prospect Park tastes on a Greenwood Heights income gets priced out and bitter) is a symptom of deep problems in our society and speaks to the lack of "community" in Park Slope and is implicated in larger issues of social justice... I'm sorry, that's fair game.
Leave the daughter out of it though, I agree, that's low-class.
Social justice? Big issues? I'd look at his post. You're making stuff up. He got mugged, and it made him realize he got caught up in the Park Slope fantasy, and couldn't afford it anyway. I don't see the bitterness. That's other people making mountains out of molehills. He got mugged and people commented with anger. He defended, exposing the way markets and gentification lead to anger and tension in neighborhoods.
He's been talking about the problem with market values for years, and about the myth of Park Slope since he moved there.
But I agree that like women who are raped and only report it the next day, he really got what was coming to him.
Well this is as good as the Trump/Rosie argument. I have read both of their respective blogs and there must have been some editing of the original.
From His: Getting a knife pushed into your ribcage now and again is just part of the price we pay to live in a city, and New York is supposedly one of the safer of the bunch. But getting mugged on my front stoop, at gunpoint, has made me feel less terrible about not being able to afford an apartment here.
I have to go with Ramble, BrooklynNative and Again on this issue - not reporting is more than "my bad" it's setting up the next victim. Disguising the issue by pulling down your blog and stating it's because you shared some personal stuff, man that's right up there with just going to bed after the incident. BTW: Was it a knife or a gun, just so we know when the next guy gets it.
Yes there has been quite a major edit over at Barbara Rushkoff's blog. The original is still out there cached. Doug Rushkoff's's now has a notice that he will be taking his down and discontinuing his weblog.
I guess you can't be commenting upon life's dissapointments while holding yourself up to be a bastion of morals and values when you have put up a web page detailing your every self-centered action and self-indulgent thought that shows just how skewered your thinking is.
And yes Matilda, most of the comments about her daughter's name was off-topic and unless they are reading the blog to her, she will never know any of this. After all that innocent child did not choose her name but the rest. Well it is a true "Seinfeld" moment when your intellectual foray actually outs the writers in the process and shows just how "community minded" and self-centered, the authors are.
I wonder what the cops who responded thought?
Let me explain some things here. As a retired cop, and someone who worked the Brooklyn beat for 25+ years, I know what goes on in those parts. Crime is bad in Brooklyn, worse in East New York, not as terrible in PS or Brooklyn Heights, but it is there. Cops rely on people REPORTING crime. The fact that these people reported it is great. Cops want to apprehend the criminal. The truth is, however, that the victims need to call immediately. And I don't mean 30 minutes later, I mean 5 minutes later. Not many people can do that. Some are in shock, some need time to compose themselves. You cannot attack these people for calling, because they did file a report and that is the important thing here. The cops to arrive on the scene were most likely mad that they didn't call the night before, but they should have been overjoyed that they got a call at all. Victims do not always come forward, or they come forward weeks later, when it is really difficult to crack the case. My advice is to be a community, and that means back up your neighbor, teach him the right thing to do. The attitude here reminds me of youth gangs.
FormerSgt.: How would you feel if your neighbor was robbed with a very deadly weapon and did not even bother calling the cops until it was convenient for him? What if the mugger went on to mug someone else and killed them? I absolutely agree that they were not very community minded when they tended to their own needs and called when they had some time. As BrooklynNative said, "Well it is a true "Seinfeld" moment when your intellectual foray actually outs the writers in the process and shows just how "community minded" and self-centered, the authors are." Isn't that the truth?
BrooklynRunner and BrooklynNative: You both make excellent points. I appreciate both of your intelligent posts on this matter. I think dialogue is important, and I was sad to see the Rushkoffs take their toys and go home when things weren't going their way.
Hi FormerSgt.:
Thanks for joining the discussion and I apreciate your input. Yes there have been some rowdy remarks but seriously, the Rushkoff's began this with their publishing of two different versions and then continued the discussion on a public forum.
I really don't think that this is at all reminiscent of youth gangs unless of course you are talking about the "Pocket Protector Gang" who intellecually harangues you when you make a grammitical error or egads, you improperly use a semi-colon. I think most posters were trying to raise the consciousness of the Rushkoffs who initiated the discussion.
Thank you for your 25+ years of service in Brooklyn, was it PBBS or PBBN?
Jeez, someone got mugged in the big bad city.
People get mugged all over, whether it is the chi-chi Upper East Side, Rockefeller Center, Flushing, Jamaica, Far Rockaway ... and Park Slope.
One of these days your number may come up. Unfortunately in some parts of the city, the number may come up more often, you may be on the wrong side of a weapon, or your race or ethnicity may be a factor.
Boo-hoo.
Yes, it's traumatic when it happens.
Yes, you should take the advice of the ex-NYPD on this board and call it in to 911, RIGHT AWAY.
All the rest of this stuff is over-analytic bull shite.
The possibility of crime is one of those tradeoffs of living in a large metropolitan area. I know people who were carjacked in a nice Long Island suburb. Read about even more who were victims of home invasions.
I just know that I have to be totally aware of my surroundings, know there are places as a regular New York male I really shouldn't go, keep in shape so I can confront and/or get away safely if I have to, and know to call 911 pronto.
I am in love with New York.
Anywhere else is fine - on vacation or business.
It's gotten a hell of a lot better in the past 30 years.
And hey .. I'd love to buy the brownstone next door to me when the elderly man who lives there passes. I know I can't now, but just maybe I can in a dozen years. But I like what I have now beacuse of a decision I made 12 years in the past, room to spare, a good mortgage and good neighbors ...
Just one thing.
Park Slope Residents:
STOP THE FUCKING WHINING.
It's what gives columnists and bloggers ammunition.
I know someone who was mugged at 34th St. in Manhattan at 10PM on a tuesday night last year. Does that mean "Manhattan is over and out for some?" This is the dumbest blog post I ever read...Crime happens all over NYC.
There is to be a discussion on the Brian Lehers's show in a few minutes regarding this incident: http://www.wnyc.org/shows/bl/
De-Tyronification is the only answer to crime in this city, or any American city, for that matter.
blame the hipster that have taken OVER! the entire area. i remember a time when it wasn't "cool enough" for them.
The man got mugged and this is somehow news?
Park Slope is not safe just because a bunch of white yuppies decided to move in and say so.
Park Slope has always been a nice place to live but it is a part of the city and common sense dictates it is not a place where one is shocked at getting mugged. Go back to Kansas Dorthy!
The only way to prevent these crimes is to allow gun carry permits to citizens.
This takes the power out of criminals hands.
And now what impact will the "Rushkoff Effect" have on the real estate prices in Park Slope....
Whining assholes, Move to Salt Lake City suckers.
If I am allowed to carry a gun, there is a very good chance I will bust a cap in the ass of that buck-toothed beanie-wearing barista the next time he takes too long to give me my latte.
I dread the day cell phones work in the subway almost as much as the day some idiot allows all us new yorkers to carry guns at will.
I think the 32 people killed in Virginia is relevant to this. You can live in a tiny mountain town in virginia and be involved in the largest shooting in US history.