"a 4'11" buck-toothed mexican guy? Nothing a solid roundhouse kick can't handle."  So being Mexican somehow makes it easier to kick his ass? Racist much?

...and I pick up my coffee right next to those guys hanging out at BM in the UES every morning AND I look exactly like those guys, and I am also a Professor at Hunter College. Your point? Don't judge a book by its cover...

i don't think his point was he was mexican. i think his point was he was 4ft 11 and 120lbs. honestly, what was racist about that comment? he described the pervert from the article and thats it. oh he wrote bucked tooth mexican, he must be racist! i guess the whole professor thing doesn't mean you have common sense!

a 4'11" buck-toothed mexican guy? Nothing a solid roundhouse kick can't handle.

and that sketch isn't very helpful. looks like 50% of the guys who hang out in front of Benjamin Moore in the UES

hey rex quan do. whats with the round house? are you wearing american flag pajama pants too?

But LESSON LEARNED: make sure that pesky door closes all the way behind you when you enter a no-doorman apartment.

I'm sorry. NYC is not fucking Disneyland. If it took you three years to learn this, you're a dumbass.

People here can argue forever about how REAL NEW YORKERS apparently always eyeball their building's door until it's 100% closed every single time they leave or enter it at whatever hour it may be, but it doesn't change the fact that this guy is a creep who shouldn't be following women home and should be arrested. No amount of symbolic door-closing and victim blaming is going to deter these kinds of people.

This isn't the "woman forgets to check if door fully closes behind her, what a terrible person" article, this is the "look out for this perverted criminal, what a terrible person" article. But, what am I saying, commenters here will always look for ways to mention what a ~true New Yorker~ they are...

Well  New Yorkers, those who have been born and raised here, have a slight advantage in that they have been raised in this cesspool. They are trained from a very early age, albeit through fear and mistrust, to vet who may be trying to harm them. There is also that eye in the back of their head that appears around puberty-must be the water or something. Ladies and gents be careful out there...

A "true New Yorker" & a total victim blamer-- the worst.

I'm a "born & raised" Floridian and everyone here is a "native New Yorker"..... uh huh.

 Native New Yorker... great song!

Is anybody missing that this guy is only 4'11"? One good kick would knock him over! Average height for women is about 5'4". Come one, these big gals couldn't kick this guys ass?

That only proves one thing: these women are ASKING for it!

[author of encounter]: I've been living in New York over 3 years.  I don't spend my time looking over my shoulder everywhere I go.  I'm as alert as I can reasonably be at all times.  No ipod.  I had people walking next to/around me on my entire walk home, so it wasn't exactly obvious that I was followed.  He was absolutely inaudible until I was already inside and up one entire flight, and then I started hearing the foosteps.  My super does not lock the outer door, so I only have one door of protection.

This doesn't really have anything to do with a 10-year-old cable show. . .

But Heather, don't you realize you are to blame for not using your Navy SEAL training?

People have to criticize everything here. I live on the top floor of a four-floor building. Still, at 3 AM there's probably a 1-in-10 chance that I'll either hear someone in the halls and stairways or encounter them. So I don't really pay attention to it. In a building that's at least six floors, your odds are greater than mine.

 Yeah, this. I live on the top floor or a four-floor building too and the inner door closes slowly. I try to remember to check, especially when I come home late just in case, but you can't jump on someone for forgetting, or for assuming it was someone who also lived in the building. Sure, they can be more alert for ~next time~ or whatever, but it's not their fault this guy is a creep.

Here's a tip. Firmly (and quietly) CLOSE THE INNER AND OUTER DOORS to your building when you enter and leave. (I live in a non-doorman walk-up as well).

Yeah, when I remember to, I do, but it doesn't change the fact that if I happen to forget - because who doesn't sometimes - it's NOT MY FAULT if some creepy-ass dude sees this as an opportunity to follow me. His actions are his responsibility alone. You can only do so much to evade the situation. Making sure a door is fully closed might be "smart," but it doesn't transfer responsibility of the situation to you.

It absolutely doesn't transfer responsibility but as a women you have to be vigilant at all times.  Taking the train at 3am, speaking with someone at the station and not checking your one door is closed aren't the smartest moves.  As you are new to the city you won't remember the East Side Rapist in the late 90s that attacked women for years and I don't believe was ever caught.  Please be extra careful at night.

 Also, when did I ever say I was new to the city? Thanks for assuming. Plenty of people get tired of the "real New Yorkers always do THIS" mentality even if they've lived here for two years or twenty.

How can you not see the problem with your "but as a woman..." statement? You seem to be a woman yourself, so I assume you've probably been brought up to think that women are delicate flowers who should be on the alert at all times, which isn't exactly your fault. But the fact is that men should be vigilant too. A woman shouldn't have to be any more vigilant than a man in this fetid city, but unfortunately with the way society is I know we have to be because you can't trust people what with shamelessly flaunting our woman bodies out in public and all.

That doesn't mean the actions of criminals are our responsibility. It means more should be done to educate young men that harassing women is wrong and is going to land them in jail, not in bed.