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UPDATE: 'Williamsburg Stabber' Rumors
It all started with a few calls and comments during our first "Real Local News" segment. Then we followed up the next day. We continue to follow the perceived increase of police that has Williamsburg residents worried they are at risk of becoming victims of a knife attack, or worse. Reporter for the Brooklyn Paper Ben Muessig separates fact from fiction regarding the recent rash of muggings in the Brooklyn neighborhood.
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Year to date crime is up in both precincts:
90: http://nyc.gov/html/nypd/downloads/pdf/crime_statistics/cs090pct.pdf
94:
http://nyc.gov/html/nypd/downloads/pdf/crime_statistics/cs094pct.pdf
The precinct commanding officers probably got yelled at, and the reaction is to flood the precincts with cops. It's called COMPSTAT.
Where's the full text of the letter?
It's really sad when people see increaed number of cops and they are upset. They should be happy that cops are there to protect them.
My fiance asked a couple of beat cops about their increased presence yesterday. They said they have been relocated from Bed Stuy because of a rash of muggings, usually at night, usually targeting people stumbling home in a drunken state.
Honestly, this has been going on for months. You can read about it in the police blotter of the Brooklyn Paper every week.
I have 3 questions:
It took the police department this long to do something about it?
Who is keeping Bed Stuy safe if all of their beat cops are in Williamsburg?
Why doesn't the police department communicate with the community about issues like this?
I'm glad there are more cops around. Can they also please start giving out tickets to people that honk for no reason and filthy people that throw their garbage on the ground?
Oh boo-hoo, Williamsburg gets some rich white trustfund kids and they get crime. How many neighborhoods have had to deal with crime like this DAILY while these "gentrified" areas get first response?
My roommate has been mugged twice in the last year. It happened when walking through the Williamsburg projects late at night. She also had someone try to take her phone off a bar top at an establishment near the Lorimer stop.
Our local issue: Take away the police blotter and press releases from UNICEF and we have NO coverage of our community -- short of specials on NYC radio programs... here in Central NJ just a few Gannett Ghost Ships floating around with press release front pages.
Topix.com provides most original reporting that's left, very spotty -- and also NJ.com blogs.
Why aren't police blotters public so reporters can report?
I certainly don't mind seeing more police if the objective isn't to hand out tickets for petty offenses (like jaywalking oe brown bagging on your stoop).
I live two blocks from the 94th Pct, and I once called for assistance with an old drunk Polish guy who had managed to break in and wasn't planning to leave the building. He was getting very aggressive. Despite our proximity to the precinct, I was told it would be about 20 minutes.
Honestly, if they wanted to fulfil their ticket quota they should just hang out on Guernsey and Lorimer Streets. These cars barrel down the street like it's their personal NASCAR track, in view of the precinct building! Sigh.
During my first few months in New York, I was burglarized. I called the police, and two offers showed up. One sat on the sofa, reading one of my magazines; the other took a cursury look around. Neither was interested in a glass object covered with the perps' fingerprints.
On the way out the door, one of the policeman said that they knew who did it! Nothing else happened.
Careful... SoHo has Williamsburg by 25 years when it comes to gentrification, Sally.
Your point would seem to be valid, however. Why did the Bed Stuy cops get pulled? Isn't that neighborhood dangerous enough as it is without losing cops?
-some white kid in Williamsburg, sans wealth and associated trust fund
Re: Sally Forth
No one should have to "deal with" crime.
Hello, everyone who have moved here in recent years... this is NEW YORK!
Crime is and always has been a part of the landscape. Especially at night, in remote areas and in the projects.
Didn't your parents tell you this before you moved here?
OH please, Williamsburg whaa whaa. Where was the crying about Police 10-15 years ago when it was a drug infested slum. You wanna know what? In 10-15 years there is a possibility that once these bohemians get older and move on because city life is not for them anymore, that these so-called gentrified neighborhoods will once again become abadoned and neglected. There is a big Police presence in East New York as well. Did anyone ever think that these are rookie cops being introduced to the beat? I applaud the Police on the streets, I feel safer, you crybabies!
There is an organization entitled RightRides which will drive women, transpeople and gender queer individuals from neighborhood venues and subway stations to their homes on Saturday nights between midnight and 3am. It does service the Williamsburg area. Their website is www.RightRides.org.
police do try to bring the crime stats down by not taking reports and or downgrading crimes in the stats.
Hey tomorrow... can we discuss the crimes in Brownsville and East NY, and how the cops respond in those areas?
So they take cops out of Bed Stuy to put them in Williamsburg? Where is the Bed Stuy Outcry. I am so sick of hearing about Williamsburg. You can dress up a whore and clean her up, but inside she is still a whore.
Brian, you asked if people reported stolen cell phones to the police. Remember the story of the woman who went to replce the phone she'd left in the cab & the cell phone co. had the entire memory of her original phone in their computer records...including the calls made by the person who'd found the phone & was using it?
AWM,
I've been here for 15 years. I knew what was in store for me. I've always made an attempt to be careful and have been extremely lucky.
(HI SARAH! I think I recognize your voice.)
I do think the major complaint is lack of consistency. If I know that an overworked, understaffed precinct might not be able to help me, I'd be more understanding if I didn't have to worry about getting ticketed for jaywalking the next day.
As far as the burnout experienced by the current caller, well, I get burned out too.
To be fair, when I lived in another part of Williamsburg and had to call about a break-in, the two officers who visited were EXTREMELY helpful. I suspect it had to do with the fact that one of them was both very handsome and English, as I detected by his very slight accent (he was surprised I caught it).
"Careful... SoHo has Williamsburg by 25 years when it comes to gentrification, Sally."
I work in Soho and live in East New York and have been here my whole life.
"Your point would seem to be valid, however. Why did the Bed Stuy cops get pulled? Isn't that neighborhood dangerous enough as it is without losing cops?"
Why are cops not in every "dangerous" neighborhood? I see cops here in Soho on the street. For WHAT exactly?
"-some white kid in Williamsburg, sans wealth and associated trust fund"
uh-huh so you aren't like the rest of them at all? (I hope you don't wear skinny jeans.) I can't imagine your rent being cheap in that area so yea you are well off. Spend some time in the projects and find out what "sans wealth" is.
Hey Williamsburg haters...
Guess what? No one I know is yearning for excess attention from the media, police, or people who like to whine about Williamsburg.
We'd be happiest if everyone just left us alone.
The beat cops we talked to couldn't say enough about how friendly everyone in the neighborhood was. They certainly weren't griping about protecting white trust fund kids.
The next time you feel the urge to make snarky comments about "hipsters", know that we all know we make easy targets. You could try harder...
Sally Forth,
I'm sometimes amazed at the ignorance of some people. Despite all appearances, I too was subjected to unprecedented poverty as a kid.
I get the impression some New Yorkers believe the rest of the country is paved with gold, eagerly awaiting the next delivery of oranges and letters from the Wells Fargo Wagon. Perhaps conversation instead of insults would reveal that we have a different variety of toe-curling adventures.
Trust me, I am fully acquainted with the phrase, "sans wealth."
I've been in South Williamsburg for 12 years, I now live 2 blocks from the 90th precinct. In recent weeks, definitely the police presence has become extreme.
10 days ago, I was walking home in the wee hours of the morning; 2 men in a van started talking at me from the side, making comments. Being a thirty-something woman, I am unfortunately accustomed to these affronts. I ignored the men and walked briskly on. Eventually they passed me by and it turned out it was a police van! A few blocks later the same van turned a corner and drove slowly by me, making catcalls and giving me the wolf whistle. Unfortunately, I felt so annoyed and angry that I did not think in time to take down their van number.
It is a SAD state of affairs when women are harassed not only by pedestrians, but their own neighborhood officers.
So no, the added police presence does not make me feel safer, whether or not there is a "stabber attacking women" in my hood. I learned long ago to trust only myself to protect me, when walking around at any time of the day or night.
Where exactly is "South Williamsburg" located?
jh,
1993?
If you weren't here in the '70s and early '80s you have NO idea what New York was and what it is today. There is no comparison. Being careful wasn't enough and being lucky was all too important.
Seriously, anyone who wasn't born here or wasn't here before the early '80s NYC please find someone who was, ask them about that time and gain some perspective.
And the honking too.
Pick up your trash nasty people. And your dog poo!
AWM,
I have many friends who grew up here in the 70s and 80s. The difference is that we exchange stories rather than insults, and manage to wow each other in the process. I have a completely different set of experiences that can only be believed within the profoundly disturbing context of a rural setting. I'm happy to exchange stories with you as well, provided you don't make assumptions upon seeing me.
I'm so sick of all the garbage too.
Ever hear of "Don't S*** where you sleep"?
And pick up your dog's crap!
Impoverished entitlement.
jh,
Don't be so defensive. I didn't say anything about or judge you according to where you're from. I was asking for some perspective from people who refer to themselves as "New Yorkers" but once they face a fraction of the adversity that true New Yorkers have faced are shocked, dismayed, surprised or "insulted"
Why should anyone (living here for 5, 10, 25, 35+ years) have to "face" or "deal with" crime?
I have experienced lack of response from the police. Not in Williamsburg but here in Pelham Bay. It was a case of credit card fraud by my former roommate. I received a bill for nearly 1,000 from a bank I do not use. It showed us as joint account holders. I called at once to cancel, explain, and request statements going back to the opening of the account.
I went to police, filed a report and was assigned to a detective. When I received the statements going back over a year, I detailed each purchase...most of which were in Washington Heights...some of which were made while I was in North Carolina (and could prove that). I took all my paperwork back to the police and was told they would follow-up. I assured them that I wanted to prosecute. I was told that these cases are hard to prove and rarely solved. I called back many times to enquire if she had been interviewed. Calls were frequently not returned and the case kept being switched to different detectives. Finally, I just
gave up. My boyfriend urged me to kept trying, but it was just too much **** hassle.
You know I came to check out this comment page to see what really was going on in my neighborhood and am pretty disgusted with what I'm reading. I live in what I would consider "south" Williamsburg because my street is in between two streets that start with SOUTH. I am not a trust fund child and my apartment is EXTREMELY inexpensive (and small) because I found a rent stabilized 4 years ago. That said, since when did economic status or size of pants determine if a neighborhood should be safe? I think it's ridiculous that this neighborhood gets trashed so much. Listen, in 5 years, ALL of us are going to pushed out of here once those high rises get filled with millionaires. Then you won't be able to make fun of this beacon of creativity. And Miss Sally Forth, you're lucky there are kids running around in whacky fashion because when they're not hemming their pants their designing YOUR clothes, YOUR bedding, YOUR underwear and YOUR kids clothes. So, I'd watch where I point my finger, if you didn't like living in East NY you wouldn't be there.
Just wanted to comment that there are plenty of artists and "hipsters" getting pushed out of Williamsburg just like the rest of the low-income crowd. Why do you think artist colonies always pop up in the rough/cheap neighborhoods? I work really hard and feel lucky to still be able to afford my apartment here. Technically, I am still below the NYC poverty line and do not have a trust fund.
I was insulted while discussing this stabber on a local message board and was chastised (by other Williamsburgh residents, mind you) for feeling "entitled" to walk on the streets safely at night. Yes, I do feel entitled to that. Assault is not part of "true New York living". No one deserves to be robbed or stabbed. Period.
There is also a service called Safe Walk that operates on Friday nights between 11pm and 2am that will walk anyone home, male or female. It operates in Bushwick, Bed-Stuy, Williamsburg, Fort Greene and Green Point. The phone number is (866) 977-9255. Please call if you would like to be walked home from the subway or whereever in these neighborhoods is your point of origin.
Today is May 22nd.
This show aired more than 1 month ago. Since then, there has been 2 cops on EACH corner in the south side EVERY (and I mean every) hour of the day. The house robberies are not new (The media doesn't usually report when a rash of them break out. I hear about them all the time, by word of mouth- from 1st hand sources).
Mugging "hipsters" in the neighborhood is not new.
I believe there was a stabber. I believe that people should be reporting crime quickly after it happens.
But the question now is...
Why are there two cops to every corner on the south side for more than a month?
I don't believe that a stabber that was caught over a month ago is the reason. It doesn't make sense.
Gang activity? Protecting the dozens of new buildings that are in construction? Preparing for the all the new (rich) residents that are going to move into these buildings in less then a year, practically doubling the population?
I'd like to hear a discussion on the show again, so we can try to get some real answers...
The problems of gentrification and race/class inequality aside (though they deserve discussion), NOBODY deserves to be stabbed. There was another incident this past June 12, 2008. An acquaintance of mine and long-time Brooklyn resident in his 40s was stabbed in the chest multiple times on Fillmore (a small, quiet block south of Metropolitan between Driggs and Roebling). It was 8:30 in the morning. He survived, but the incident (which some insist is rumor, but I know otherwise) received little attention in the news (you can find some of the details in the Gothamist). I only found out from a friend a week later. This sort of bad news is good to know.
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