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eye2eye Posted – 7/18/2004 01:15:07 AM 4:51:38 PM
I'm wondering where in the city I can live that is reasonably priced and yet safe at 1 a.m.? I work at a TV station where we work late hours....I wanna buy a place in an upcoming neighboorhood (trying to get a bit more space than the best Manhattan neighborhoods)...any thoughts on areas that are still being gentrified and yet are safe? Is that an oxymoron? Any ideas welcomed.
ja Posted – 9/9/2004 01:15:07 AM 2:28:48 PM
Things (people) that are going to harm you and/or rob you/steal from your home (burgularly) are gonna happen and you have no real control over it.
If you move to Hunts Point in the Bronx - maybe - then you're chances for victimization go up a bit, but not too long ago, there was a man raping and sodomizing and stealing from women AND ONE man (the man was sodomized with a pair of scissors: ''I''m gonna go Taliban on your ass!'' was, I believe, the line quoted by the Post by the assailant) and this happened on the Upper East side.
I've made it my hobby/exercise to walk about Manhattan at night 11pm to 4/5am six nights a week for the last eight or so years (writer and fan of social deviancy) and can tell you, this city is safer than safe.
The people who are assaulted, robbed, raped, etc., are not at fault, but it's all about just being heads up and aware and wise.
I've seen it all. ALL. Check next post for details of ''all.''
ja Posted – 9/9/2004 01:15:07 AM 2:49:22 PM
#1 Nocturnal Victim-in-Waiting:
Young white women who come home drunk and drop keys and purse contents on stoops. See this at least five times a week. Can you spell push-in assault?
#2 Bad Landlords/Property Mngt.
The number of buildings between 23rd and 42nd, between Madison and 2nd avenue with their front doors OPEN at 3am is shocking! Walk right in and terrorize.
#3 Drunk Young White Boys with Cash
Easy prey.
#4 Horny men at incall sex joints
Massage parlors and incall brothels are all over the East Side. I know of at least 14 of these joints and several in Tribecca and West Village that are, between 12am and 4am, prime for rip-off. Client's come and go. When they're coming, they're flush with cash, erections and guilt. Easy prey. These men will not call for help. They're breaking the law. Never mind all the sex joints themselves that are packed w/cash. I'd NEVER want to live in a bldg. w/ a massage parlor or whore house. It's trouble all the way. (Write me, and I'll tell you how close you live to one)
#5 Flashers, Peepers and Perverts
These guys all have favorite blocks and areas they like to prowl. My newest find is a geeky white guy in the East 30's w/blond hair and glasses. He's out there every Friday and Saturday
night with his hand on his cock. Someone's math teacher, looks like.
#6 Subways. Safe, but dangerous.
You'd think the subways were dangerous, but they're not. Except when they are. Most have no attendants, no cameras and are FULL of blind spots. Always sit in the first or fifth/sixth car if you're scared, generally, of NYC. These cars have motormen/conductors. Sit in last two cars for victimization.
#7 People sitting in cars, fucking, fighting and sleeping.
Don't park your car on a dark street, and then, sit in it for three hours getting a blow job. Sitting duck. Exp. if you're half naked.
#8 Parks
Anyone who walks through a park, after 12am, asks for what they might get. Sorry. True. Stay away from parks.
#9 The tough looking are not the ones to fear
Kids that look tough are usually all bluster. It's the loners you have to watch for. One person will commit a crime. A pack of drunken - LOUD - bridge and tunnel types may terrorize verbally or kick over a few trash cans, but the REAL harm comes from the slow moving loners who usually carry no bags and look a bit better off than most homeless.
#10 Homeless vs. Crazy
The silent, shuffling homeless are generally docile. It's the erratic - LOUD - disheveled that you want to cross the street for if you see them coming your way.
#11 Doormen and Steet Lights and Shadows
Always look ahead for the next doorman, street light or shadow that MOVES TOWARDS the curb FROM the building side when walking on a dark street. Always look 50 yards ahead and work with your eyes BACKWARD. If they were gonna jump you, they would have already. They're ahead of you, waiting to GET behind you. NOT BEHIND you.
Write for more.
'Fraidy cat!
ja Posted – 9/9/2004 01:15:07 AM 2:59:44 PM
New Girl Wrote:
Look into the Upper East Side. (I'm talking below 96th Street, not Harlem.) ...safe safe safe. Boring, but safe.
____________________
Here's the deal:
Safe is relative. Those who wish to harm another ''stalk,'' wait, watch, hunt, prowl, case and observe. No neighborhood is really ''safer'' than another. Rather, it's the inhabitants of a neighborhood who make it safer by action and awareness, and those who move through it on foot who keep their eyes and ears open.
If someone wants to hurt you, they'll try. Whether they do or not, is unknown until it's too late.
So, to the original poster, you're looking for an ''answer'' and a comfort level that's really not attainable in an add-water and mix recipe.
This is a city with 8 million people in a small space. People go crazy. You live here. Deal with it.
bernii Posted – 9/9/2004 01:15:07 AM 3:27:11 PM
But still, I know where this person is coming from. My criteria has always been that I like to live in a neighborhood that has people walking on the street late at night and on a block that is fairly well-lit and not totally deserted. I found Astoria to be pretty good that way. When I lived there I felt very comfortable walking from the subway alone late at night because tons of people got off at my stop, and the neighborhood had 24 hour delis and fruit stands and pastry places etc. As far as up-and-coming in Manhattan, I'd say Murray Hill and Kips Bay area may be worth considering. Not as ''cool'' as some other areas, but therefore less pricey and cabs would be cheaper than Queens or Riverdale!
ja Posted – 9/9/2004 01:15:07 AM 4:18:39 PM
''But still, I know where this person is coming from. My criteria has always been that I like to live in a neighborhood that has people walking on the street late at night and on a block that is fairly well-lit and not totally deserted.''
Exactly. As I stated, those who want to harm another, or cannot help themselves from doing so, will. Or they'll try.
So, the original poster's comment is either immature or he/she shouldn't be living here if their lifestyle/domicile choices are dictated by the hours of their employ.
About a year ago, I chuckled at the ''new'' trendy self-defense classes being heralded in NYC: Krav Magna. The ''choice'' of all Israeli security forces, or some such drivel. And like lemmings, they lined up to pay to take these ''street defense'' classes.
Know who'd I want to teach me in street defense? A convict. Any guy who can kill someone with a magazine and some toothpaste is who I want teaching me how to protect myself on the street.
(Tear out the pages, and roll them TIGHTLY into the smallest tube you can manage. Cement with toothpaste and let dry. Stab. Toss in water to destroy.
For a more rigid stabbing device, layer toothpaste between every sheet in a thin film
For a spear-like weapon, telescope the pages to desired length. This is good for reaching through the bars and going after an eye)
The best weapon(s) on the street are as follows:
1. Your own voice screaming ''Your care is on FIRE!'' (People don't care about you. Leverage other's concern for THEIR shit).
2. Keys/cellphone for gouging/stabbing and clubbing
3. Trash at, or near your feet. Anything you can quickly pick up and THROW, club with, splash-on, will do the trick.
All you need are the precious few seconds to cause sensory havoc upon your attacker to get physically away from him so you can being running, screaming, sheltering.
My weapon of choice when walking through dicey areas? A hot cup of coffee, with lid on, but loose, held lightly with thumb on top and forefinger on bottom. A splash of HOT coffee to the face will do the trick every time.
PS - Girls? The ''I'm-talking-to-my-friend-on-my- cell-phone-so-you-can't-attack-me'' trick at 4:30am while you're walking home is lame.
No one is awake then. Better to just have your cell flipped to camera option so can capture an image of your assailant, but to carry the phone in one hand at your side to use as weapon and keys in the other. Concentrate less on pretending to talk to someone who you want your assailant to think will come out and save you and more on who is on the street, watching you. And if you're just checking messages, wait to do it when you're home.
- "Where to Live when you work Late Hours?," mediabistro 9 september 2004
posted September 09, 2004 in print. 2002