In our last issue, Town & Village asked readers if thoughts of crime in this city affect their daily routines. We also asked, “Do you avoid certain streets or going out at certain times?”
Here are a few responses:
Martha Wolberg says, “I’ve lived in this neighborhood for 40 years. I have never felt safer. When I moved here, it was quite dangerous. Now, I can come home at 2 or 3 in the morning and there is no problem. I live on 14th Street between Second and First Avenues. All the bars in the neighborhood make it very safe – there are always people hanging out late at night.”
Kay Vota says, “It is always wise to be cautious. Once I was being followed in subway facility and I led guy straight to a cop! Once I was followed on the streets of NYC and I ducked into a building with a doorman and told him I was being followed. Once I started out of my garage back door and a giant man was on the steps and I slammed the door, called Public Safety and an officer arrived in a matter of minutes. I do not answer phone calls that I do not recognize the number. A lot of seniors live in our community and we are harassed by spoofing (an official phone number that is faked by some techie device) pretending to be the IRS with threats about being arrested if we don’t call right back. Stuy Town Public Safety when under William McClellan offered a course to tenants, teaching ways of protecting oneself when attacked. The same people taught us that taught Public Safety officers. I thought it was very valuable. Finally, if someone comes to your door claiming to be some kind of inspector, do not open your door. Tell them you will call public safety to escort them in to your home. Also, if you have home aids, be sure to have a closet key to lock valuables so there will be no temptation for anyone to steal what is too easily accessible. Better safe than sorry! And another thing, always trust but verify.”
Retired restaurateur Henry Beck had this to say. “I’m not a defenseless person. In Stuyvesant Town, crime is a relatively random event. I grew up in Manhattan and I used to travel to Brooklyn to go to high school in a pretty terrible area. As a young kid I used to travel to Yankee Stadium by myself and in college I had a job in the South Bronx in a refrigerated warehouse where I worked the graveyard shift. If I see someone doing to someone to someone else I will go after them. One day on the First Avenue bus going uptown I saw a man bumping into everybody. I said if he doesn’t stop I’m going to tell him something. Then at Bellevue, he got out and some guy said, ‘Someone stole my wallet!’ I saw him try to get into a cab so I got in front of the cab and said, ‘He stole someone’s wallet.’ He said, ‘Here it is.’ My wife said I’m crazy. I’m not a typical milquetoast.”