So I was at a friend's cinco de mayo party in Dumbo, brooklyn NY, and left around 20:30 to catch my wife the station who just came in from work. On the way, I get headlocked from the back, "got a gun gimme your money, blah blah", and another steps out infront, and knocks me out cold. (ok, so I'm not exactly the fighter type, lol) They get my wallet and cellphone. I came to very quickly, and I'm walking down the street, wondering why I feel all dizzy... am I just too drunk? Na, only had a couple of beer.. oh yeah! I was mugged!
Anyway, I wasn't hurt to bad, and they got around $15 and my cellphone. All cards are unusable now, and I'm going to close my cellphone very first thing today. Obviously these guys weren't desparate, or had thought of the best way to capitalize from the situation.. so all this for $15? That's crazy. And I wasn't about to do anything crazy (like pinch the assailant's nipples) either for just $15.
So I guess I can just say "well, it's NY". But then is that a world I want to live in? Not sure. What if it was my wife? Freaky. I'm not pissed off or depressed, but this does have a big impact on whether I want to stay for a long time or not. I mean, in Tokyo, you don't hear about anyone being mugged. (or even a friend of a friend, for that matter) If I'm rolling the dice every day, I'd rather roll at safer odds. Don't you?
Oh well, I'm just telling myself that it was a couple of punks looking to get some kicks, taking advantage of the cinco de mayo hype, and that it's not an everyday thing. But man, I never thought the day would come.
just got mugged last night
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next to nothing
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That is exactly why I despise these predators. Brooklyn was unsafe when it was all Jews and Italians, but my grandmother could walk to the store w/o incident. As the people who dwelled there had a fair sense of play, and feared reprisals from the local regimes. Now it is a slum with no morals whatsoever. It's a shame that happened, I am glad you are O.K.
If you plan on hanging out in bad neighborhoods like Brooklyn, you should consider a least carrying a stun gun. They were obviously punks just trying to pay their drug habits off, w/o earning their money legally. Guys like that will soon be in jail, or overdose, or better yet, send them to the armed services to get straightened out. 8 out of 10 criminals get fixed in boot camp. Thats why they c all it BOOT !! Cause it goes all the way up your ass when they find out you didn't volunteer like the other 95% of the recruits.
Hang In There, But Not Over There,
If you plan on hanging out in bad neighborhoods like Brooklyn, you should consider a least carrying a stun gun. They were obviously punks just trying to pay their drug habits off, w/o earning their money legally. Guys like that will soon be in jail, or overdose, or better yet, send them to the armed services to get straightened out. 8 out of 10 criminals get fixed in boot camp. Thats why they c all it BOOT !! Cause it goes all the way up your ass when they find out you didn't volunteer like the other 95% of the recruits.
Hang In There, But Not Over There,
yeah, sorry to hear about that. Tokyo is full of Japanese. New York is full of Japanese, Germans, Africans, Englishmen, Chinese, Mexicans, Puerto Ricans, Irish, Jamaicans, etc. and there are a lot of tribal wars happening. there are people who have lost all allegiance to any group and worse. it's the same in LA. it's rare to be attacked, but you really have to be aware of predators. they are looking for the element of surprise, the easy score......
i'm really glad you weren't injured!
i'm really glad you weren't injured!
Hi Ken
It is tough how some crime can affect a person. I have experienced burglary myself, when I lived in a shared house. It just didn't feel good, when I was 100 meter away and got uncertain "did I lock the door", and when being 200 meters from home and feeling my heart pounding and just hoping not to see another note on the message board in the entrance hall.
In my experience what happens is, that the perceived possibillity, that this will happen to you raises from "extremely unlikely" to "almost bound to happen again". That stuff often fades out over time. Having experienced crime done to you does not raise or lower the chance that it will happen again, but it might raise your fear, that it will happen again.
The tricky part is, that like both your (anybody's) former and your present perception of the risk of experiencing crime done to you (within a certain time frame) is likely far off.
My advice would be to give it some time. If fear of this happening again to you or your wife doesn't let go of you (or your wife, she might be scared too), then considder if it makes you happy to be where you are. But giving it a bit of time might be a good thing.
It is tough how some crime can affect a person. I have experienced burglary myself, when I lived in a shared house. It just didn't feel good, when I was 100 meter away and got uncertain "did I lock the door", and when being 200 meters from home and feeling my heart pounding and just hoping not to see another note on the message board in the entrance hall.
In my experience what happens is, that the perceived possibillity, that this will happen to you raises from "extremely unlikely" to "almost bound to happen again". That stuff often fades out over time. Having experienced crime done to you does not raise or lower the chance that it will happen again, but it might raise your fear, that it will happen again.
The tricky part is, that like both your (anybody's) former and your present perception of the risk of experiencing crime done to you (within a certain time frame) is likely far off.
My advice would be to give it some time. If fear of this happening again to you or your wife doesn't let go of you (or your wife, she might be scared too), then considder if it makes you happy to be where you are. But giving it a bit of time might be a good thing.
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Nestor
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Sad… It pisses me off to know a guy like you was upset that way in the streets… I’m truly sorry but as everybody, I am happy they didn’t harm you.
Again, the problems of guns appear here as it is so easy to have one in the USA…
When we first came to Santiago with my wife (a very dangerous city if you don’t know where you are stepping in), we were taught to stay away of certain places and towns, so to avoid problems of the like.
If you go out late at night and by mistake get into the wrong corner, you can be easily mugged, particularly if you are a foreigner, and if you react to it and things go wrong because you couldn’t escape, you’ll most certainly be killed without mercy, period.
Ken, perhaps as you and your wife are also foreigners in USA, it would be useful to approach somebody with knowledge about the bad-areas so you learn which they are and stay away from them, until you yourself get to know, first hand, how things work. I have noticed that those living in a given town, whichever it may be, know immediately when you belong to somewhere else, because of the way you move, watch everything and stare at what for them is everyday life. But when you get old into the place, nobody knows where you’re coming from, or if you actually belong to the town. You become transparent in a way, like everybody else… Just a thought.
Again, the problems of guns appear here as it is so easy to have one in the USA…
When we first came to Santiago with my wife (a very dangerous city if you don’t know where you are stepping in), we were taught to stay away of certain places and towns, so to avoid problems of the like.
If you go out late at night and by mistake get into the wrong corner, you can be easily mugged, particularly if you are a foreigner, and if you react to it and things go wrong because you couldn’t escape, you’ll most certainly be killed without mercy, period.
Ken, perhaps as you and your wife are also foreigners in USA, it would be useful to approach somebody with knowledge about the bad-areas so you learn which they are and stay away from them, until you yourself get to know, first hand, how things work. I have noticed that those living in a given town, whichever it may be, know immediately when you belong to somewhere else, because of the way you move, watch everything and stare at what for them is everyday life. But when you get old into the place, nobody knows where you’re coming from, or if you actually belong to the town. You become transparent in a way, like everybody else… Just a thought.
*MUSIC* The most Powerful Language in the world! *INDEED*
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hubird
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Mr Arkadin
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As a complete contrast can i recite this story: i was on holiday in New York, staying with a friend in Brooklyn. To put this in context remember i am a small white person (very white - i'm English after all 
). To get to my mate's house i had to change from an underground subway to an overground one. Not realising i had to get a transfer ticket i started to make my way back down stairs, which was quite a task with two heavy suitcases. As i started down a huge black kid in a hoodie came up to me... and gave me his transfer ticket as he didn't need it (he obviously realised i what i'd done).
As i carried on up to the other platform the train was about to pull off and i couldn't get enough speed with my two bags. Out of nowhere an even bigger black guy grabbed my suitcase... and helped my get on the train. Things were definitely going well after all the horror stories i'd heard about Brooklyn. Turns out the guy was British and had moved to the USA under the last Labour government (oh the irony that i am now thinking of doing the same - and yes, Brooklyn is the place i'm thinking of going).
i wouldn't go to the Bronx for all the money in the world though (especially with a banner a la Bruce Willis
)
). To get to my mate's house i had to change from an underground subway to an overground one. Not realising i had to get a transfer ticket i started to make my way back down stairs, which was quite a task with two heavy suitcases. As i started down a huge black kid in a hoodie came up to me... and gave me his transfer ticket as he didn't need it (he obviously realised i what i'd done).As i carried on up to the other platform the train was about to pull off and i couldn't get enough speed with my two bags. Out of nowhere an even bigger black guy grabbed my suitcase... and helped my get on the train. Things were definitely going well after all the horror stories i'd heard about Brooklyn. Turns out the guy was British and had moved to the USA under the last Labour government (oh the irony that i am now thinking of doing the same - and yes, Brooklyn is the place i'm thinking of going).
i wouldn't go to the Bronx for all the money in the world though (especially with a banner a la Bruce Willis
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kensuguro
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well, Brooklyn and NY in general is definitely not what it used to be (in a good way), or so the locals tell me. Big difference? You can actually use the subways now, amongst the many improvements. Brooklyn is obviously a sought after expensive area with rents ranging in the high thousands to even lower two thousands for a 1 bedroom or studio. Especially Willamsburg and other areas easily accessible by subway.
So there are pockets of safer neighborhoods that are filled with young professionals bringing in crap loads of money.. sort of like rich people living in a crappy looking neighborhood just to be hip. Fact is though, this change is taking place very quickly, and is probably what makes the "rich" spots stand out so much. Easy targets, as it's apparent where you need to go. And the standards of living are so different between to the two zones, it's ridiculous. It's people mugging to scrap together the minimum amount of cash and cellphones to sell, from people who live in expensive gut renovated condos that spend hundreds a night wining and dining with their financial world friends. And they're living in such close proximity. Anyone smell disaster? It seems inevitable to me.
But again, somehow, some areas are safe. I mean, I thought Jersey City was bad.. but now that I live there and know where to be and where not to be, perhaps I'm more safer there, than a place I'm not familiar with. Jersey City ranks much lower than NY in terms of crime.
But you know... you think about it.. yeah yeah, it's a world of survival and competition.. Well, that's in the wild. I just don't understand why such hostility and craze exists in a supposedly civilized place. I mean, isn't that what civilization is for? Strangely, I think I feel much safer under the water surrounded by sharks. Or even in the middle of the everglades surrounded by alligators. This stuff happens way too much around here.
So there are pockets of safer neighborhoods that are filled with young professionals bringing in crap loads of money.. sort of like rich people living in a crappy looking neighborhood just to be hip. Fact is though, this change is taking place very quickly, and is probably what makes the "rich" spots stand out so much. Easy targets, as it's apparent where you need to go. And the standards of living are so different between to the two zones, it's ridiculous. It's people mugging to scrap together the minimum amount of cash and cellphones to sell, from people who live in expensive gut renovated condos that spend hundreds a night wining and dining with their financial world friends. And they're living in such close proximity. Anyone smell disaster? It seems inevitable to me.
But again, somehow, some areas are safe. I mean, I thought Jersey City was bad.. but now that I live there and know where to be and where not to be, perhaps I'm more safer there, than a place I'm not familiar with. Jersey City ranks much lower than NY in terms of crime.
But you know... you think about it.. yeah yeah, it's a world of survival and competition.. Well, that's in the wild. I just don't understand why such hostility and craze exists in a supposedly civilized place. I mean, isn't that what civilization is for? Strangely, I think I feel much safer under the water surrounded by sharks. Or even in the middle of the everglades surrounded by alligators. This stuff happens way too much around here.
Civilization is based on communities. Communities are based on 2 things: Closeness (being close to each other) and individuals feeling a gain from being a member of a community.kensuguro wrote:I just don't understand why such hostility and craze exists in a supposedly civilized place. I mean, isn't that what civilization is for?
When things get so big, closeness becomes highly selective to the extend that a lot of people do not feel closeness towards people they do not know. This gives less incentive to support others (unless you are smart enough to know that this bennefits yourself in the long run). When big minorities are left to bad conditions, things start going really bad.
Cronology might be off here. These are however my thoughts, which might be more or less relevant.
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kensuguro
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Obvious, but good point.This gives less incentive to support others (unless you are smart enough to know that this bennefits yourself in the long run)
also, I think manhattan and its burrows being this huge megalopolis is a myth. The size and population I don't think is any bigger than Tokyo. Actually, because Tokyo and its surrounding perfectures are so closely connected, the whole "piece" is much much bigger than Manhattan. Tokyo has it own problems, but the magnitude is at a completely different scale. Not that I want to compare apples to oranges.
Blah, bottom line is, obviously I'm going to be unhappy about all this given my situation.. but I also don't think NY has too many excuses to have things done right. You gotta admit, this place is a mess. And I've seen plenty of other major cities having things done right. When will NY stop saying "we're a melting pot of a wide range of ethnicities" and stop using that as an excuse for all this violence? I don't think these small time crimes have anything to do with ethnicity / race. I mean, easy place to see a cause is the un-imaginably messed up public schooling system in NY. It's like growing up in a war.
Anyway, I don't want to bore you with my negativity.. Actually I saw alot of good things in this ordeal too. My new friends here who I've known only for a few months, were ridiculously supportive, and it felt really good to have that sort of support, especially since I didn't have any friends for the first year I was in Miami. The cops were really cool about the whole thing, and that was very re-assuring. NY might be doing bad in terms of numbers in crime, but at the same time, they probably have top notch law-enforcement. They all seem to be doing their jobs very well, I was surprised. None of this bad, mean cop thing you see in the papers and news. These people were actually, NICE, very nice.
Now if I can get a new phone, a new wallet, and a new license, I'll be back on my feet again. Oh, and I also want PC to run linux on. lol. I'm actually pretty light hearted about all this.
So knowing even less about Tokyo than about NY, what is the education level/availability like in Japan? How about social security? Does it sum up to another culture in society as a whole and among the homeless and poor people in particular?kensuguro wrote:The size and population I don't think is any bigger than Tokyo. Actually, because Tokyo and its surrounding perfectures are so closely connected, the whole "piece" is much much bigger than Manhattan. Tokyo has it own problems, but the magnitude is at a completely different scale. Not that I want to compare apples to oranges.
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kensuguro
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the education in japan is, well, I wouldn't say "better", but well maintained and executed at a high standard. Then there are problems with kids being stressed out and elementary kids killing teachers, blah blah. Maybe we'd get one big incident once very 2-3 years. So, that has its sideffects, but I would say it's we're not reminded every day. But generally, in Japan, you can go through public school from start to finish (end of high school) like a breeze, and still get in college and go on with life just fine.
The thing is, you don't see too many poor in Tokyo, or in Japan, in general. It's a good and bad thing. Everyone has lots, and I mean LOTS of expendible income compared to new yorkers because of lower rent and taxes. People buy lots of stuff in Japan, spend money of strange things, probably just because they can. We also do have some homeless people but again, the numbers aren't significant for it to be a "country wide" or any major problem. Poverty isn't something that plagues society in Tokyo, as in, it exists, but isn't something prominent.
Again, this isn't to say the Tokyo's dreamland and NY is messed up. Tokyo's got problems with international gangs and illegal immigrants, problems with education being too uptight and systematic, and bad labor environment for pretty much everybody. (and many more) But those are problems of a different league than worrying about being jumped or mugged. I don't think it even crosses the minds of most people, and is not an every day reality.
I just told people about the incident and was amazed at how many people have been mugged, or know of people have been mugged, burglarized, held a gun point, beat up for no good reason, stabbed. It's a party of violence here!
The thing is, you don't see too many poor in Tokyo, or in Japan, in general. It's a good and bad thing. Everyone has lots, and I mean LOTS of expendible income compared to new yorkers because of lower rent and taxes. People buy lots of stuff in Japan, spend money of strange things, probably just because they can. We also do have some homeless people but again, the numbers aren't significant for it to be a "country wide" or any major problem. Poverty isn't something that plagues society in Tokyo, as in, it exists, but isn't something prominent.
Again, this isn't to say the Tokyo's dreamland and NY is messed up. Tokyo's got problems with international gangs and illegal immigrants, problems with education being too uptight and systematic, and bad labor environment for pretty much everybody. (and many more) But those are problems of a different league than worrying about being jumped or mugged. I don't think it even crosses the minds of most people, and is not an every day reality.
I just told people about the incident and was amazed at how many people have been mugged, or know of people have been mugged, burglarized, held a gun point, beat up for no good reason, stabbed. It's a party of violence here!
that's the rabbit hutch principle
they live without problems in communiy's too
but what happens if the hutch becomes too small?1
they will start to eat each other.
crime happens everywhere in the world.
my father was for about one year in a normal bar
and was drinking 3-4 beer.
2 girls came to him and gave him the offer to fu...for money with him.
he answered no. and the girls told him
okay then lets just drink a beer....
after the beer and some bla bla
he suddenly woke up in an alley
but he didn'nt woke up on the ground
he was standing vertical.
the girls put something in the beer and robbed his gold necklaces, clock and ring etc.
it seems that my father withdrawed money from bank account too in his delirum or he told them the password number.
so, guy's
be carefull with stuff like that
it's better to accept just closed bottles if someone you don't know spends a beer
they live without problems in communiy's too
but what happens if the hutch becomes too small?1
they will start to eat each other.
crime happens everywhere in the world.
my father was for about one year in a normal bar
and was drinking 3-4 beer.
2 girls came to him and gave him the offer to fu...for money with him.
he answered no. and the girls told him
okay then lets just drink a beer....
after the beer and some bla bla
he suddenly woke up in an alley
but he didn'nt woke up on the ground
he was standing vertical.
the girls put something in the beer and robbed his gold necklaces, clock and ring etc.
it seems that my father withdrawed money from bank account too in his delirum or he told them the password number.
so, guy's
be carefull with stuff like that
it's better to accept just closed bottles if someone you don't know spends a beer
I'll tell you what Tokyo feels like in a month or so .
I can tell you that my partner and I were wandering around Kyoto railway station {what a fantastic building BTW} at midnight after waking up hungry getting in from London and we felt completely relaxed about it . More relaxed than I felt in London or back home in Sydney . Japanese kids are cool . It just doesn't feel feral at all .
Hope they're not famous last words
Cheers
Paul
P.S. my old lady LOVES N.Y.
. I can tell you that my partner and I were wandering around Kyoto railway station {what a fantastic building BTW} at midnight after waking up hungry getting in from London and we felt completely relaxed about it . More relaxed than I felt in London or back home in Sydney . Japanese kids are cool . It just doesn't feel feral at all .
Hope they're not famous last words
Cheers
Paul
P.S. my old lady LOVES N.Y.
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kensuguro
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Just some funny new events on this case:
Citibank: It's a thin line, but wouldn't provide any information about my card (police wanted the number to track it) and although the police requested that I left the card "alive" to track usage or attempts of usage, the only option I had from citibank was to block the card to protect myself from liability, rendering the card untrackable. That's pretty messed up considering how much they advertise anti-identity theft.. Isn't there a law that forces them to cooporate with law enforcement? The conversation with the phone-operator was funny, he kept on saying "security reasons".. well buddy.. my security's already been breached dammit! lol
License: I'm in NY but I still had my Florida license, which is kind of nice because the address my old Miami address, which makes it a valid ID with an outdated address. (which may make it invalid but anyway) So there was nothing in the wallet that had my current address on it.. I decided to request a new license and the only option I had was to request a "duplicate". Now I see on the license that there is a "duplicate count" that shows if it's duplicate # 0 (original) or 1 or whatever. So technically, you can tell apart the original (stolen) from the new from this number. If you ask me, this is exactly why id theft is such a big problem.. I mean, they might have a database for these things, but given how broken and messed up everything with the word "system" in it is, what are the chances discerning the stolen ID from one that's not? My only question is, why is it so hard to just generate a new license number and give me a new one? I mean, on any form, or any record, I have never seen a case where I had to write down the "duplicate count", meaning, in reality, it's only the license number that counts.
Ah, anyway.. I was shocked there was no way citibank would cooperate with the investigation. Shame on them. BTW, I was mugged right infront of my friend's apartment, and they caught the whole thing on security video. While the video is useless, as usual, I might be able to get a copy of it. And laught at myself getting knocked out. lol. Maybe even put it on youtube so you all can have a good laugh. I don't even know why these things are called security cameras if it serves almost no security purpose.. if it's going to end up on youtube, they should call them youtube cams.
Citibank: It's a thin line, but wouldn't provide any information about my card (police wanted the number to track it) and although the police requested that I left the card "alive" to track usage or attempts of usage, the only option I had from citibank was to block the card to protect myself from liability, rendering the card untrackable. That's pretty messed up considering how much they advertise anti-identity theft.. Isn't there a law that forces them to cooporate with law enforcement? The conversation with the phone-operator was funny, he kept on saying "security reasons".. well buddy.. my security's already been breached dammit! lol
License: I'm in NY but I still had my Florida license, which is kind of nice because the address my old Miami address, which makes it a valid ID with an outdated address. (which may make it invalid but anyway) So there was nothing in the wallet that had my current address on it.. I decided to request a new license and the only option I had was to request a "duplicate". Now I see on the license that there is a "duplicate count" that shows if it's duplicate # 0 (original) or 1 or whatever. So technically, you can tell apart the original (stolen) from the new from this number. If you ask me, this is exactly why id theft is such a big problem.. I mean, they might have a database for these things, but given how broken and messed up everything with the word "system" in it is, what are the chances discerning the stolen ID from one that's not? My only question is, why is it so hard to just generate a new license number and give me a new one? I mean, on any form, or any record, I have never seen a case where I had to write down the "duplicate count", meaning, in reality, it's only the license number that counts.
Ah, anyway.. I was shocked there was no way citibank would cooperate with the investigation. Shame on them. BTW, I was mugged right infront of my friend's apartment, and they caught the whole thing on security video. While the video is useless, as usual, I might be able to get a copy of it. And laught at myself getting knocked out. lol. Maybe even put it on youtube so you all can have a good laugh. I don't even know why these things are called security cameras if it serves almost no security purpose.. if it's going to end up on youtube, they should call them youtube cams.