nic, yay for kitties! charles didn't live in new york with guiliani as mayor. where do the poor art students live now? there was not a project like compstat in place when he was there. it's easier to be courageous when you have back-up. strength in numbers and all that.

as for dallas, of course, no matter what improvements are made we are never going to have museums, theaters, libraries, etc. the caliber of new york's. no matter what neighborhood you live in you have to drive to get there because zoning laws keep commercial properties out of residential neighborhoods. in fact, since moving downtown i have a rather large variety of places i can now walk to, the caveat being they close at 5:00.

i would consider the loft property that i live in as a neighborhood. more and more properties here are starting to encourage interaction among the tenants. we have a gym, pool, pool hall, planned activities and almost everyone here works at home. i've met more neighbors that i have things in common with than i ever did at our old conventional apartment.

i mean, i can't believe i'm defending dallas, but our jobs are secure, we can travel pretty much anywhere we want whenever we want and we enjoy a nice standard of living.

i suppose it's a matter of what's important to you. in the best of both worlds i'd like to have culture and comfort, but short of an inheritance or dream job, i'd never be able to afford to live the way i want to in sf or nyc. nothing wrong with that. to each his own.

good luck!

If acting like a crazy person were sufficient protection, street crazies would be safe. They aren't.

Consider yelling "Help!" as loudly as you can; or "Help! I'm being robbed! Call 911! Somebody call the cops!" Give your fellow citizens permission to intervene.

God that's a lame ass story.

You "let" him borrow your goggles?

jesus fucktard

Cory, sorry you were robbed. It happens to everybody at least once (and that's if you're lucky).
Worth reading: THE GIFT OF FEAR by Gavin De Becker. Yeah, he writes like Broderick Crawford on steroids, but there's some sound advice there just the same.

Edited by author 07-01-2002 10:13 PM
Sucks. I'm sorry. This'll hurt for a while, longer than some people will understand. I got mugged the first year I lived in NYC, hit in the head, robbed of my purse on payday.

Getting better took some time. I'd get to a new plateau, feel more clearheaded, look back on the previous period of recovery, and observe that I'd thought I was all better but obviously had been wrong. Then, a couple of weeks later, I'd hit another plateau and go through the whole thing all over again.

This may not be the moment for advice on how to deal with creeps in difficult situations, but you can come back and read it later if you feel like it.

First important principle: To negotiate is to lose. To interact on all but the most superficial, transient level is to lose. I don't care how it looks in the beginning. They have a complex script they've learned, and all its branches and variants end with you losing.

That's what happened to you today. I don't know if it'll make you feel any better to understand this, but you were worked over by professionals. You can't beat those guys on their own turf.

Second important principle: Get out of their script and their space as quickly as possible. "I'm not getting into this" is a useful line. Then walk away. If you have to, walk out into the middle of the street, if you can do it without getting flattened. Walk into inappropriate places: church services, exercise clubs, real estate offices, whatever. Try hokey maneuvers like waving to a passerby, then running over to him yelling "Dave! Thank god you came along! These guys are trying to rob me!"

If you're being threatened in a crowded situation, like a subway car, say "Go away and leave me alone!" loudly enough for the rest of the car to hear. This lets everyone around you know that what's happening isn't a quarrel between friends. If the emergency rope isn't near you, say "Could someone please call the conductor?" Odds are there's at least one person in the car who's just waiting for permission to help you.

Third: Call 911. Dial it the minute saying "I'm not getting into this" doesn't work. Don't stop walking, but dial 911, and let them know you're doing it. Those guys absolutely do not want to deal with the police. They have rap sheets as long as your arm. You're a solid citizen, and will be believed. If the situation dissipates, which is a fairly likely outcome, you can tell the police dispatcher you're now out of danger. The police don't mind. They'd lots rather get called at the beginning of an incident, when they can do something about it.

Fourth: Most crime takes place fast. Your window of opportunity for getting out of a dangerous situation is short, but in most cases the period in which you're actively threatened is also going to be short. The last thing these guys need is a scene that goes on long enough for the police to get there.

Fifth: Trust your feelings. Don't let yourself be embarrassed or guilt-tripped into volunteering to be a victim. If a situation makes you uneasy, grab your cellphone, start dialing 911, and head for the traffic island. Don't hesitate. That moment of hesitation is when they strike.

Now feel better, okay?

Edited by author 07-01-2002 09:51 PM
Walking through SF today, I became so annoyed with the panhandlers, insane, criminals, snobs, cars and the general insensitivity of everyone. Now I finally arrived home, two arms full of groceries, to an apartment full of sunshine, and there's a jazz band playing in the cafe next door, filling the room with live music. I can't stand 'lite jazz', but this is fucking nice! and what a moaner I was!

The great part of cities is the diversity. That's why were here, rather than the suburbs millions fled to decades ago. But along with economic diversity, there comes crime and urban decay. That's the reality of the world, and while possible, it's quite difficult to avoid in the city.

It's great that Cory got involved, just by phoning the city gov. City officials are only people, and will respond to sufficient pestering. Only with an injection of energy into the places we live, will the places respond with vibrancy.

Edited by author 07-01-2002 09:23 PM
Ya know, we might not be able to get your goggles back, but it seems that a lot of bay area people are on this thread, and I wonder if there is something we could do, maybe just a prank. Maybe a bit of street theatre? Or maybe someone besides Cory could get a picture of the guy and we do a flyer campaign ALL OVER THE BAY. And make it something bizarre; that would mess with him a lot worse than the cops going through their useless routine.

The "act like a crazy person" suggestion seems good, but only if you act like a crazy person who is going to fight like a rabid badger if provoked.

Cory, this whole episode just suxe deluxe.

But the only appropriately technological solution is both clear and overdue.

Two words: Emergency Jetpacks!

You're absolutely right, Automatic Monkey. I apologize, Sakusha, I overreacted. The suggestion that it is the mug-ee's fault when he/she does what survival instinct suggests REALLY got to me.

Edited by author 07-01-2002 08:19 PM
Denise: your cat looks just like my cat! Anyway:

You're right, it is a question of courage. It's not "like cutting off your finger to help plug a hole in a dam" since you assume only a risk of injury; it's like helping your neighbors build a levee during a flood. You accept some temporary danger to win greater permanent safety and comfort. Or, (to stretch the analogy) you move to safer but less fertile ground.

You suggest that the people who pressured the NYPD to clean up the lower east side were tenants elsewhere who wanted to move in. That's not what happened. Under Giuliani and Bratton's "Compstat" program, each precinct's commander is held responsible for reducing reported crime in his precinct. If the people who live there report crimes, the captain has to implement an effective solution, or lose his command.

So who was reporting these crimes? You quote Six to the effect that it wasn't his neighbors, since 90% of them were dealing and thieving and whoring. Let's say he's right (although that's ridiculous, lots of them were getting by on welfare). Let's say it was people new to the neighborhood, artists and musicians and actors trying to live in an affordable area while they started careers in New York.

At least they had the balls to call the cops. The people who got Alphabet City cleaned up included people just like Six, but with some fucking backbone. And no, there's no neighborhood in New York where art students have to kowtow to drug dealers, because the crime reduction has been citywide.

Your loft may be gorgeous, but your fiancee says you have to drive to restaurants and shopping and movies and cafes because there are none in your "neighborhood" - if you can call that a neighborhood. You can keep it, at any price.

I'll be walking by there in the next hour. A perverse side of me wants to ask them if they can sell me any flight goggles. (i'm kidding. humour)

What would happen if lookalike clone goggles were donated to other corner dwellers?

Props to you for publicly admitting you got punked. Yer a better man than I. My big fat male ego would've eaten that story. Anyway, you got all your teeth which are prettier than those gogs. Just suck up the encounter and next time, be a prick. Take Sakusha's advice - keep walkin', no talkin'. Btw, when did this become Pat York's blog? "Go away."?? What kind of horseshit is that?

I live in NYC (UES) and I find that when a bum gets aggressive with me if I just act retarded and incoherent and look absolutely nuts in public that they leave me alone. For instance, try punching yourself in the face if someone begs you for money. Or run into a wall. Or say real real loud "I'm not the one who's drrrrunk!" while flailing your arms about.

Or the Andy Kaufman routine when someone asks you for money "I don't have any money, I don't have any money...what am I GOING TO DO?!?!????" and start crying and wailing.

The day before graduation my roommate moved out (I moved the day after). He stole $200 of stuff FROM MY BEDROOM. Of course, I couldn't prove that it was him other than that he moved out the day the stuff was gone and he knew it was there and no one else would care, and his father is a cop in West Hayseedville (Tonawanda) upstate New York. So I filed the report with the campus police. They make the phone call to his house. The campus rent-a-cop was on a power trip and after the conversation with junior's mother, it was apparent that HE was the victim and wanted a nice graduation and all!! Forget about my losses (or my graduation)!

I feel for you, Cory :( Nothing you can do but remember you're not the one selling smack on the street (or you didn't just graduate to lead a loser life in East Hayseedville (Ithaca) New York).

Hi Cory.. I lived on San Carlos for 1 1/2 years, probably less than 200 feet from your current residence. I was never harrassed while I lived there, so I guess I don't have much to say except to offer my condolences, and to recommend that you try the excellent minako sushi just a few store-fronts up from country station.