From the COLlive Inbox:
I finished work late Tuesday night at the Manhattan restuarant where I work.
I rode the number 2 Subway from 86th street, and arrived at the Sterling Street station in Crown Heights at approximately 3:15 am.
I came out of the Subway station at Sterling St. and Nostrand Avenue, and I started heading down Sterling St. toward New York Ave.
When I was approaching the corner of Sterling St. and Brooklyn Ave., I heard a man running towards me.
Before I had a chance to turn around, he was standing in front of me, holding a knife. His face was concealed with a black shirt so all I could see were his eyes.
The mugger demanded all my money. After I gave him my money, he then saw my headphones and asked me to empty my pockets. He took my wallet, Blackberry phone and iPod Touch.
He then told me to run. I ran home and called the Police. They arrived at my house shortly afterwards, and we searched for him in the neighborhood. We could not find him, but the police have initiated an investigation.
I think people in Crown Heights need to be aware of the dangers that are out there late at night, and to be safe should not carry too many valuable things on them, and perhaps walk with someone whenever they can.
-Sholom
I cannot believe a woman would take such a chance. This is more insane to listen to, than what actually happened. And one of ours! I am shocked. I came home on the same train from the same stop once much earlier and was surrounded by a gang of drunken men who claimed that the Jews are not the real the Jews, they are! They then proceeded to show me a picture of a black king James (who the King James bible is named after). I got lucky and we came up to a stop and I ducked out. How… Read more »
Maybe you CH’ers dont feel it so much but here in melbourne you wish you had 770 around the corner. People in crown heights dont think twice abot where they daven but if you dont live in brooklyn you would see what 770 means
Where can you buy pepper spray
BH you got away with your life intact… lose the valuables and run!
if you are being threatened and mugged if you pull out your wallet(hopefully you can take out the cards first) or a valuable and throw it down and run away the mugger(s) will go for the item and not you or just dont get into these situations in the first place.
(718) 774-3333
I’m sure you realize it’s not a good idea.
You should see if the cell phone company can track the blackberry. It’s probably in a pawn shop.
Also, you should carry a chitas with you and some cards about the sheva mitzvos. And you should make sure to learn pirkei avos and/or teach it to others.
To #48 you are an ignorant fool. The victim is revealing to us a reality. Maybe you should thank him.
To the people telling the victim to learn self defense: when push comes to shove and you see that knife, you probably will just do what the robber says, because you would rather not risk the smallest chance of getting hurt
its nice your saying your story, but when i got home yesterday my entire family is freaked out, we are all aware of your situation that its dangerous at that hour but please don’t put fear in them. thanks for your understanding
If new York would have the same blue-collar crime rate as Montana, Lubavitchers in CH would be able to walk home at 3:15 am while saying “al tira mipachad pis’om” and actually mean it. 😉
Walmart sells for less than $10 go hook yourself up people.
Yes, all smart business people do…
Be your own advocate. Report. Follow through. Keep bothering the cops (they get paid BY US, OUR TAXES, so effectively, they work for us.) But remember – you have to take precautions. Don’t take your wallet to work, just a metro card, a debit card (which you can cancel before they have a chance to use it ) & a few $$. Leave the expensive toys at home. esp. if you’re coming home at 3:30 AM.
Try some COMMON SENSE, buddy.
IS THIS NOT A HATE CRIME ! A MALE BLACK AGAINST A FEMALE WHITE ! AT 3 AM IN MIDDLE OF THE NIGHT !
DID IT EVER HAPPEN THAT A FEMALE OR MALE WHITE LUBOB MUG A BLACK MALE IN CROWN HEIGHTS ?!
I have a planned concealed weapons and firearms course in Miami for jews that want a carry license.. Contact me Elchonon Hellinger course given by a police officer and former marine combat vet.. its 35$ just to cover costs (most places are 75$)
Montana is not that safe 🙂
In the future its always inportant to call a local patrol group to help such situations when time of need.
Shmira is the best patrol group that I know and trust when it comes to muggings and other situations, always call the Shmira hotline at 718 221 0303
Shmuly.
shalom achi!!!!! keep it safe bro, thnk gd ur alrighttt
More gun licenses issued
Less crime
Less dependence on government
More individual liberties
Easier to conduct business with government out of the way
Less people on welfare and entitlements
More wealth created
More tzedaka
Higher quality of life
Moshiach here sooner
Mishiach will
The non-jewish apt. building on sterling and brooklyn has a security camera.
You should get the police to retrieve the footage from them.
Again, it’s the building on Brooklyn between (corner) sterling and lefferts, they have a camera on sterling and maybe more cameras. Also, one of the houses on brooklyn ave that belongs to a non-jewish lady has cameras.
Go get ’em!!
Move to Montana. Or Fiji.
Not practical $$$ wise
You did the right thing (unlike #1 suggestion). Your safety is worth more than your money and phone etc. Obviously if you were a black belt you’d be better off and be able to take down the guy but most of us are not that well equipped. It’s better to be safe than sorry.
Good thing you know how to defend yourself, shame you can’t spell…..
I think when walking so late at night it might be smart to call shmira before getting off the train , and have to guide you home. I wonder if they would do that
CRIME IS RAMPANT ALL OVER NEW YORK, AND TAKING INTO CONSIDERATION THE RATIO OF BLACKS TO WHITES IN CROWN HEIGHTS THE CRIME RATE IS RELATIVELY LOW.I HAVE BEEN LIVING IN CROWN HEIGHTS FOR SIXTY YEARS, HAVE WALKED THE STREETS AT ALL HOURS OF THE NIGHT, AND HAVE YET TO BE EVER ACCOSTED. FOR THOSE DISPARAGING OUR NEIGHBERHOOD I SENSE A FEELING OF PERSONAL ANIMOSITY SEEMINGLY CAUSED BY WHATEVER REASON AND IF YOU FEEL UNCOMFORTABLE IN CROWN HEIGHTS YOU ARE WELCOME TO LEAVE.
“KAN TZIVA HASHEM ES HABRACHA”
S.D.
Where can you get a pepper spray??
Everyone should stop blaming the victim – it’s not his fault he has to walk on those streets late at night. He wash;t just hanging out, he was getting back from work.
sterling street at 3:00 in the morning???
r u out of ure mind????
To #7: I couldn’t agree with you more. Also, to everyone else, I’ve found that the most comforting thing to me in CH is to say the possuk “U’lchol Bnei Yisroel, lo yecheratz kelev lishono” – And to all of Bnei Yisroel, not one dog wagged its tongue. It works for dogs, so why not for people that act like dogs???
its not exactly late breaking news that one doesnt walk the streets of brooklyn late at night (unarmed anyway)
but hey thx for the reminder
It is no panecea, things happen there, too. We are still in golus unfortunately.
Do not put yourself in harm’s way. Only use subways during normal hours. A taxi ride from work would have cost a bit more in the short run, but would have spared the victim trauma and loss of property. BTW, you were lucky, someone on the upper Eastside was really hurt recently.
First off I think you played safe by giving the guy your money. Secondly, I don’t think it is the brightest idea to get off at sterling street at 3am. I think you should better use kingson. I live on Utica and would not get out on utica at that time.
If the guy concealed his face were you able to see his hands where they white or black?
#20 video cameras may be good but in this case his face was covered so it wouldn’t have helped.
#21 We should be able to walk everywhere anytime. This is also our neighborhood. We need to show these animals that we are not easy prey and they won’t be so fast to pounce.
Its not a girl. The article was signed- Shalom. But yes,I agree. Whether your male or female don’t walk alone at night.
Whoever has the means should install a surveillance system around their home, they will be protecting themselves and all victims of crimes around their homes.
That’s not a safe area in the first place.
first and foremost, everyone should get some kind of self defense training. It’s halacha to protect yourself. We aren’t sheep and we should awaken our ‘Macabbi’ and king David warrior spirits. Until that time that you are proficient in defending yourself in the very least, carry some pepper spray and that way you can spray, pray and flee.
That’s what the American people said about the victims of the Holocaust. P.S. I want to see you fight a guy with a knife. Unless you know martial arts, I’m pretty sure that you wouldn’t.
B”H Thank G-d he told you to run and left you alone.You had a malech watching over you
The picture your words paint such a sad tragic portrait. it’s sad the someone can be so low in life that they would commit an act. I know in NY we have got so used to this being a normal part of NY living, but if you stop for a second and really think about what happened. A person took a weapon and threatened to hurt another human just to grab a few dollars from a wallet and an eletronic device that plays music. This is worth threatening a humans life? Why do we insist to “get used to it”… Read more »
if you are interested in learning how to defend yourself feel free to shoot me an email there are other options aside for moving to monsey or handing over your propertey
1st u run if u dont think u can take him down 2nd ALWAYS SCREAM FIRE FIRE they dont know how to fight that y they always scare with a knife NUMBER 2 my advice to u is that u carry a pepper spray in ur purse and dont feel nervous to defend urself
OK Let’s continue to vote for politicians that hate the 2nd amendment and are quick to put the blame on the Jew in the few cases where a Jewish victim managed to defend himself. At this point its almost impossible to get a gun license in NYC especially one for street carry so your only other option is to get serious about learning self defense. If you decided that your sick of being a victim email @ [email protected]
MONSEY!?! HAHHAHA! there are far better and safer places to move to…. but truth is i still will never understand why people live in crown heights.. its dirty, its unsafe and to top it off you pay top dollar for these conditions!!!
Crown Heights is very safe b/c of 770!
What are you doing out at 3:15 A.M.????? A single 22 year old girl???? Sorry, but yes, you are stupid!!!!!!
your only risk is getting mugged by a bear 🙂
This happened to you at 3:00 am but unfortunately this happens often in middle of the day when people are around. Crown Heights isn’t a safe neighborhood.
This almost always scares an attacker away. The louder you scream the better.
If only we could live in a neighborhood where you can carry whatever you want in your pockets anytime of the day or night.
If this was a one time happening it would not be a big deal but the issue here is that this type of problem occurs far too often.
This is such an unsafe community! Sad But True
always call shmira 718)221_0303 they help me catch the bad guys when they took my phone < thanks shmira again
as a single 22 yr old girl i should be able to come back at night and not feel unsafe..grr!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
is it bad if i walk down kingston at 12am alone? i always feel as if there are people on kingston but the truth is in the summer sometimes there isn’t a soul to be seen…..am i being stupid by walking around at that time?
Gee ya think. I think you should learn to defend yourself and not be a victim.