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What do you think that no one ever came outside at all during the 70s/80s? Of course not, people always went about their everyday/night business and your chances of getting mugged, assaulted, raped were just as high then as now. It might look worse but it was just as bad then as it was now ESPECIALLY for Moorish (so called Black/Latino/Hispanic) youth and as a matter of fact things are getting worse. There are just new gangs, gang members and a new style of dress and street slang. The names change but the game is the same. I don't need Mayor Scumberg or Comm. Ray KKKelly via Compstat to tell me how good or bad my own people are faring in our neighborhoods. I'm IN THESE PLACES and I see first hand what's going on. Nobody who sits around crunching numbers can tell me otherwise.
From a local who grew up in the area. Sounds like it was bad times in Crown Heights, before gentrification started taking hold. That sounds so much dangerous than what you hear these days.
Quote:
Mr. Fisher’s own memories of Franklin Avenue are less romantic. In the 1980s, he said, the area was so dangerous, you had to “duck and run” through the street. “We used to have to replace the glass on our windows in the grocery store, maybe twice a month, from bullet holes,” he said. Now he sells $3 lattes next door to his family’s market.
What really angers me are these stupid copycat gangs imitating L.A.'s street culture. It was one thing in which a decaying city of the 70's and 80's had high rates of crime that revolved around a drug culture. But this gang stuff is like a trend, and alot of these kids are killing each other and innocent bystanders over a gang culture they know nothing about. Crack spots and money are bad enough to kill over, but colors?
^^^ Street gangs, have been a part of American culture, for God knows how long. As long as you have broken homes, poverty, terrible schools, and no jobs, that is a recipe for disaster.
What really angers me are these stupid copycat gangs imitating L.A.'s street culture. It was one thing in which a decaying city of the 70's and 80's had high rates of crime that revolved around a drug culture. But this gang stuff is like a trend, and alot of these kids are killing each other and innocent bystanders over a gang culture they know nothing about. Crack spots and money are bad enough to kill over, but colors?
I agree with this. The bloods & crips of NYC copying LA, but that's another story.
But this isn't new, kids have always being killing, regardless of gangs. Whether they're wearing baggy jeans and a baseball fitted or champion jackets and gold chains, it's been going on for a long time.
^^^ Street gangs, have been a part of American culture, for God knows how long. As long as you have broken homes, poverty, terrible schools, and no jobs, that is a recipe for disaster.
I'm well aware that I'm simplifing the issue, especially when it comes to socieoeconomic issues. Put as someone who has studied political science and sociology that in a city like NY, you could be in danger on certain blocks for wearing red or blue. I remember when I was younger in Jersey we used to laugh at the fact that this phenomena was taking place elsewhere (in spite of the high crime rates of those times). Now here it is. When I was younger it was drug dealing, wearing expensive apparell or jewelry that could've gotten you in trouble. Now in places where i have family I am in danger of getting jumped for wearing too much blue as I am to be wearing a big gold chain.
I'm well aware that I'm simplifing the issue, especially when it comes to socieoeconomic issues. Put as someone who has studied political science and sociology that in a city like NY, you could be in danger on certain blocks for wearing red or blue. I remember when I was younger in Jersey we used to laugh at the fact that this phenomena was taking place elsewhere (in spite of the high crime rates of those times). Now here it is. When I was younger it was drug dealing, wearing expensive apparell or jewelry that could've gotten you in trouble. Now in places where i have family I am in danger of getting jumped for wearing too much blue as I am to be wearing a big gold chain.
Oh, I get you 100% now. That is very true, this whole colors things is stupid. Even wearing necklaces/beads could get you in trouble because gangs identify themselves with them.
We should also note that although the city overall is safer, as are the notoriously higher crime communities, that doesn't mean it is "safe." I don't think there is a place that exists in this country that you can define as "safe" (Safe = no crime). However, I sincerely believe the city continues to get safer, not less so. There are always high profile crimes that scare people, but that will never change, and is not indicative of the bigger picture and trends. We can have a murder rate of 10 for the year, but they can be scary stories...does that mean we are less safe? No..it's just a headline.
The reason why the city has gotten safer, and continues to do so is because police are now honing in on higher crime communities where the bulk of crime occurs. You attack those communities, and you will see crime numbers drop substantially, which is exactly what has been occuring. Does this make these communities "safe"? Nope...there is no such thing, but it makes them safer, and they are becoming safer. Will kids always do dumb things? Yes..does that mean we are less safe? No..it means we need to address the problems BEFORE they grow into crime...which is what communities and the city is trying to do, with some success.
And with all the new development across the city, and middle income people moving in and diversifying the social/economic demographics, we will see these communities to continue to improve. The further development is a positive sign..and indicative of the positive changes occuring across the city.
You know njnyckid, this article is exactly why I tell folks, especially new New Yorkers, and young naive, antive ones, dont get too caught up in that SAFEST BIG CITY STUFF, because murder and mayhem still happen waaaay to frequently. SOmebody said you can't find a place where there's "no crime". That may be true, but theres something called "lowering your odds". Looks like the Bronx and Brooklyn still have a lonnnng way to go.
I have a question...Is there any concensus yet on how the crime rate dropped so much during the 1990's in NYC? I am sure this has been debated before, but is there any consensus appearing? I understand that the gentrification of many neighborhoods is a factor. However, what about better policing? Could the police just being tougher (arrests for minor crimes, more executions of warrants, community policing, stop and frisk policies and tougher sentences) make so much of a difference? What do you all thing?
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New York Crime Reduction
