i'm beginning to get really scared to walk around in my own neighborhood

i've always thought of my neighborhood as pretty safe -- mostly because in my area, i really feel a mafia presence. of course, it's not safe -- it's all this illusion in my head so that i feel safe. i don't understand why i've been hearing more incidences lately of people being attacked on relatively well-populated streets lately and earlier in the evening -- but it really is starting to freak me the fuck out. i post this cautionary tale for all of you, and for me.


From Byron:
i'm not sure who i've told this, but i was attacked in greenpoint on new years day to a much lesser degree than this person. (please see fwd below). a friend and i were walking down manhattan avenue at about 8PM. 2 large men came up to me and belted me full force in the face with a full large mcdonalds coke. the men (who i couldn't really see b.c my glasses were covered ) walked about 5-10 steps away and turned back and glared, as if wanting to start something. we of course continued on silently and helplessly as there is obviously no way that i at 140 pounds could hold my own against 2 huge guys. so yeah. be careful in greenpoint. that was on a relatively crowded street.


hey guys, remember to be safe and aware at all times, you never know. please forward to your friends in the area, especially the ladies.

From: Maura
Date: Mon, 06 Feb 2006 19:41:17 +0000
Subject: attacked in Greenpoint

Hi Everyone-

I don't mean to freak you out, but I had a bad experience Saturday night which I think is very important to share. I was attacked at 9 p.m. on Guernsey St. between Norman and Nassau, almost to Nassau. That 1/2 of the block is admittedly rather dark and desolate, but I usually only avoided it after 11 p.m. Well, it turns out things can happen at any time. A black man in baggy blue jeans and a big, black puffy coat--hood on--came around the
left corner to my side of the sidewalk (I was on the "south" side). I didn't think much of it, but as soon as he passed by me, he turned and grabbed me in a very tight arm lock from my side/behind. I immediately began screaming with all my might and fought him off to the best of my ability (thank god for my 2+ years of karate training). Still, he was stronger than me, and it was all happening too quickly for me to think of the best technique to use. And, as i said, he was behind me.

But i kept screaming, "Help!, Get the fuck off me! (as i was told later by a witness), and Help, someone!" repeatedly, fighting him off the whole while. We ended up on the ground; i'm not sure if he threw me down or if we just fell. I was primarily on my left side, he was on top of me, and my small handbag was in my right hand just in front of his face. I said, "what do you want?" (obviously not the handbag), and at this point he brought something out of his pocket that *looked* like a gun. I'm still not 100% sure it was a gun, but he clicked it and it sounded either like an empty gun or a fake gun. He said, "be quiet." Naturally, i ignored him.

Apparently, my screaming worked, as a man in a building diagonally across the street came out onto his porch, saw what was happening, and yelled at the guy, "Get the fuck off her . . . I'm calling the cops!" His wife was at that time dialing 911. At about the same time, 2 people in the warehouse-y building (which has apartments) across the way stuck their heads out their respective windows and also started yelling. The attacker got scared and ran off. He never reached for my purse. Unfortunately, i never got a good look at his face. He was about 5'10".

I'm really, really lucky that I got out of it with only a jammed thumb and a sore neck (mental torment aside, of course). And if anything good can come of it, it's a reminder to all of us to be hyper aware at all times. Avoid areas like this one, and if you do live in the area, DO NOT cut through the tennis courts after dark. Had I actually made it to Nassau and turned right, headed towards the tennis courts, things may have turned out much differently. NO ONE lives right there.

Do not take short cuts. Take the most-populated route whenever you can. If you hear someone screaming, please don't ignore it. My neighbors saved me from a really bad situation--they may have even saved my life.

Look out for each other. We can never be too careful, apparently.
And please, don't hesitate to send this e-mail to everyone and anyone you know. Unfortunately, it takes something like this for people to remember that, No, we aren't always safe. Things can happen anywhere, anytime. I've lived in this neighborhood for 7
years, and I've traveled pretty extensively, sometimes by myself. This is the first time anything like this has ever happened to me, and it happened a block from my own home on a street i walk down very regularly. At 9 p.m., not 3 in the morning.

And the screaming, struggling, fighting--maybe i even kicked the guy--all seemed to work. I did the best I could, but I also was very, very lucky. And I didn't let myself get scared. I was inwardly terrified, of course, but I was concentrating on just trying to get the F away and get him off of me.

So please, get the word out. I don't want attention from this all--i just want for everyone to remember to be safe.

Take care, everyone,
maura