Crime and Quality of Life in Brooklyn, New York
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8/24/2014
Prior to the July 4th weekend, in 2011, I decided to visit my brother and his family, in Brooklyn, NY. He lives in the area of Avenue L, and E. 33rd St. There is a street called Nostrand Avenue, which is to the west of his location. On Friday evening, we were walking to Synagogue; my brother decided to take Nostrand Avenue, between Avenue K and Avenue L. Immediately, I was uneasy, as I saw dozens of teenagers making noise, and creating a disturbance in a local school yard, in close proximity to the street. Unfortunately, I forgot about that incident. However, on the way home, my brother, who should have known better decided to walk back the same way. He should have taken E. 31st St., or E. 32nd St., which run parallel to Nostrand Avenue. To this day, I don't know why he decided to go again, walk on Nostrand Avenue. This time, there were more teenagers congregating, and fighting with each other, as well as throwing water balloons at each other. One of them landed near us, and I threw it back in their direction. I made a terrible error in assuming that it was an accident, and that they were aiming for each other. In fact, one of those miscreants even falsely apologized to place me off guard. I make a mistake in turning my back on that gang. A few seconds later, two or three large water balloons were thrown very close to us. The water splattered all over our suits. There is no doubt in my mind, that those hoodlums deliberately targeted us. We were both wearing skullcaps, and were dressed in suits. They knew that were Jews, and deliberately decided to harass us with the water balloons. Surely, this was a case of ethnic intimidation. However, in the eyes of many, it was nothing but a "prank", since those who were throwing the water balloons, were members of a minority group, and they couldn't possibly be biased (yeah, sure). One adult in the street tried to justify that incident by stating "kids". However, if it was him, who was struck by the water balloons, he would not have been grinning. In retrospect, I should be happy that it was only water balloons, and not knives or guns, which were directed our way. I have since warned my brother not to take that route. I've always wondered if he still goes that way. The point that I've been trying to make, is that the quality of life in Brooklyn, NY, especially in the above area, leaves a lot to be desired. Parking is almost non-existent. Even if one does find a place to park, the cars in front and in back, won't even leave you a half inch to back out of a spot. Also, cars double park, and even triple park, and hence, make driving next to impossible. In addition, people leave their garbage barrels all over the sidewalk, long after the sanitation department has collected their garbage. The reason is that people are simply too lazy to bring their barrels in. Also, I've noticed that people have the disgusting habit of standing in the middle of the sidewalk, and won't move to let other pedestrian traffic pass by. Car horns and truck horns are blaring all of the time. It is very dangerous for a pedestrian to cross the street, even when they have the right of way. There are insane drivers in Brooklyn, who invariably fail to yield the right of way to pedestrian; they will actually honk their horns at pedestrians, whom they perceive are crossing the street too slowly. Last, another disgusting habit of merchants in that area, is that they feel as if they are giving you their right arm, when they have to make change from a transaction. They always want the exact change, and will cringe if they have to give change. They will always state "got any change". I heard one merchant once state "Next time, go to a bank". In short, the rudest, nastiest, inconsiderate and suspicious people live in Brooklyn, NY.
Nate | Columbus, OH