Photo courtesy of Gothamist
Several of our readers have reported that they have heard about multiple attacks on women in the past week in Bushwick. We are trying to obtain more information from NYPD. So far, DCPI NYPD informed us that there were no sexual crimes reported in Bushwick in the past week, which however doesn’t exclude other violent crimes.
Brooklyn Bike Patrol, which escorts women from subway stations to their homes safey in the late evenings hours, however posted on their Facebook page a warning:
“A dear friend of BBP informed me that there have been 5 attacks of women in Bushwick. People we service that area. Please pass the word of our service to any love ones who live in that neighborhood. Stay safe with BBP.”
Call Brooklyn Bike Patrol if you are not feeling safe at 718-744-7592, they will escort you home.
Another email from our reader we have received states:
“FIVE women in Bushwick have been attacked in the past week. The attacker is tall, medium build, Hispanic, wearing a hooded jacket. He grabs the women in the dark from behind and slams them against a building wall, covering their mouths so they can’t scream. He has attacked several women on Knickerbocker Ave., on White St, Bushwick Ave, & Moore St (near Roberta’s). We only know of 5 women attacked so far, but the actual number is quite possibly much higher.
“I was taking stuff out of the garage and moments after I opened the door onto White Street I felt my head being grabbed by my hair and slammed into the brick wall,” N.B.* says. “He was ripping at my jacket from behind and he was trying to put his hand over my mouth, and telling me, ‘I’m gonna fuck you,’ or ‘I’m gonna fuck you up.’ Before he was able to get it all the way over I screamed loud enough to make him run.”
N.B., who lives nearby, says the attack occurred around 1 a.m. on Saturday and that she has “a giant abrasion and a huge bruise” on her face. “I’ve been mugged twice, but to have someone try to cover your mouth—it was so terrifying.” N.B. said her assailant was around six feet tall, but because he approached her from behind she did not get a good look at his face.
By chance, N.B. was put in touch with the second victim, whose attack happened on Knickerbocker near DeKalb shortly after her own. “She said that a man came behind her, slammed her head into a brick wall, said disgusting things to her, just like what happened to me,” N.B. says. “But he apparently masturbated against her back. Her face also has a huge laceration on it.” [Gothamist]
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About Katarina Hybenova
Proud founder of Bushwick Daily. She writes, takes photos, and sometimes video. Born and raised in Slovakia, she has studied in Prague, Leuven and New York, traveled the world only to find home in Bushwick or should we say Ridgewood :) She is interested in yoga, running, human & cat friends.
Any updates on this?
I’d love to know if this asshole was caught.
My two roommates were followed home.
last week, one roommate was returning home from work, get off Dekalb stop L train walk down wyckoff, turned to Greene st then continue StNicolas and a tall boy with a black jacket and hoody, with thick sideburns that almost cover his face, light skin, nationality unknown, as she did not hear him speaking, followed her. She started to run and he chased her, she managed to run home faster than him and got away.
2 days ago my other roommate was taking the dog for the night walk around midnight. When she was returning home, a half block from her house, crosses the street a man walking in the opposite direction to hers, same description. She continues walking as if by instinct turns to check that there ‘no one in the street and realizes that the man was following her regardless of the dog (pit mix). She got scared seeing him approach more and more, and she had to run home with the dog. we called the police to report the incident, they called back after almost three hours, but nothing was done as far as I know.
That’s terrible
we’re working on a follow up article to this one. Unfortunately, no good news yet.
I was the roommate that was followed home that Jel77 was talking about. The gentleman in question was very tall with a hoodie. Looked like he might be Latino, light-skinned, but possibly Caucasian. It was dark and hard to distinguish. It was around 2am off of the Dekalb L on a Thursday. He walked about a block behind me for a few blocks on St. Nicholas so I ran home. He ran after me but I reached my house before he could catch me and slammed my front door closed. I was shaken and didn’t think to file a police report, which I regret.
Part of the reason why the police may have no information on record is that women are not reporting these incidences. If you are attacked or followed please file a police report. The only way to catch this guy is to involve the authorities. It is how to put him in jail for aggravated assault and prevent future attacks. When my roommate was followed (who also escaped unscathed) they filed a police report. The police took several hours to respond but at least my roommates called. I’m appalled that there was not a faster response by the police. Women are being attacked and they aren’t helping us catch the person doing it. So call the cops. You pay taxes. They are public servants. Make them protect you. Make them. It is their job. If they fail at their job, follow-up and hold them accountable for their failure. Ladies, we have to be safe and the NYPD are the people who ABSOLUTELY HAVE TO PROTECT US. Force them to. Please. For everyone’s safety.
Brooklyn Bike Patrol has now escorted my roommates and I home several times. They are an incredibly efficient, friendly, safe service who only want to help protect you. Use them! They are happy to walk you home. And tell your friends when you do. Spread the word, keep others safe. Women of NY need to work together to prevent assault and sexual crimes. Ladies, it’s up to us. Do your part to prevent another woman from being traumatized by an assault, or possibly killed.
Some tips I’ve pulled off of the internet: Tuck your hair under your winter hat if it is long. This will prevent an attacker from having something to grab. Walk on busier, more well-lit streets when you exit the subway or get off of your bike. Take a cab if it’s late and ask the driver to wait until you are safely inside (if he/she is not an a**hole they will probably do it). Walk with your keys in your hands in order to have a weapon that you can use against an attacker. Wear a whistle around your neck or put one on your key ring. Loud, piercing noises draw attention and can startle a hesitant attacker into possibly running away. Pepper spray is helpful, but unfortunately dangerous. There is a high chance you may spray yourself, thus blinding you and making you easier to hurt or rape. Look around when it is late. Being spatially aware of your surroundings and what is near you helps IMMENSELY in knowing what you can do to escape a potentially dangerous situation. It will also alert you to whether or not you are being followed. Part of what a potential attacker is relying on is you being unaware of their presence. Don’t wear headphones at night. It makes you a target. If you feel in doubt and think there may be a threat, duck into a corner store/bodega/anything open. You can wait there until you feel the situation has become more safe or have a moment to call the cops and see if they will send someone out to assess the situation. WHEN IN DOUBT, CALL THE COPS!
Let’s catch this f*cker. And let’s always be diligent in prevention and protection. We need all the help we can get.
Wtf do expect?! you assholes moved into the Lions mouth of Brooklyn, I don’t condone any of this behavior but if youre Gona gentrify a neighborhood you become the target. Plain and simple. You ever heard of street smarts? Go get some! I lived in this city the majority of my life & never have I ever had any business goin to Bushwick & you dumb fucks move there! Haha!!! cuz you heard one of your high water hand me down thick framed fixie ridin clones opened a fuckin coffee shop there & they told you it was “up and coming”. Instead of reading the Bushwick Daily, take a minute the next time you’re on your way to drop off your 2000 dollar rent check for that hip slum you live in and pick up a real newspaper and you’ll find that the streets are always watchin, mostly by sick fucks waiting to Vic some dumb drunk transplant who doesn’t have a clue to where it is she actually lives. Did you say Bike Patrol? Comedy.
Yeah I totally agree that because you move to a new neighborhood you should expect this sort of treatment. Are you kidding?!! I don’t know why most people move to Bushwick but I know I moved here because my rent is LOW and it was available housing that I needed when I had to unexpectedly move. Great way to judge people, though. It doesn’t really matter why people out here, does it? What matters is that we need to try to make ALL neighborhoods of Brooklyn safe, regardless of gentrification.
And heads up, if you’re from NY then you should know that no neighborhood in this city is safe for women. We are targets everywhere. Regardless of where in the boroughs we may live. Stuff like this paper and this article is just alerting us to danger no matter where we are.
So shit on it all you want, but the “real” papers don’t tend to report crimes that they deem “low level.” And papers like the Bushwick Daily do. So go pick up a “real” paper and let me know if they are talking about women being stalked, attacked, and raped in Bushwick.
Didn’t think so.
By the way, you deem an organization that is trying to make women feel safer in New York a comedy? You have a tragic sense of humor there, friend.
@ Rock Noxious:
That’s a pretty hateful set of comments you made.
“Women” are gentrifiers now. Seriously? Come on…
If the article said anything about the type of women this guy is profiling that is one thing, but it didn’t, and if you had any idea who the people in the comment thread are, that’s another, but you don’t.
If you want to go on a diatribe about gentrification, an article about a series of assaults on unidentified women is not the place.
Rock is somewhat right..My grandma once said, “nothing good ever happens after midnight”…new to the city girls in early 20s walking solo at all hours in the night in one of the worst neighborhoods of NYC is not a bright idea even in 2012..Ladies do not walk home drunk in bushwick under any circumstance, your parents aren’t looking over these streets, or cops, Hardened Crminals Rule in the dark hours…u are Easy Prey. with that being said, when this guy is caught, hes going to skinned ,evecirated and hanged upside down like a deer in the streets:)
Last night a woman was assaulted near Broadway, by 5 men, reportedly black and hispanic. Their squat was busted on Lawton st, a policeman was injured. I’m not sure where more information on this is available.
What is the update on this? This is a huge deal and no one is following up with an update.