..."was written for the New York Times in 1964 by Martin Gansberg, an editor & reporter for the times, then.
I wanted to blog about this story as it reminded me of an incident that happened this past weekend on the River Trail.
A trail that many of us walk, riding bikes, strolling babies, skate boarding and roller skating; a daily routine for the most part of our lives.
A path that Wishbone, my canine Jack Russell and I enjoy with much devoted fervor, along with our walks at the pond.
"On Sunday afternoon, 20 May, a 62 year old East Lansing woman was assaulted on the River Trail.
She was riding her bike when she decided to stop and take a break on one of the benches in the area.
A man in his 50's approached, sat near her and started to converse with her. The woman said she "felt uncomfortable" so she got up to leave when the man jumped on her back and touched her inappropriately. She was able to fight the man off and ride away."
How very fortunate for her... Not everyone is so lucky.
In this story I blogged about, 'The Murder of Catherine "Kitty" Genovese', Martin Gansberg reports the occurrences of the murder and the "lack" of reactions of numerous neighbors.
The neighbors fully aware but "non responsive" only "until the ambulance arrived to take the body of Miss Genovese." ;(
Wow...these neighbors are "riviting with empathy aren't they???"
THE STORY: 13 March 1964. "For more than half an hour 38 respectable, law-abiding citizens in Queens watched a killer stalk & stab a woman in three separate attacks in Kew Gardens. ;o
Twice their chatter and the sudden glow of their bedroom lights interrupted him and frightened him off. Each time he returned, sought her out, and stabbed her again. Not "one" person telephoned the police during the assault; one witness called after the woman was dead. (With neighbors like that who needs a killer)
Still shocked is Assistant Chief Inspector Frederick Lussen, in charge of the borough's detectives and a veteran of 25 years of homicide investigations. He can give a matter-of-fact recitation on many murders. But the Kew Gardens slaying baffles him--not because it is a murder, but because the "good people" failed to call the police. ;(
"As we have reconstructed the crime," he said, "the assailant had three chances to kill this woman during a 35-minute period. He returned twice to complete the job. If we had been called when he first attacked, the woman might not be dead now." ;(
This is what the police say happened beginning a 3:20 a.m. in the staid, middle-class, tree-line Austin Street area:
Twenty-eight-year old Catherine Genovese, who was called Kitty by almost everyone in the neighborhood, was returning home from her job as manager of a bar in Hollis parked her Fiat.
She turned off the lights of her car, locked the door, and started to walk the 100 feet to the entrance of her apartment.
At night the quiet neighborhood is shrouded in the slumbering darkness that marks most residential areas.
Miss Genovese noticed a man at the far end of the lot, near a 7-story apartment house on Austin St.
She halted. Then, nervously, she headed up Austin St., towards Lefferts Blvd., where there is a call box to the 102nd Police Precinct.
She got as far as a street light in front of a bookstore before the man grabbed her. She screamed. Lights went on in the 10-story apartment house at 82-67 Austin St., which faces the bookstore. Windows slid open & voices punctuated the early-morning stillness.
Miss Genovese screamed: "OH MY GOD! HE STABBED ME!!! PLEASE HELP ME!!! PLEASE HELP ME!!!" :O
From one of the upper windows in the apartment house, a man called down: "Let that girl alone!"
The assailant looked up at him, shrugged and walked down Austin St., toward a white sedan parked a short distance away. Miss Genovese struggled to her feet.
Lights went out. The killer returned to Miss Genovese, now trying to make her way around the side of the building by the parking lot to get to her apartment. The assailant stabbed her again-- "I'M DYING!" she shrieked. "I'M DYING!!!"
Windows were opened again, and lights went on in many apartments. The assailant got into his car and drove away. Miss Genovese staggered to her feet. A city bus, Q-10, the Lefferts Blvd line to Kennedy International Airport, passed. ;( It was 3:35 a.m.
The assailant returned AGAIN--By then, Miss Genovese had crawled to the back of the building, were the freshly painted brown doors to the apartment house held out hope for safety.
How very fortunate for her... Not everyone is so lucky.
In this story I blogged about, 'The Murder of Catherine "Kitty" Genovese', Martin Gansberg reports the occurrences of the murder and the "lack" of reactions of numerous neighbors.
The neighbors fully aware but "non responsive" only "until the ambulance arrived to take the body of Miss Genovese." ;(
Wow...these neighbors are "riviting with empathy aren't they???"
THE STORY: 13 March 1964. "For more than half an hour 38 respectable, law-abiding citizens in Queens watched a killer stalk & stab a woman in three separate attacks in Kew Gardens. ;o
Twice their chatter and the sudden glow of their bedroom lights interrupted him and frightened him off. Each time he returned, sought her out, and stabbed her again. Not "one" person telephoned the police during the assault; one witness called after the woman was dead. (With neighbors like that who needs a killer)
Still shocked is Assistant Chief Inspector Frederick Lussen, in charge of the borough's detectives and a veteran of 25 years of homicide investigations. He can give a matter-of-fact recitation on many murders. But the Kew Gardens slaying baffles him--not because it is a murder, but because the "good people" failed to call the police. ;(
"As we have reconstructed the crime," he said, "the assailant had three chances to kill this woman during a 35-minute period. He returned twice to complete the job. If we had been called when he first attacked, the woman might not be dead now." ;(
This is what the police say happened beginning a 3:20 a.m. in the staid, middle-class, tree-line Austin Street area:
Twenty-eight-year old Catherine Genovese, who was called Kitty by almost everyone in the neighborhood, was returning home from her job as manager of a bar in Hollis parked her Fiat.
She turned off the lights of her car, locked the door, and started to walk the 100 feet to the entrance of her apartment.
At night the quiet neighborhood is shrouded in the slumbering darkness that marks most residential areas.
Miss Genovese noticed a man at the far end of the lot, near a 7-story apartment house on Austin St.
She halted. Then, nervously, she headed up Austin St., towards Lefferts Blvd., where there is a call box to the 102nd Police Precinct.
She got as far as a street light in front of a bookstore before the man grabbed her. She screamed. Lights went on in the 10-story apartment house at 82-67 Austin St., which faces the bookstore. Windows slid open & voices punctuated the early-morning stillness.
Miss Genovese screamed: "OH MY GOD! HE STABBED ME!!! PLEASE HELP ME!!! PLEASE HELP ME!!!" :O
From one of the upper windows in the apartment house, a man called down: "Let that girl alone!"
The assailant looked up at him, shrugged and walked down Austin St., toward a white sedan parked a short distance away. Miss Genovese struggled to her feet.
Lights went out. The killer returned to Miss Genovese, now trying to make her way around the side of the building by the parking lot to get to her apartment. The assailant stabbed her again-- "I'M DYING!" she shrieked. "I'M DYING!!!"
Windows were opened again, and lights went on in many apartments. The assailant got into his car and drove away. Miss Genovese staggered to her feet. A city bus, Q-10, the Lefferts Blvd line to Kennedy International Airport, passed. ;( It was 3:35 a.m.
The assailant returned AGAIN--By then, Miss Genovese had crawled to the back of the building, were the freshly painted brown doors to the apartment house held out hope for safety.
The killer tried the first door; she wasn't there. At the second door, 82-62 Austin Street, he saw her slumped on the floor at the foot of the stairs. He stabbed her a third time--Fatally. :(
It was 3:50 a.m. by the time the police received their first call, from a man who was a neighbor of Miss Geenovese. In two minutes they were at the scene. The neighbor, a 70-year old woman, and another woman were the only person on the street. Nobody else came forward.
The man explained that he had called the police after much deliberation. He had phoned a friend in Nassau County for advice (what?!!!) and then he had crossed the roof of the building to the apartment of the elderly woman to get her to make the call.
"I didn't want to get involved," he sheepishly told the police. Six days later, the police arrested Winston Moseley, a 29-year old business-machine operator, and charged him with homicide. (Yep--"sheepishly fits that good neighbor quite comfortable).
Moseley had no previous record. He is married, has two children and owns a home. On Wednesday, a court committed him to Kings County Hospital for psychiatric observation.
When questioned by the police, Moseley also said that he had slain Mrs. Annie May Johnson, 24; and Barbara Kralik, 15. In the Kralik case, the police are holding Alvin Mitchell, who is said to have confessed to that slaying.
The police stressed how SIMPLE it would have been to have gotten in touch with them. "A PHONE CALL," said one of the detectives, would have done it."
Today witnesses from the neighborhood, which is made up of one-family homes in the $35,000 to $60,000 range with the exception of the two apartment houses near the railroad station, find it difficult to explain WHY they didn't call the police.
A housewife, knowingly if quite casually, said, "We thought it was a lover's quarrel." A husband and wife both said, "Frankly, we were afraid." They seemed aware of the fact that events might have been different.
A distraught woman, wiping her hands on her apron, said, "I didn't want my husband to get involved." ;[
It was 3:50 a.m. by the time the police received their first call, from a man who was a neighbor of Miss Geenovese. In two minutes they were at the scene. The neighbor, a 70-year old woman, and another woman were the only person on the street. Nobody else came forward.
The man explained that he had called the police after much deliberation. He had phoned a friend in Nassau County for advice (what?!!!) and then he had crossed the roof of the building to the apartment of the elderly woman to get her to make the call.
"I didn't want to get involved," he sheepishly told the police. Six days later, the police arrested Winston Moseley, a 29-year old business-machine operator, and charged him with homicide. (Yep--"sheepishly fits that good neighbor quite comfortable).
Moseley had no previous record. He is married, has two children and owns a home. On Wednesday, a court committed him to Kings County Hospital for psychiatric observation.
When questioned by the police, Moseley also said that he had slain Mrs. Annie May Johnson, 24; and Barbara Kralik, 15. In the Kralik case, the police are holding Alvin Mitchell, who is said to have confessed to that slaying.
The police stressed how SIMPLE it would have been to have gotten in touch with them. "A PHONE CALL," said one of the detectives, would have done it."
Today witnesses from the neighborhood, which is made up of one-family homes in the $35,000 to $60,000 range with the exception of the two apartment houses near the railroad station, find it difficult to explain WHY they didn't call the police.
A housewife, knowingly if quite casually, said, "We thought it was a lover's quarrel." A husband and wife both said, "Frankly, we were afraid." They seemed aware of the fact that events might have been different.
A distraught woman, wiping her hands on her apron, said, "I didn't want my husband to get involved." ;[
One couple, now willing to talk about that night, said they heard the first screams. The husband looked thoughtfully at the bookstore where the killer first grabbed Miss Genovese. "We went to the window to see what was happening," he said, "but the light from our bedroom made it difficult to see the street." The wife,
still apprehensive, added: "I put out the light and we were able to see better." (Oh, wonderful, but yet they STILL did not call THE POLICE!!!!!)
Asked why they hadn't called the police, she shrugged and replied: "I don't know..." (God! what idiots! Shame on them!!)
A man peeked out from the slight opening in the doorway to his apartment and rattled off an account of the killer's second attack.
still apprehensive, added: "I put out the light and we were able to see better." (Oh, wonderful, but yet they STILL did not call THE POLICE!!!!!)
Asked why they hadn't called the police, she shrugged and replied: "I don't know..." (God! what idiots! Shame on them!!)
A man peeked out from the slight opening in the doorway to his apartment and rattled off an account of the killer's second attack.
Why hadn't he called the police at the ??? "I was TIRED?????" he said without emotion. "I went back to bed." (What an asshole!)
It was 4:25 a.m. when the ambulance arrived to take the body of Miss Genovese. It drove off. "THEN..." a solemn police detective said, "the people came out."
Personally, I don't know what to think of these "good people," "law abiding citizens." Although many, many many moons ago, myself, my cousin Gloria and some of my girly friends experienced a similar incident of a "lack of apathy."
We had all decided that we were gonna go to the "drive-in movies." I borrowed a good friend's car and off we went. We found a parking, then went to the concession stand to get popcorn, drinks, ect.
It was 4:25 a.m. when the ambulance arrived to take the body of Miss Genovese. It drove off. "THEN..." a solemn police detective said, "the people came out."
Personally, I don't know what to think of these "good people," "law abiding citizens." Although many, many many moons ago, myself, my cousin Gloria and some of my girly friends experienced a similar incident of a "lack of apathy."
We had all decided that we were gonna go to the "drive-in movies." I borrowed a good friend's car and off we went. We found a parking, then went to the concession stand to get popcorn, drinks, ect.
My cousin then saw a phone booth and wanted to call her boyfriend to let him know where she was, I think.
A woman was using the phone and her young daughter was outside the booth waiting; as we were also waiting for her to get done with her call.
Now mind you, nobody said anything directly to the woman in the booth. Maybe we "looked inpatient" I don't know, but all of a sudden the woman came out of the phone booth, approached us and began to call us names. Such as "Damn Mexicans!" and god know what else. In all honesty it, was uncalled for.
My cousin Gloria said a few things to her but the others girls said nothing. Maybe they were in shock, I don't know---And I...... WELLLLL, I just watched and waited because I already knew what I was going to do;}
A woman was using the phone and her young daughter was outside the booth waiting; as we were also waiting for her to get done with her call.
Now mind you, nobody said anything directly to the woman in the booth. Maybe we "looked inpatient" I don't know, but all of a sudden the woman came out of the phone booth, approached us and began to call us names. Such as "Damn Mexicans!" and god know what else. In all honesty it, was uncalled for.
My cousin Gloria said a few things to her but the others girls said nothing. Maybe they were in shock, I don't know---And I...... WELLLLL, I just watched and waited because I already knew what I was going to do;}
So then the woman got a little closer. I suppose she felt comfortable because no one else was saying much. Finally the "Damn Mexicans this" and "Fuck'en Mexicans that" obscenities FINALLY got the wild hairs in my ass up.. so I stepped forward.
She then took a step back and looked me up and down, and said, (with much brazen audacity, lol) "What the hell you gonna do huh???!"
She then took a step back and looked me up and down, and said, (with much brazen audacity, lol) "What the hell you gonna do huh???!"
"I'm from Tennessee and I CAN FIGHT!" LOL--okay I thought keep tallking.
So while she was spewing bullshit from out of her pie-hole I took my boxing stance and BAMMMM!!!
A right cross flush on the chin that knocked her FLAT ON HER ASS! The woman was stunned and couldn't get up for a minute. That was the end of that, so we walked away, got our food and went back to the car.
Well anyways we thought it was over, but no.................
As we were enjoying our snacks, movie and laughter of the incident out of nowhere mind you this HUGH GORILLA of a man began to shake my friend's little white 4-door Vega Hatchback, as if he was trying to loosen a boulder from the ground.
Well anyways we thought it was over, but no.................
As we were enjoying our snacks, movie and laughter of the incident out of nowhere mind you this HUGH GORILLA of a man began to shake my friend's little white 4-door Vega Hatchback, as if he was trying to loosen a boulder from the ground.
And along with all the shaking, pounding, pounding screaming to the top of his lungs accusing all of us, of "Jumping his Wife and Beating Her Up???!" LOL--- Too crazy and he was!
LOL-- Oh my god---Well the point I'm trying to get across is that just two cars from us were our "friends."
LOL-- Oh my god---Well the point I'm trying to get across is that just two cars from us were our "friends."
FRIENDS, MIND YOU, that we see ALL THE TIME--" Our GUY friends."
They acknowledged us earlier but at that moment in time they seemed to have HAD a great LACK OF APATHY.
OOORRRR...At that moment in time the neurons in their brains may have dropped swiftly from 120 billion to just the Number "10"., labeling them what they looked like at that brief moment, "PRIMATES."
NOT ONE of the guys came over to help and they had a car load of vatos. (guys)
Again, I don't know what to think...
They acknowledged us earlier but at that moment in time they seemed to have HAD a great LACK OF APATHY.
OOORRRR...At that moment in time the neurons in their brains may have dropped swiftly from 120 billion to just the Number "10"., labeling them what they looked like at that brief moment, "PRIMATES."
NOT ONE of the guys came over to help and they had a car load of vatos. (guys)
Again, I don't know what to think...
As for this murder, and the thousands of more being committed, my views have always been for capital punishment.
If Miss Genovese was "my family", "my friend," I would have wanted her killer to DIE . I say this because our emotional response is to want the criminal to suffer as their victim did.
But in a civilized society, that will never happen. So the death penalty is for retribution, I suppose.
If Miss Genovese was "my family", "my friend," I would have wanted her killer to DIE . I say this because our emotional response is to want the criminal to suffer as their victim did.
But in a civilized society, that will never happen. So the death penalty is for retribution, I suppose.
BUT YET.. for the most part, many of these criminals sit on 'death row' for a very long time.
And now back to the River Trail. The 62-year old woman who was assaulted did notify the police and the assailant was found and arrested awaiting trial. GOOD!
And now back to the River Trail. The 62-year old woman who was assaulted did notify the police and the assailant was found and arrested awaiting trial. GOOD!
The police have also doubled their patrols.
As for those of us who spend time on The River Trail; are more cautious of our surroundings. We all enjoy and appreciate the trail and its beauty.
I for one, have always walked around like a cat. I also carry a weapon.
And..I am also aware of GOD, and that is good.
Peace on Earth and good will toward men? I don't know about that.
As for those of us who spend time on The River Trail; are more cautious of our surroundings. We all enjoy and appreciate the trail and its beauty.
I for one, have always walked around like a cat. I also carry a weapon.
And..I am also aware of GOD, and that is good.
Peace on Earth and good will toward men? I don't know about that.
It seems as though mankind has always been cutting one another's throats and literally wading in blood.
Instead of listening to The Creator's words, mankind changes them to bend the will of the oppressed, to govern over them.
Peace anyways,
~LJS
Instead of listening to The Creator's words, mankind changes them to bend the will of the oppressed, to govern over them.
Peace anyways,
~LJS
