By Carol Tannenhauser
A 32-year-old man was slashed and robbed on the #1 train as it approached the 103rd Street station, at around 2:50 a.m. on Monday, police told West Side Rag.
The victim reported that he was approached by a man in his 30s, who demanded money. When he refused, the perpetrator slashed him in the left arm and left thigh, then fled the train at 125th Street, with $40 of the victim’s money. The victim continued to 137th Street, where he disembarked and called the police. He was taken to Harlem Hospital and is in stable condition.
The New York Post describes the man as a panhandler. Is there a description of this attacker, so that we can be on the look out?
The man didn’t necessarily have to be a ‘panhandler.’ I”ve been approached by very aggressive young males AND females who first ‘ask’ for money, and when I refuse they ‘demand’ it. In my own experience it’s been students swarming the neighborhood after school dismissal and they want money for McDonald’s (or whatever). I’ve even been told that if I live on the UWS I can afford to PAY them. After one of them reached their entire arm into my shopping bag I became so angry and confrontational that they didn’t know how to deal with it. Maybe not the smartest thing I’ve ever done but it was a natural reaction. They’re used to people just handing over their money and possessions. : (
The safest big city in America
There’s millions of people in NYC, so of course you could report a crime story like this every day. The crime rate in NYC is still extremely low and you’re far safer here than in just about every other city in the US.
I know I don’t feel safer – I’ve lived here 20 years and the last 3years I have looked over my shoulder every day, frightened I’m being followed or will be accosted. I’m a woman so maybe it’s different. Maybe ask if the women here are feeling safer. That’s a good question. Never felt more unsafe after 20 years of being here.
Love this often-repeated statement from WSR posters excusing our continuously exploding violent crime. At least we’re not Chicago, which makes NYC look like Shangri-La.
I really wish this city would crack down on “panhandling”. Last week I saw an 8 year old selling lemonade on Columbus Ave, while a grown man sat on the sidewalk next to him asking for money and playing on his phone. I’m not pretending to know what the solution is, but there is no excuse for an able-bodied middle aged man to make a living as a “panhandler”. These are not people down on their luck, it’s a job for them, they have set spaces where they set up daily.
If an 8 year old can figure it out a way to earn a buck legally, then so can a grown adult.
You have no idea what each person’s individual situation is. No one grows up with the dream of becoming a “panhandler.”
The problem is if a person is aggressive or becomes violent — and that’s a totally different situation. I wouldn’t be so quick to judge. It’s not all so cut and dry.
You might have a point, but the notion that the 8-year-old’s lemonade stand is “legal” is dubious (I mean, technically — as in, does he have a permit? is he paying tax — no and no). A little kid’s cute stand is not comparable to a grown-up’s enterprises, except insofar as a sense of responsibility and work ethic is concerned. It’s also hard to generalize (“these are not people down on their luck; it’s a job for them”) — surely there are some who are indeed very much down on their luck.
What about “panhandling” makes it illegal?
Is this robbery a crime for which the attacker, if caught, will be put in jail to await trial? Or will the attacker be released onto the streets? How much leeway would the judge have?
Please put more police and cameras on the UWS especially the West Side trains.
Where are supposed to find more Police? The luster of the NYPD is gone, Few people want the job, Those that do at mostly former jail guards from Corrections and former Traffic Agents. When they make Heros out of Villans and Villans out of Heros, this is the result
“Panhandler” just clouds the conversation. This is a mugging by a mugger, period
Actually, it’s an assault by an opportunistic assailant.