Category: New York City

The Attempted Burglar is Back in the Building

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The girl that lives next door sent me panicked messages saying she saw the person that tried to break into her apartment again, out in the hallway on our floor. I don’t understand how this person is back here again. How do you attempt to break into someone’s apartment, get caught, and then show up at the building again wandering around like nothing happened?

The police detective involved in the case said there’s nothing he can do to keep her out of the building. That’s up to the building owners. It just seems like it would be common sense, from a legal point of view, to prevent someone from being within a certain distance from a place they tried to rob previously. Now, the only thing to do is get the building owner to state that she is not allowed on the premises and then have her arrested for trespassing, but if she’s a crackhead and is coming here to buy drugs and rob people, will that even stop her? What a mess.

Oh, and she’s still wearing the same hoodie.

The Would-be Burglar Was Arrested

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Over the past few days, we’ve seen the person that attempted to break into our apartment and our neighbor’s apartment wandering around the building in the stairwells and out on the streets. My wife took the photo above. As you can see, the person did not even bother to throw away the hoodie. Or leave the area.

We stayed in contact with a detective that was working on the case. Me, my wife and the girl that lives next door told him that we’d seen the suspect around the building and neighborhood multiple times so he came and reviewed the security footage. Turns out it’s not a he. It’s a she, and she is a crackhead that used to live in the building and is sleeping on the roof. I couldn’t make out features under the hoodie and just assumed this person was a man, I suppose because it seems a little unwise to do breaking and entering as a woman, when there is a greater chance of being overpowered by anyone inside. She has been arrested before for breaking into people’s apartments and stealing in order to support her drug habit.

Yesterday, my wife and the girl whose apartment was almost burglarized saw the suspect in the morning and I saw her in the afternoon, out on the street. I called 911, but the cops never showed up. That’s really disappointing. I waited outside for almost 15 minutes and then gave up. I went into the subway to try to get the transit cops to come out and arrest her, but they weren’t interested in helping. Their conversation with their colleagues was too interesting, I guess. I went home, and when I got to my floor, the building superintendent told me she had gone into one of the apartments in the building. I called the detective to let him know and found out later that she had been arrested.

I’m not sure what she’ll be charged with, but hopefully it’s something that keeps her away from our building for a while, or permanently.

An Update on the Break-in Attempt

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Around 9 PM, another cop knocked on my door. My neighbor had finally returned home and found my note taped to her door. Her parents were there as well. The cops took my statement and information again and this time at least told me to keep the photos in case they found or find the guy so they can build a case against him. My neighbor also wanted copies of the photos so I sent them to her. Funny thing is, we’ve lived next door to each other for a year but until tonight I never even knew her name. Nothing brings people together like misfortune, I guess, but it’s nice that we’ve managed to turn this into an opportunity to get to know each other.

Attempted Break-in by a Criminally Stupid Criminal

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This morning I woke up to the sound of banging. I went to check the door because I was expecting a package today (another book for my MA Arab-Israeli Conflict course), but no one was there. I figured it must have been the people downstairs that are renovating the apartment below ours. When I walked back down the hallway I heard banging on the window in our bathroom, so I went to see what was going on.

When I stepped into the bathroom I saw a guy standing there on the other side of the window out on the fire escape. I couldn’t see him clearly because the glass is frosted, but I could see a silhouette. I wasn’t sure what was going on at first because it was 10:30 am, very sunny and the corner of the building is still visible from the street because the trees haven’t grown leaves yet.

The guy must have seen me through the window as well. He moved over to his right, towards my neighbor’s apartment windows. I figured the guy was going to run or something, but instead he started kicking in the glass of my neighbor’s window. I peeked through the blinds to double-check, because really, who is stupid enough to keep trying to break into a apartments when they just saw someone in the next apartment? I saw glass falling. I went to the bathroom, opened the window, peeked around the corner and saw the guy leaning into the window, so I shut the window and called the police.

I can’t imagine the guy didn’t hear me open and close the window, unless it’s louder standing on the fire escape than it was for me inside. The whole time I was on the phone with the police though he kept at it, breaking glass on the window. When I got off the phone with the police, I went back to the bathroom, cracked the window open, stuck my hand out and snapped a few photos. Then I shut the window. I heard more glass breaking.

About 5 minutes later I heard the guy go up the fire escape to the roof. Two minutes later the police were at my door. I gave my statement and two cops went through my window onto the fire escape to look at the neighbor’s window. They confirmed the glass was broken. I showed them the photos I took. The weird thing was, the cop was using her iPhone to take a photo of the photo on my iPhone screen. I asked her if it wouldn’t make more sense to just forward the pictures to her and she declined. Seems like it would be better to have the real photo for ID purposes, especially since tattoos are clearly visible in my pictures.

While I was talking to the cops they got a call over the radio saying that a suspect matching the description of the picture had been spotted. I didn’t hear it exactly, but the sergeant I think replied, “He’s still wearing the same clothes?” Then they all ran down the stairs. I imagine they got the guy. Or at least I would hope they did.

I don’t believe in something like slut shaming, but I do believe in shaming criminal stupidity, especially in this instance, when I don’t know whether the cops caught this guy, so I’m going to share these photos I took of the guy, as a sort of public service. If you see this guy, don’t let him near your windows.

Glass on the fire escape. The metal window gate is an old one that’s been there for over a year.
My neighbor’s window.

End of the Semester Rush

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168th Street Train Platform

With the end of the semester fast approaching and the amount of work I have to do becoming ever more depressing, I haven’t had time to really think about and process my trip to Israel. I haven’t looked through the photos. I certainly haven’t had time to blog about it in any depth. I could rush some posts and throw some pictures up here, but that wouldn’t really do the experience any justice. So, I’ll have to wait and hopefully I won’t forget too much before I have a chance to get it written down. Or typed down?

Anyway, for now, here are some cool photos I took of the C train and 168th street train station in Manhattan.

The C train sitting in the 168th Street station.
The C train sitting in the 168th Street station.
168th Street Train Platform
168th Street Train Platform

Kenmare Street Graffiti

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Kenmare Street
Kenmare Street

We were walking across Kenmare Street yesterday to get to the 4/5/6 train and we saw quite a bit of graffiti. I took pictures of the two that really stood out to me. I really miss the warm weather, when it’s possible to just walk around New York taking photos. Of course, I miss having the time to just walk around and take in the scenery too. It seems like I’m counting minutes these days. Hopefully this summer I can take a break by getting a part time job and just worrying about bills and having fun for a bit, instead of constant deadlines and research. Two more semesters after this, or maybe two and a summer class, and then I’ll be done with my BA and MA. College is fun, but every now and then I need a break from fun.

Anyway, the featured image above is by a guy that has a pretty simple landing page at BradleyTheodore.com which redirects to an Instagram account. Check it out. He’s got some other cool stuff on there.

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We also walked past this collection of graffiti. I think I like the lizard hand and the “You go girl” message better than the bottom graffiti, because it has more attitude.

Spring at the Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis Reservoir

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90th Street Entrance to Central Park

After poking around in the Jewish museum for a few hours, my wife and I decided we should take advantage of the warm weather by walking across the park instead of taking the 96th Street bus. The park and the path around the reservoir in particular were packed with people jogging, walking, cycling and sitting out in the sun enjoying the fresh air. It feels like the winer has gone on forever. It feels like we haven’t stood at the edge of the reservoir taking photos for years, but I’m sure it was just last summer.

I feel sort of like a New Yorker now. I have a New York driver’s license. I’ve lived here for years. I just can’t get used to the cold weather, though. I’m glad the weather seems to be getting better. I can’t wait to start complaining about the heat in a few weeks!

90th Street Entrance to Central Park
Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis Reservoir, from the East bank facing West.

Burning Gas and Exploding Buildings in East Harlem

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Smoke and Fire Coming From an Access Hole at 137 and Hamilton in Manhattan.

Yesterday, two buildings exploded in East Harlem because of a buildup of natural gas. I’m sure everyone is going to be trying their hardest to shift the blame onto someone else. Whoever winds up on the receiving end of that lawsuit is going to have a really bad day.

I feel bad for the families and friends of those who died and were badly injured in that explosion. I hope it doesn’t happen again, but I heard on NPR that the gas main by the building was installed in the 1880s and that’s not unique or unusual for this city. It’s like we’re sitting on a bomb that could go off at any moment as the infrastructure ages and fails.

Smoke and Fire Coming From an Access Hole at 137 and Hamilton in Manhattan.
Smoke and Fire Coming From an Access Hole at 137 and Hamilton in Manhattan.

When I was leaving City College yesterday evening, I saw smoke and fire coming out of an access hole in the road. The area was cordoned off with yellow tape and there were dozens of firemen and two trucks nearby.

I stopped to watch for a while and took a short video. I can’t help but think it is somehow related to the buildings exploding across town, though I could be wrong. But, if those buildings exploded and burned then maybe the gas in the line caught fire also? The woman standing next to me was telling me that the lights in the school building there, P.S. 192, were flickering, so this fire was damaging the power lines as well.

Everything looked normal when I walked by today, though. I just hope the city does something to address the issue of aging gas pipes and starts taking complaints about smelling gas more seriously after this.