Sex Offenses on the Subways Are Widespread, City Officials Are Told

[ccharles000]

The peak times in which women report sexual harassment or assaults on the subways are the late morning rush, roughly 8 to 10 a.m., followed by the early afternoon rush, 4 to 6 p.m.

One stretch of the subways — the crowded Nos. 4, 5 and 6 lines between Grand Central Terminal and Union Square — is a particular source of complaints.

And the average age of the men arrested this year for sexual offenses on the subways is 39.

These facts emerged Thursday during a joint hearing of three City Council committees — Transportation, Women’s Issues and Public Safety — and officials from the Police Department and the Metropolitan Transportation Authority to discuss a problem that has struck a chord with many subway riders, who say they have been ogled, groped, flashed, harassed and even attacked.

“There is a clamor for more prevention and more enforcement,” said Councilman John C. Liu, a Queens Democrat, who is chairman of the Transportation Committee and the city’s comptroller-elect.

http://www.nytimes.com/2009/11/20/nyregion/20subway.html?_r=1&adxnnl=1&ref=todayspaper&adxnnlx=1258736718-xQVMFTzaI0F60Miwzo/GXg

[Sen. Walter Sobchak]

1. I will never understand how anyone can put up with the subway

It is an assault on the senses even without the bums, creeps and weirdos,

Although New York itself is an enigma to me,

[vadawg]

2. +1 nothing worse than the metro in rush hour, i would rather drive and be stuck in traffic for

twice as long than subject myself to the sardine like experience of riding the metro ever again....

[Stephanie]

4. Malls and freeways are an enigma to me

So we're even.

[Luminous Animal]

5. Me too. But how quickly we move from the fact that women get

sexually assaulted, a societal issue, to any one's individual distaste for public transportation.


Oh...

I'd rather have a frontal lobotomy
Than stare at the car in front of me.

[vadawg]

6. better staring at the car dude than some perv staring at you

i guess the good thing is that i live were i have to drive now and hopefully you have the ability to ride the metro....

[Luminous Animal]

14. I read books, read the news, do the crosswords, cryptogram, etc.

The pervs are no where on my radar. Meanwhile, car driving commuters are compelled to focus on the traffic in front of them.

[Sen. Walter Sobchak]

8. Here in my car, I feel safest of all, I can lock all my doors, It's the only way to live... In Cars

My first time on the subway in New York I saw a homeless dude getting a blowjob from a cracked out chick, and then I stepped in shit going up the stairs.

I would rather stare at a Palin Power bumper sticker on an SUV...

[vadawg]

11. plus you can eat, drink and listen to your tunes as loud as you like

if you want to use the restroom you can stop, you can pick up groceries on the way etc

[smalll]

19. A car-lover who loves to eat and drink in it, (as well as "pick up groceries"---)

I'd bet even MORE than about the poster below that -- you're a lardass. :shrug:

[vadawg]

22. nope just not into walking 100 miles to work, or having to run 20 miles then fight someone

would rather drive over there and then fight, makes more sense.. plus as my car tends to be my office when im on the road i have to eat and drink in it...

[smalll]

18. You may have a partial point. But I'd bet you're a lardass, car-lover --

am I right?

[Sen. Walter Sobchak]

27. lardass?

Be careful, according to many around here morbid obesity is a perfectly valid lifestyle choice to be celebrated by society at large and any criticism of their lard makes you as just as bad as Miss Prejean.

For me a car is just transportation and I am not overweight.

[Stephanie]

3. 4, 5, 6

Hunter College to NYU.

[Go2Peace]

7. I am surprised at the distaste of sustainable society on a democratic site?

Amazing how our first reactions are all about self and our own convenience. Most of the world lives with mass transportation every day. But we are exceptional and would never give up our personal preference, or worse, not even consider the merits of using alternative transporation if it might save the planet.

When I see posts like these even on a "progressive" board it makes me feel like we will remain too ignorant to ever become a more mature, civilized society.

[vadawg]

9. dude please tell me you are using semaphore to write your posts

if not then you are using modern conveniences much the same as everybody else does, just because you may feel you dont need a car dosent mean that others dont...

[Sen. Walter Sobchak]

10. most of the world doesn't tolerate boorish public behavior the way we do

Taking public transit in Singapore was a delight,

[Luminous Animal]

15. For me,

taking public transportation has been a delight in Mexico City, Paris, Barcelona, Lisbon, Oporto, Madrid, London, Edinburgh, New York City, Boston, & San Francisco has been nothing but a delight.

[Liquorice]

17. Japanese men grope and sexually assault women on their public transit to such an

extent that they are now trying out women-only cars. It's a major problem in Japan. I've read that India has a lot of problems with this behavior too.

[Sen. Walter Sobchak]

28. I haven't taken transit in either country,

but Japan is one of the select few countries that are actually competitive with us in terms of sheer degeneracy.

[Go2Peace]

35. That is not about their transportation. That is about Japanese attitudes toward women

Women are expected to take such behavior in all venues of society in Japan. So naturally it occurs in transit as well.

[Go2Peace]

31. exactly, these problems are not about "transport", rather about our society

[aikoaiko]

38. Isn't Singapore where they literally whip your ass for boorish behavior?

[Sen. Walter Sobchak]

44. yes,

flogging in the penalty for most minor crimes,

[Taitertots]

12. I guess not wanting to be sexually assaulted is too much of a convenience for you

I'll burn down an acre of rain forest tonight if it means the women in my life are safe from sexual deviants.

[vadawg]

13. dude i applaud you, first time ive ever agreed with you, but bravo

[Luminous Animal]

16. Start burning them down, babeeeee

Because yer wimmin ain't safe from sexual assault on land, sea, or air.

[Taitertots]

20. No, actually they are quite safe

Living in the suburbs, driving cars, and staying away from pervert filled subways. I'm also fairly certain they are safe when they are on airplanes. I don't see them being on pirate boats very much either.

[Luminous Animal]

21. Yer wimmin gots to get out of the car sometimes...

and when theys do... perverts.

[vadawg]

23. when that time comes the only spark the perv gets is the taser or the .40cal

[Luminous Animal]

25. Uyep. Mah daddy thought he could pertect me all the time, too.

There is a whole lot yer wife or yer daughter ain't tellin yew


and you're too ignorant to know that they are are doing it to protect you.

[vadawg]

26. lol i think you will find my wife is the one with the .40cal and when my daughter is old enough

she can have one as well. seems that you are actually for perverts touching up girls and women on the metro, not sure why...

[Taitertots]

29. There isn't a problem with perverts sexually abusing people around here

There is a problem with it on subways. Hence we will avoid subways, pirate ships, and mens prisons.

[Go2Peace]

36. Naw, you live in the suburbs, your perverts all hang out in Church or molest their children at home

Discussing this issue like it is a result of mass transit is like blaming a bush for a rape that occurred there. It' silly (not the rape, the train of thought).


By the way, I *don't* live in a city.

[Go2Peace]

32. what an idiotic statement. Like anyone wishes you to be molested

I have women in my life too. I just don't see the connection between "mass transit" and crime. Because there is none. The problem is with crime period and enforcement.

I have lived in places where it was not safe for a woman to walk down the street at night. Should I blame it on the street?

[Go2Peace]

30. I said "consider". The other posts were extreme.

I am not sure what between the lines reading you found that stated everyone should ride public transport. I *do* find it inconsistant for democrats not to consider it a primary form of transportation going into the future. There is simply no way to continue sustainability without it seriously in the mix.

The other posts were also quite ignorant of public transport. The problem would be that we have insufficient enforcement, not with transport. I really doubt that when you consider the number of people using PT there are any more incidence, per person, than with people in cars.

We have huge problems with crime period in this country. Our rape, murder, and sexual attack statistics are high period. it has little to do with the method of transport.

[Tesha]

39. I've pretty much given up on *EVER* seeing agreement on socially-responsible actions on this site.

It's mostly a bunch of disjoint cohorts each into their own personal freedoms
at the expense of the greater society. My guns! My plasma TV! My SUV! My
1800-calorie cheeseburger! My tobacco! My right to not vaccinate! My right
to prevent you from getting appropriate reproductive services! My right to
assert my imaginary friend's opinion that you shouldn't marry! Etc., etc.

Honestly, if this is the best that an allegedly-progressive site can manage,
then I'm convinced that we, as a global society, are toast; it's just a question
of how fast.

Tesha

[SidDithers]

40. If it's any consolation...

I find that I agree with you the vast majority of the time. :hi:

Sid

[Tesha]

42. Thanks for those kind words; they're ALWAYS appreciated! (NT)

[Sen. Walter Sobchak]

43. and who are you to decide what is socially responsible or progressive?

Unless you are among Glen Beck's drooling followers how you choose to label yourself doesn't disallow you from having your own opinion.

[Tesha]

45. An example of what I said immediately above, from the "My car!" category. (NT)

[LostInAnomie]

24. Geez! People get all uptight when I ride the subway with my wiener out.

Freakin' prudes!

[DU GrovelBot]

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[DaveinJapan]

34. Someone already mentioned Japan so...

Why not try "Women only" cars like they have here?

(I'm against that approach personally, but maybe it's worth a try in a "feminist" oriented country just to see the reaction, and maybe slam Japan back to reality)

By the way...CCharles, you always come up with the best topics for discussion! Kudos!

[DemocratSinceBirth]

37. Why Don't They Just Charge The Gropers With Sexual Assault And Come Into The Twentieth First Century

`

[Tesha]

41. In Boston, that's exactly what they've been doing. And it's exactly what should be done. (NT)