New York Woman Calls Out Subway Harasser
A Cellphone Becomes One Woman's Weapon Against Subway Rider Who Groped Her
A week and a half ago, Sarah, a Queens resident was riding the F-train ,coming from Queens going into Manhattan, when a man got on at the 169th street stop.
He began asking other riders where 75th Avenue was. Sarah had trouble understanding him, so another rider responded to him. But when the train reached 75th Avenue, he didn't get up, so Sarah called out to him, "that's your stop". That's when he said he had changed his mind and was now going to Coney Island.
When he suddenly sat down beside her, she didn't think much of it, and just waited for her stop.
Between 75th and 71st Avenues, the man suddenly put his hand on her leg and began moving it towards her crotch. Sarah knocked his hand off her leg and stood up. She began moving slowly through the subway car, as he followed her, offering her money to buy coffee.
When he sat down again, Sarah noticed that he was wearing a medical bracelet, so she tried to read it, but when he saw what she was doing, he turned the bracelet around, so she couldn't read his name. Before he did this, she had assumed that he may have psychological problems, but when he turned the bracelet around on purpose, she wasn't so sure.
At this point the train pulled in the Roosevelt Avenue station and Sarah got off. When she saw the man also get off, she became more nervous and approached a woman on the platform and told her what had happened. This other woman told her she would distract the man, so Sarah could go call police.
While Sarah went upstairs to use the payphone, this woman took the man's picture with her cellphone and mailed it to Sarah. She also reported that the man had approached nearly every other woman on the platform asking for directions to Coney Island, before he finally got on another train and disappeared.
While Sarah waited for police, she was kept company by an MTA worker.
When police arrived, they took her information. When she told them that she had a cellphone picture of the man, they instructed her to email it to them.
But the next day when she called the precinct to follow up, no one seemed to know anything about her complaint. She first called the 115th Precinct, which covers that area, but they said she had to call the 110th, when she called the 110th Precinct they told her the 115th covered that region. Feeling like her case had fallen thru the cracks, Sarah finally called Help Me Howard.
We first called the woman on the platform and questioned her about what happened there. She corroborated what Sarah had said. Our next call was to the NYPD, they looked into her report and found that a complaint had been filed and they would look into it further. Then we also called the MTA, because they had recently intitiated a new program to educate and warn riders against sexual harassement on city subways and buses.
The MTA had this to say:
" MTA New York City Transit has a zero-tolerance policy toward sexual harassment in the subway and onboard buses. Anyone who suspects that he/she is the victim of a sexually-related crime is urged to report the incident to an MTA employee or a police officer. This type of behavior is viewed as a serious crime by NYC Transit and the New York City Police Department and should not be tolerated by any of our customers. MTA New York City Transit's latest SubTalk/BusTalk public service campaign has been designed to encourage victims to report incidents of sexual harassment and informing them of the best ways to stay safe. The message is clear: "This type of behavior does not have to be tolerated by customers and is viewed by the NYPD and NYC Transit as a very serious crime." The SubTalk car cards, which began appearing in the subway during the week of September 15, 2008 read: "Sexual Harassment is a Crime in the subway, too - A crowded train is no excuse for an improper touch. Don't stand for it or feel ashamed, or be afraid to speak up. Report it to an MTA employee or police officer."
If you are a victim of sexual assault or harassment, call 911 immediately. You can also call the NYPD Sex Crimes Report Hotline, 212-267-RAPE (7273), to report past attacks or incidents.
We're happy to report that as of late Thursday, the NYPD stated that they had spoken with Sarah and were looking into her complaint and are actively using her cellphone picture in their investigation.
Comments: 3
Funny how when you call HMH, that's when things actually get done. I wish that there weren't only just one of you in this world.
HMH (or alike programs from other news channels) are probably the only effective way to go around all the bureaucracy of police and the MTA to actually get something done.
This kind of programs exist because people can't find the justice they deserve without spending huge amount of time, effort, and end up getting headache, frustration and anger, going through all the red tapes, and some staffs in authority who just don't give a damn.
We had the misfortune of getting towed from a Dunkin Donuts today by a crooked tow company named x-treme body and fender Inc. We walked into Dunkin Donuts and ordered food at 1:38pm per the receipt we were given at time of purchase. We then left the Dunkin and tried to finish are drinks and food before we got in the car. while outside we walked next door to pay a bill and when I realized it was taking more than the 2 minutes it should have, I decided to walk back to the car with the keys to be safe and leave the driver to pay the bill. When I got back the car was gone and it was 1:55 when this discovery was made. I walked into Dunkin Donuts and they referred me to a guy that would help me. He brought me outside like he was going to make a deal with me but tells me that he's the building manager and that he was told by the manager to tow us. We waited there with the guy who kept repeating how much he hated his job and felt bad and kept telling me he waited 25 minutes to give us time which is impossible I showed him the receipt. They brought the car back an hour later and made us pay him $160 to get the car back. Everywhere it is posted that they take visa and mastercard but when he came he would only take cash and expected us to have exact change. The receipt of the tow shows that they made the call at 1:36pm and picked up the car at 1:52pm. We were inside the Dunkin Donuts when the call was made. We later called Dunkin Donuts to ask why they would tow us when we did nothing wrong and the manager went on to tell me that they shouldn't of towed us that they give their customers 30 minutes from the time they purchase something and that nobody called in to have us towed. I found out the guy they told me to talk to was not a building manager but actually works for the tow company and waits there for people with the truck around the corner and that's what he does all day. I called the towing company to dispute the tow and couldn't have been spoken to ruder. He claims that guy does not work for them but knew who I was talking about. I told him I'm reporting them which I did and he said "have fun" and hung up on me. Apparently there have been many similar situations, and upon looking at there customer feedback there are many complaints of the same nature. Please help me we are hard working college students who were taken advantage of.