It gets dark outside too early. People aren't outdoors sitting on their own or their neighbors' stoops now that the weather's colder: the eyes and ears of the block--the informal neighborhood watch--have gone indoors for the winter. The sexual assaults on women in our area continue.
And starting today, the southbound F and G trains that bring us home will bypass our subway stations. We'll have to exit at different locations in the dark and walk in areas we aren't familiar with.
Promise me this, dear neighbors. You'll be careful. You'll be alert. You'll try not to walk alone. You won't block your hearing with earbuds, earphones, or headphones. You won't focus on anything other than your surroundings. You'll trust your instincts. You'll be suspicious without worrying about hurting the other person's feelings. You'll take advantage of the volunteer neighborhood safety groups that have formed to keep women safe. You'll be strong.
The volunteer neighborhood safety groups:
- Brooklyn Bike Patrol They walk women home from subway stations in the evening (Sunday through Thursday, 8:00 p.m. to midnight; Friday and Saturday, 8:00 p.m. to 3:30 a.m.). Call ahead to arrange for someone to meet you at a station. (718) 744-7592. See a picture here of the shirts they wear.
- Right Rides They provide car rides for women and LGBTQ on Friday and Saturday nights, from 11:59 p.m. to 3:00 a.m. (888) 215-SAFE (7233)
- Tim Molloy, owner of Molloy Security, and some of his employees wait at the Fort Hamilton Parkway end of that station to walk women home. See a picture here of their shirts.
- Windsor Terrace Neighborhood Watch They walk women home from subway stations in the evening.
- KWT Canine Watch This is a watchdog group. They walk their dogs (who are wearing bandanas) near both ends of the Fort Hamilton Parkway station and the Albemarle Road end of the Church Avenue station and keep watch over the stations.
Phase Two of the Culver Viaduct rehabilitation work begins today. If you're on a
- Coney Island-bound (southbound) F train or
- Church Avenue-bound (southbound) G train,
you can't exit the
- 15th Street-Prospect Park West station or
- Fort Hamilton Parkway station
until March 2012.
Do you normally get out at 15th Street? Instead,
- exit the 7th Avenue station and
- transfer to a local bus for free (the MTA won't be providing any shuttle buses), or
- take a taxi, or
- walk home or
- use the services of a neighborhood safety group.
- get off at Church Avenue, change platforms, and take a Manhattan-bound train to 15th Street to exit.
Do you normally get out at Fort Hamilton Parkway? Instead,
- exit the Church Avenue station and
- transfer to a local bus for free (again, no shuttle buses from the MTA), or
- take a taxi, or
- walk home or
- use the services of a neighborhood safety group.
- get off at Church Avenue, change platforms, and take a Manhattan-bound train to Fort Hamilton Parkway to exit.
If you're going to be walking around between 10:00 p.m. and 5:00 a.m. and you decide it's safer to be on a bus, you have the right to be let off the bus at locations that aren't bus stops. If the driver is able to stop the bus there safely, you'll be let off. If you have any problems, get the driver's badge number and/or the bus number and file a complaint with the MTA.
If you want southbound service from 15th Street or Fort Hamilton Parkway, take a Manhattan-bound F or a Queens-bound G from these stations to 7th Avenue and transfer to a Coney Island-bound F or Church Avenue-bound G.
The Smith-9th Street station will continue to be closed in both directions until March 2012.
