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Morning Bulletin: Psychics Arrested, Subway Stairwell Crime, Riverside Park Praised

September 30, 2019 | 10:44 AM - Updated on June 5, 2022 | 11:28 PM
in CRIME, NEWS
36


Photo by Ira Schwarz on the 1 train.

September 30, 2019 Happy Rosh Hashanah to those celebrating! Weather: Partly cloudy, with a high of 70 degrees.

Notices:
Readings, concerts and other local events are on our calendar.

News:
Two women working at a psychic parlor at 143 West 69th Street were arrested and pleaded guilty to larceny. But the parlor continues to operate, according to the Times. And proprietors appear to have made a lot of money. “That turned out to be the first of more than $50,000 the woman paid them over a couple of weeks. The psychics, Sue Steve, 37, and Geena Thompson, 25, gave her special instructions: When she went to the bank to withdraw the $43,941 for one payment, she was to inform the teller that it was for school, the complaint said.”

A woman fought off an attempted rapist early Sunday morning, police say. “The 32-year-old victim was entering the No. 1 train station on West 86 Street and Broadway in Manhattan around 12:30 a.m. when an unidentified man pushed her against the wall of the stairwell and fondled her genitals under her clothes, according to police.”

Gothamist calls Riverside Park the “lowkey best park in New York City…It is one of the unheralded nature-oriented treasures of the city; it’s a perfect place for long walks and exercise, it boasts spectacular river vistas, and it’s rarely overcrowded like those other more popular Manhattan parks.”

It’s been a long recovery process for the Cathedral of St. John the Divine after a devastating fire last year. “For months, crews from Maxons Restorations have been scrubbing down walls with special heavy-duty brick-shaped sponges. Construction lifts — driven right onto the slate floor of the nave — carry them up to the 125-foot-high ceiling. With no room around the high altar to maneuver such heavy machinery, scaffolding is being installed there to put soiled surfaces within arm’s reach…He hopes the cleaning of the stonework will be completed by Christmas and the cathedral will no longer look like a work site, with the organ restoration taking place next year (total cost: about $10 million).”

Historic co-ops — including the iconic Dakota on 72nd — are trying to keep up with newer condos in the amenities game. “The Dakota’s gym is filled with state-of-the-art machines for weight lifting, running, rowing, and Pilates, and its red-brick walls are decorated with accents of wood and large mirrors. It’s tucked into a corner of the unfinished basement.”

And Tony Brown spotted the poster below at 92nd and Broadway.

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EricUWSNYC
EricUWSNYC
3 years ago

As of March, Stun Guns and Tasers are now legal in New York for self-defense purposes, and no permit is required for concealed carry. There’s absolutely no excuse for women not to possess at least one self defense item, even if it’s pepper spray. https://www.scribd.com/document/402795938/NY-Stun-Gun-Decision

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Rikitiki
Rikitiki
3 years ago
Reply to  EricUWSNYC

I dont feel comfortable carrying a weapon. Will there be time to access it and use it? Will it be wrangled away from me and used against me instead? So, instead, late at night when I am alone, I have chosen to run home from the station at a jog. I have done this for years. That makes me feel safer. I have had my fair share of times being approached by a man late at night and running removes the opportunity.

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Denton
Denton
3 years ago
Reply to  EricUWSNYC

It’s unclear to me whether the law applies in NYC, which, as the decision points out without complaint, has always been allowed to have its own separate laws concerning firearms. NYC and NYS have a long history of enacting new restrictions on firearms without compensation to the owners, and tasers are expensive. Better inquire at your local precinct and the firearms division of the NYPD before buying one and especially before carrying one around.

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EricaC
EricaC
3 years ago
Reply to  EricUWSNYC

Well, yes there is. Because populating the city with those things makes it more violent, not less. Though this is one of the more creative ways of blaming the victim that I’ve come across.

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S
S
3 years ago
Reply to  EricUWSNYC

I’m pretty sure those laws are for the STATE only … not NYC and concealed requires a permit which is near impossible to obtain.

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CarolUWS
CarolUWS
3 years ago
Reply to  EricUWSNYC

Thank you, I have carried a knife with me these past few years after all the subway slashings started. Might have to get me a taser now.

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NN
NN
3 years ago
Reply to  EricUWSNYC

No EXCUSE? Is this going to be the new version of asking for it? “If she didn’t want to be groped, she should have been carrying a taser and used it on me!”?

Stun guns and tasers and pepper spray are weapons as much as knives or guns. I certainly would rather people carried them rather than knives and guns, because at least they are designed to be non-lethal, but there are any number of reasons why a person–not just a woman–would NOT want to carry a weapon.

Any weapon requires you to be willing and able to commit physical violence against another human being yourself. You also need to have the confidence that you won’t either panic or lose your temper and use the weapon when it is unmerited. You have to have the skill to use the weapon effectively. And even given all of that, it can still be taken and used against you by an attacker.

It would be a lot better to teach our kids, especially our boys and young men, that the world is a better and happier place for everyone when we all turn away from our potential for violence and leave the weapons in video games.

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SC
SC
3 years ago
Reply to  NN

The issue I have is that these violators are not part of your nice society with education or moral/social values. They are not or cannot be taught.

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TravelgalNYC
TravelgalNYC
3 years ago
Reply to  NN

Thank you NN for pointing this out. I carry pepper spray to use when I have to travel to a specifically shady part of Brooklyn at night. Carrying it does not make me feel safe, it actually makes me anxious and nervous to use it. What if I get flustered and the attacker uses it against me? EricUWSNYC, you need to understand what it’s like from a woman’s point of view. Shame on you for saying “there’s no excuse to not carry something.” There’s NO EXCUSE FOR MEN to be sexually assaulting women and putting us in this position every time we walk outside!

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UWSHebrew
UWSHebrew
3 years ago
Reply to  TravelgalNYC

New York City is not the fairytale place you want it to be. At night, anywhere and everywhere, women are looked at as prey from some men. If you want to lessen your chances of being attacked, do not venture “in shady places” at night, or at the very least, not alone at night. I know that seems unfair, that any woman should be allowed to walk or jog without fear anywhere at anytime, but it’s not reality. You screaming “men should not rape!” from your computer will do nothing to make that actually come true. I’m a tall, broad shouldered guy, and I AM SCARED of going through certain neighborhoods after midnight. I can’t even imagine doing so if I were a woman, where men can so easily overpower from body weight alone.

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Kat French
Kat French
3 years ago
Reply to  EricUWSNYC

Spoken from a place of male privilege, Eric.

A man who can overpower a woman in order to assault her can overpower her enough to take away her taser or pepper spray and use it to subdue her.

The solution to sexual assault is for men to stop raping women!

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UWSHebrew
UWSHebrew
3 years ago
Reply to  Kat French

men will never stop raping women. some men are just evil and take what they want from a physically weaker person. you yelling from your computer to make it stop is sad.

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lmn
lmn
3 years ago
Reply to  UWSHebrew

And you telling women to just accept it is even sadder. And not helpful. Perhaps if men didn’t have the “accept men are evil mindset” it’d make a difference. By saying that is is basically tacit approval.

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Natali
Natali
3 years ago
Reply to  EricUWSNYC

As a man, you really shouldn’t be telling women what there is no excuse for them to do. Maybe you should be scolding your fellow men instead by saying there is no excuse for them to rape.

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Effy
Effy
3 years ago
Reply to  EricUWSNYC

Thanks, Eric!

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Kim Polson
Kim Polson
3 years ago

Basement in the Dakota, isn’t that where Rosemary met the original woman the Woodhouse’s were grooming to carry the baby?

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Cato
Cato
3 years ago
Reply to  Kim Polson

Woodhouse? Wasn’t it the Castevets (Roman and Minnie)?

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Kevin
Kevin
3 years ago

You mean, the psychics didn’t see their arrest coming?

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jhminnyc
jhminnyc
3 years ago

What a terrible experience for the young woman who fought off the attempted rapist at the 86th subway station stairwell. My heart goes out to her and hope that she bounces back from it very soon.

Having experienced an unprovoked physical attack in a subway car at 7 pm myself this past spring, I found out there are no MTA surveillance cameras in the cars or on the subway platforms in general. They are only at the turnstiles to record fare beaters. This is a shame as it is almost impossible to find and identify the attacker otherwise.

I have to say that when I read in this article, “an unidentified man pushed her against the wall of the stairwell and fondled her genitals under her clothes, according to police.” I couldn’t help thinking of the example set by our current president to our fellow citizens.

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Effy
Effy
3 years ago
Reply to  jhminnyc

Perfect example of TDS – Trump Derangement Syndrome. Until another Republican becomes President, then he or she will become the focus for more ad hominem attacks. I remember when both Presidents Bush were called “Hitler” too…until they were out of office, then, nothing, then later, statesmen. So silly.

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EricaC
EricaC
3 years ago
Reply to  Effy

The real Trump Derangement Syndrome is bending over backwards to excuse and justify behavior that would have been called treason if committed by Obama or Clinton. There are plenty of crazy liberals but at this stage, anyone who doesn’t question his or her support for trump is obviously quite disturbed.

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sg
sg
3 years ago
Reply to  EricaC

EricaC think about this…I voted for Trump in 2016 and am looking forward to doing so again in 2020! He’s done more positive things for this country (including rolling back many BS regulations and addressing illegal immigration) than BHO did in 8 years. And no, I’m not a working class white man, I’m a 58 year old upper middle class/affluent white women…and I live amongst you

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EricaC
EricaC
3 years ago
Reply to  sg

Obama actually deported more people than any prior president. He built the economy that Mr. Trump is riding on. Those BS regulations are mostly things that improved our environment, but you can disagree. His tax “reform” was ridiculous and harmful, and was done with spite towards NY and CA. But you are free to vote (and was) as much as you want. I think you are crazy, but presumably you return the favor. It’s a big country, and even a big city, so you do you.

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Y'z Guy
Y'z Guy
3 years ago

Re: “Two women working at a psychic parlor at 143 West 69th Street were arrested and….”

Proves they’re PHONY psychics!
REAL psychics would’ve KNOWN that the cops were coming for them!

Thas’ why some psychics advertise:
“No Appointment Necessary; We’re expecting you!”

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F. Shtopp
F. Shtopp
3 years ago

GREAT subway pic…quintessential NYC.

TIP: on Instagram type “subwaygram” into search box for more ‘Only-In-NewYork’ pics!

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Shudder Speed
Shudder Speed
3 years ago
Reply to  F. Shtopp

Thank you

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Reply
F. Shtopp
F. Shtopp
3 years ago
Reply to  Shudder Speed

U. R. Welcome!

B/T/W: Great user name !

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wombatNYC
wombatNYC
3 years ago
Reply to  F. Shtopp

What’s Instagram?

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Ed
Ed
3 years ago

I agree that no one should be telling others what to do or carry – those are personal choices. However, living in the pie-in-the-sky world in which male children will be taught that sexual assault is wrong is a bit of a stretch. In the meantime (5 years; 20 years; 100 years?) should we just cross our fingers as we watch these crimes decline, as they surely will? And let’s not limit this indoctrination and education against violence to sexual assault – then we can have a society in which the police no longer need to be armed. In the meantime, let’s try to get real – at least a little bit.

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Paul
Paul
3 years ago

The psychics should have seen them coming.

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GeorgeCPW
GeorgeCPW
3 years ago
Reply to  Paul

That they didn’t see it coming was such compelling evidence against them that they copped a plea.

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Y'z Guy
Y'z Guy
3 years ago
Reply to  Paul

See #5 above.
Proves ‘Great Minds Think Alike’ !!

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AC
AC
3 years ago

Regarding the attack on 86 street. No one in the press is reporting if this took place on the Southbound or Northbound Entrance/Exit.

The Southbound Station was closed the entire weekend (Track Maintenance). You wouldn’t know it until you got to the turnstiles. Regardless, if vagrants are hanging out in ‘closed’ stations, I suggest enclosed gates at street level or some police presence to deter these guys from hanging around/sleeping on the platforms.

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Marilyn
Marilyn
3 years ago

Too bad all bikers make it impossible to stroll in many parts of Riverside Park. Clearly thry didn’t walk along the river from 99th Street southward.

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sg
sg
3 years ago

@EricaC – A more reasonable response than expected, but I still think you’re wrong. Most of the regulations were not necessary, but rather government overreach. I’m very happy that the SALT were capped (legality was recently upheld)…why should other states support the ridiculous spending of the large liberal states. I’ll be retired out of NYC next year and am looking forward to my vote counting…MAGA 2020.

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EricaC
EricaC
3 years ago
Reply to  sg

Apparently you are unaware of the fact that even with the SALT deduction, we have been subsidizing the thieving states for decades. Now that subsidy will be even greater. And I’d be interested – name one of be repealed regulations and why it was not necessary. I will ever say all regulations are unneeded – in fact, some should definitely go – but his repeals have had almost surgical precision in their pettiness and destructiveness.

My other comment – about the fact that these issues are not the biggest issue; the biggest issue is that Mr. Trump is clearly unwell – was apparently too divisive to appear, but it remains true.

FWIW, your response is pretty much exactly what I expected.

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