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To they guy who decided to break into my apartment... — Brooklynian

To they guy who decided to break into my apartment...

nicolamj
nicolamj
edited November -1 in Fort Greene, Clinton Hill, Bed-Stuy
Addressed to whatever jackhole decide it would be really cool to break into my apartment while we were gone on Christmas vacation:

You must think you're pretty cool, huh? You must think that you're a frickkin' hardcore badass for sneaking into my building and forcing my door open with brute strength. I guess you thought you were a real man when you saw how crazily you bent the door lock. I wonder what you thought when you walked in? Were you worried that maybe people might have heard you? Did you think you might get caught? I know you're a real coward 'cause you just took one thing and ran away.

By now you're probably realized that the computer you took isn't worth as much as you thought, and is totally useless without the power cord you forgot to steal. I'm sure you'll be able to pawn it off on some unsuspecting soul for a couple bucks.

Was it worth it? Do you feel cool now? Was it worth bring down the neighborhood and disrespecting it? This will just be another crime statistic, but it just reinforces some people's belief that Brooklyn isn't safe. I love Brooklyn, and I'm not going to move out of it.

.............................................................................................

Sorry to vent, but I'm really angry. True, this is still a city, and I'm not naive, this can happen to anyone. But, we've got a little community going here on this side of Fort Greene, and it really makes me mad when people trash it. We're trying to build something here, and other people try to destroy it.

I have witnessed some many amazing and good things since I moved to Brooklyn 3 1/2 years ago. I'm lucky that this is the first negative thing. It some small consolation that I feel like a true New Yorker now (although I've still never been mugged. *Knock on wood). I have to say that NY's Finest has really impressed me, from the very beginning they responded promptly, with great courtesy and respect. All the officers I have met have been very nice, and took my claim seriously.

Just wanted to also let everyone know that there has been a recent rash of burglaries like mine in residential and commercial places in Fort Greene, so be extra vigilant guys. Seriously, if you see something weird, say something to your landlord or neighbors. Don't hold back.

Comments

  • boygabriel
    boygabriel
    Vent away.

    I am very sorry this happened.
  • escap
    escap
    Same here, sorry to hear that. My place was broken into last year and the guys also took an old, crappy computer from me and almost nothing else. It's really enraging to have your home violated like that though.
  • hill38
    hill38
    Also had my apartment burglarized several years ago. Guy took a bunch of old electronics that cost nothing but had a lot of sentimental value. I truly empathize. :(
  • nathan
    nathan
    Sorry for your misfortune. What a crappy way to start the New Year.

    I am, however reminded of a girl I knew in college. She was a 4'11" pastey-white Irish girl who decided to get an apartment in Boston's Little Italy. The first week, all went fine and she made sure to pass a few minutes of conversation each afternoon with the "old Italian ladies sitting on folding chairs" out on the sidewalk.

    The second week she came home one day to find she'd been cleaned out.

    Of course she mentioned this to the old ladies the next day.

    Then, the following day she came home and found out that someone had broken in again..........and replaced all of her stuff.
  • nicolamj
    nicolamj
    ha! That's pretty funny, although I'm sure she would have preferred not having had anyone break in in the first place. Thanks for commiserating everyone.
  • jimmylegs
    jimmylegs
    my condolences. it's always a concern when you go out of town that your apartment will be okay, there have been times when i'm downright surprised i *haven't* been burgled when i've been away. can i ask, what kind of building do you live in? do you have a direct entrance from the street?
  • anonymous
    anonymous

    Subject: "This side of Ft. Greene"?

    we've got a little community going here on this side of Fort Greene, and it really makes me mad when people trash it. We're trying to build something here, and other people try to destroy it.
    I sympathize with you... Getting violated in any way sucks. Hopefully I'm just reading too much into this and please correct me if I'm wrong....but I just wish you wouldn't say things like "this side of Fort Greene".

    Obviously the "other side" of Ft. Greene includes the projects and all the "undesirables" who are trying to "destroy" what we're "trying to build" on the "this side of Ft. Greene". The projects were there before you got here and will continue to be a part of the neighborhood. Ft. Greene's socioeconomic diversity is what makes it stand out in a increasingly gentrified, stratified New York City.

    Again, I sympathize with you but these things happen and I hope you don't blame a whole "side" of the neighborhood. It was one individual or a group of individuals who violated your apartment, not that "side of Ft. Greene". There are plenty of neighborhoods with buffer zones larger than Ft. Greene Park if you need more security... Renters insurance is also a consideration.
  • mypasswordwontwork
    mypasswordwontwork
    I very much doubt the burglar(s) is reading this.
  • nicolamj
    nicolamj
    Just to clarify on the "this side of Fort Greene" part:

    I don't really live in the traditional "brownstone" part of Fort Greene, and in fact, there was a thread a couple weeks ago about the area where I live - where the crunch gym and forté condos are going up. Many people on the thread thought of our area as "barren" or a "wasteland," and I can see where they are coming from, but I can see positive change here - people trying to really make it a community. That's what made me angry and depressed - to experience a little reality check that this positive change hasn't reached everyone yet.

    I don't cast myself as a member of either "brownstone" or "project/other side of the park" fort greene.
  • mypasswordwontwork
    mypasswordwontwork
    I'm really sorry Nicola. I have heard that Christmas is a favorite time of the year for burglars because so many people vacate their apartments to go visit family. Did you have some renters insurance? At least that would soften the blow a little. Have the cops been helpful to you?
  • alafairnadia
    alafairnadia
    I'm so sorry this happened to you. take care of yourself.
  • nicolamj
    nicolamj
    Good roundup by Gothamist on Renter's Insurance (which we did not have, alas).

    http://www.gothamist.com/archives/2004/08/31/renters_insurance.php
  • the changeling
    the changeling
    I had a break in just four days after I moved into my place in Bed-Stuy in 2005. At the time my backyard was accessible from the street because of some open lots and fences with holes in them. Workers were leaving keys around the worksite prior to my moving in, so the guy who broke in probably had a key to the place.

    But get this: he broke in and took my bag early one morning while I was at home asleep. How’s that for creepy? I woke up to the street noise that was coming in through the door he left ajar. He took my totebag that contained my wallet (it had a grand total of $4.00 inside), my iPod, glasses, driver’s license, passport and all of my credit cards.

    When I woke up and realized that my bag was missing I immediately cancelled all of my credit cards. All of them had zero balances (I quit using them years ago), so it was easy to convince the service reps that any charges on the card were fraudulent. Each time I called a credit card company the rep on the other end of the line said, “Yeah, it looks like someone bought a couple of Metrocards with your card.” As upset as I was, I kinda thought that the charges were funny. I called the cops and they came quickly and filed the police report.

    Fast-forward three hours and I’m unpacking some of my moving boxes. A man knocks at my door carrying a stinky black plastic bag that smells like liquor. The man also smelled like liquor, among other things. He claimed that he had seen some guys in the park looking in a bag they had stolen, and he bravely went up to them and took the contents away and was here to return my things to me. The plastic bag contained my stolen driver’s license, passport and all of my credit cards, but no iPod or eyeglasses. All he wanted was a reward “for his troubles”.

    I said, “Sure!” and I reached into my pocket and gave Burglar a handful of pennies and a nickel, and as I poured them into his outstretched hand I could see the disappointment on his face. That made me feel good. Burglar handed me my things, looked down at his reward money and then asked me, “Well, can I at least have a date?”

    Burglar and I going out on a date. Where would we go? To his favorite park bench to share a bottle of liquor? And if we wanted to have dinner, how would Burglar pay? With my credit cards? At least I know we had a way to get around, I mean, dude had at least 5 month-long Metrocards in his possession. I shuttered internally and then politely declined. Burglar seemed genuinely hurt.

    Later, as I was soaking my credit cards, license and passport in Fabreze to remove the stench of cheap liquor, I had time to see things in their proper perspective. The fact that a homeless drug addict/wino who had broken into my home had self-esteem high enough to ask me out on a date was more than just my first welcome-to-Brooklyn moment, it was one to grow on, really. From this experience I learned
    1) Everyone should have self-esteem as high as Burglar. Everyone.
    2) Fabreze is useful for washing the smell of Burglar off of plastic cards and passports
    3) No one should have an illusion of unique invulnerability—bad things happen to everyone.

    So Nicola, I’m sorry this has happened to you, but as bad as this experience is, this too shall pass. Don’t let it ruin your new year. :wink:
  • bifteck
    bifteck
    Great story! Definitely creepy, but with hilarious results.
  • hill38
    hill38
    The Changeling, it's clear your spirits weren't dampened by the experience. :) Glad it worked out okay for you.
  • bolletje
    bolletje
    Oh lordy, that's definitely an "only in New York" (or possibly Detroit) story.
  • the changeling
    the changeling
    Yeah, I can chuckle about my experience now. Only in NYC!
  • prospectplacegirl
    prospectplacegirl
    I'm sorry to hear that this happened to you. My apartment in clinton hill was broken in to last year a week before christmas. You may have heard about it on the news, because the guy responsible for breaking in confessed to having broken in to 40+ apartments in the clinton hill/ft green area over the course of 2 years.

    The only reason that they caught him was... well, this guy managed to hurt himself really bad breaking down one of the three doors to my apartment (one was a steel door, and the other were sealed off faux doors). And he bled all over the apartment, so they had DNA evidence. He also left a gigantic ski glove. I got a call last year this time from the 88th precinct that they caught a guy riding a bike on the sidewalk, with a 12" blade and drug paraphanalia, and a partially severed finger (he almost cut his finger off on the door plate when prying it open apparently, but was so strung out he went into the apartment anyway).

    He stole a playstation, and an old mac laptop. I was more pissed about the playstation because i was almost finished with a game, and that bastard too that along with the memory card!!! doh! The laptop was worthless, and he too left the power cord.

    He broke in to the apartment upstairs from mine exactly a week before--two wednesdays in a row. he was on a big breaking in spree

    All of this to say, that at least ONE of the crazy serial robbers has been caught. My then boyfriend and I had to go to the courthouse, because we had the strongest case against him, since there was DNA evidence. I recognized around 5 other people from the neighborhood all there on the same day because they also had to give testimony. As far as I know, this guy is still in jail, and will be there a long time.

    I hope that they also catch the bastard that broke in to your place!!!
  • anonymous
    anonymous
    You all need to go to the next 88th Precinct Community and Youth Council meeting. Here is the info.

    January 16, 2007 (Tuesday)
    Queen of All Saints Church
    300 Vanderbilt Avenue
    Brooklyn, New York 11238
    7:30 PM
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