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Flash Mob Mayhem: Violent Groups Of Teens Leave NYC Businesses In Ruins
Thugs With No Regard For Anyone But Themselves Causing Chaos All Over
February 4, 2013 11:20 PM
Newsstands all over New York City are being attacked by flash mobs of teenagers hell bent to rob owners of everything they have. (Photo: CBS 2)
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Local, News, NY News, Radio.com - News, Seen On CBS 2HD, Syndicated Local, Syndication, Watch + ListenRelated tags
Flash Mob Mayhem, flash mobs, John Jay College, Jon Shane, Judson Bennett, Maurice DuBois, Midtown, Mob Attacks, Newssstands, Raj Shmara, Teen Mobs, Violent MobsNYC Is A Strange Place
NEW YORK (CBSNewYork) - Violent, thieving mobs have been making headlines across the country for the past few years, and now they have hit New York City.
And Maurice Dubois reported in this CBS 2 investigation, the teen mobs have left neighborhoods worried as businesses take matters into their own hands.
Judson Bennett, 78, recently ran into a violent group of teens - often described with the once-benign term "flash mob" - as he made his daily trip to buy a newspaper at his favorite news team.
"I'm approaching the newsstand, and then suddenly there is a tremendous force behind me," Bennett said.
Bennett ended up with a broken arm.
"I was taken completely by surprise," he said.
In New York and across the country, the mobs of kids - 20, 30, 40 or more - appear out of nowhere and suddenly charge a newsstand or convenience store.
They ransack, steal and wreak havoc with no consideration for customers, such as Bennett, who get in their way.
"They assemble, they do whatever it is that they're going to do, and then they disassemble in a matter of minutes," said Jon Shane, assistant professor of criminal justice at John Jay College. "By the time somebody recognizes what is happening or is injured, if the police are able to respond, it's slow."
Raj Shmara owns a newsstand at Broadway at 55th Street. Shmara said his newsstand has been targeted seven different times by mobs of teens. During an attack just last week, the kids threw a bottle at an employee who had to be hospitalized.
"They cost me a lot," he said.
The increase in attacks and their violent nature has many people concerned.
"I think it needs to be addressed," said Gale Spitalnik. "It's awful."
"It's disturbing to have that kind of activity happening in New York City," said Greg Lukasiewicz of Nutley, N.J.
"It's against the law," said Edvin Brown of Brooklyn. "They should address the problem [like] they address every other issue."
The man who manages the newsstand where Bennett was injured said it has been attacked four times in just the past few weeks.
"It's hard to earn a living, and then they come here and destroy everything, and then they leave," he said. "It's sad."
As quickly as they arrive, the newsstand victims said, the teens are gone - along with thousands of dollars in goods and damages.
Teens have destroyed the newsstand on 57th Street between Eighth and Ninth avenues so many times that the manager has been forced to shut down completely in the afternoon so he doesn't lose any more money.
"All our displays are broken," he said.
When CBS 2 contacted the NYPD about the issue, the Department declined to comment.
Meanwhile, many newsstands have turned to putting in their own surveillance to try and deter the attacks - because they feel left on their own.
"I try to scare them, ‘Look, I'm going to take your photo,' and some kids they run," a newsstand owner said.
Shop owners in Carroll Gardens, Brooklyn said similar problems there stopped when plainclothes police officers were assigned to the area.
Replies
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Quoting Radarma:
Quoting Mystres:
Omg Ty, u r awesome and one of the few people with the balls to say it. The proof is in the picture.
Thanks. I don't care what a handful of white libmoms think of me.
Do you care about the facts?
from here: http://www.ojjdp.gov/ojstatbb/
Count White Black Total Male 4,949,123 1,326,106 6,275,229 Total 4,949,123 1,326,106 6,275,229
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Unfortunately you lack the power of conversation but not the power of speech.
Quoting Radarma:
Quoting Mystres:
Omg Ty, u r awesome and one of the few people with the balls to say it. The proof is in the picture.
Thanks. I don't care what a handful of white libmoms think of me.
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Quoting brookiecookie87:
Quoting Radarma:
Quoting Mystres:
Omg Ty, u r awesome and one of the few people with the balls to say it. The proof is in the picture.
Thanks. I don't care what a handful of white libmoms think of me.
Do you care about the facts?
from here: http://www.ojjdp.gov/ojstatbb/
Count White Black Total Male 4,949,123 1,326,106 6,275,229 Total 4,949,123 1,326,106 6,275,229
No, no (s)he doesn't.
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Quoting brookiecookie87:
Those numbers are biasED. Everyone knows only black and mexicans commit crimes.
That was an interesting fact to see. And tool to have. Thanks for the linkQuoting katy_kay08:
there are significantly more white male juveniles in dentention centers than black. Why do you think we do not hear more about white juvenile crime when it is clearly happening on a larger scale. Oh and for the clarity...these numbers are for "non hispanic" white.
from here: http://www.ojjdp.gov/ojstatbb/
Count White Black Total Male 4,949,123 1,326,106 6,275,229 Total 4,949,123 1,326,106 6,275,229
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they all dont have bikes? or should I say they all cant ride them so theyve taken to storming the streets together, angry that nobody has a bike.
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Quoting lizzielouaf:
Unfortunately you lack the power of conversation but not the power of speech.
Quoting Radarma:
Quoting Mystres:
Omg Ty, u r awesome and one of the few people with the balls to say it. The proof is in the picture.
Thanks. I don't care what a handful of white libmoms think of me.What? What would you like to converse about?
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Quoting Goodwoman614:
Quoting brookiecookie87:
Quoting Radarma:
Quoting Mystres:
Omg Ty, u r awesome and one of the few people with the balls to say it. The proof is in the picture.
Thanks. I don't care what a handful of white libmoms think of me.Do you care about the facts?
from here: http://www.ojjdp.gov/ojstatbb/
Count White Black Total Male 4,949,123 1,326,106 6,275,229 Total 4,949,123 1,326,106 6,275,229
No, no (s)he doesn't.
Yes, yes she does, and she has gone over how these stats are gathered, ad naseum on this very board. I can link you to some of these very conversations if you would like?
Now wait, wait a minute, isn't this what people like to call "deflection"?
What about the FACTS, that we have these "youth mobs" terrorizing stores and strangers?
Imagine if these were "mobs" of white youth, and their vics were primarily nonwhite businesses and homes and bodies?
OMG Can ya imagine the uproar. I can. -
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Quoting brookiecookie87:
Quoting Radarma:
Quoting Mystres:
Omg Ty, u r awesome and one of the few people with the balls to say it. The proof is in the picture.
Thanks. I don't care what a handful of white libmoms think of me.Do you care about the facts?
from here: http://www.ojjdp.gov/ojstatbb/
Count White Black Total Male 4,949,123 1,326,106 6,275,229 Total 4,949,123 1,326,106 6,275,229
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/White_Hispanic_and_Latino_Americans
http://racerelations.about.com/b/2011/10/02/more-hispanics-identifying-as-white.htm
Do I really need to explain how this works?
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Never heard before about flash mobs