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By Jeremy | February 1, 2005
A pretty, 20-something aspiring actress was shot and killed by a thuggish posse of muggers last week in our neighborhood. Her fiance cradled her in his lap as she breathed her last breath.
This murder was indeed a tragic crime. People should be outraged. But from the resulting press coverage one would think it is the first time someone leaving a Lower East Side bar in the early morning hours was shot. Her fiance made the rounds of all the network morning talk shows this week. He's gotten airtime on entertainment tabloids and front page exposure in national newspapers. The reward for the killers was doubled almost as soon as it was announced.
Would the collective outrage have been the same if the pretty young actress wasn't white? Or if the neighborhood wasn't being rapidly gentrified?
It seems to me crimes like this have gone on in the LES for years, but previously the only national exposure was in the form of sensationalized TV cop shows. The storylines in
NYPD Blue supposedly take place in our precinct, and the
Law and Order series frequently films around here.
Hmm.
Topics: community, crime, culture, death, gentrification, lower east side, media, new york, race, urban | 2 Comments »
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February 3rd, 2005 at 2:46 pm
i read something in the paper today about how a young actress was killed by a teenage girl. i’m not sure if that was the same person or not, but yesh, that is crazy.
i couldv’e sworn i’ve seen your picture somewhere.
February 3rd, 2005 at 3:18 pm
Khristi,
Yep, it’s the same story. So far they’ve arrested a 19 year old boy, and 14 and 17 year old girls, as well as two others in a related mugging.
If you’re from NY/NJ/CT area, maybe in Tri-State Voice, where I write a column, or a regional youth outreach project. Thanks for posting.