Journal of Social Distress and the Homeless

ISSN: 1053-0789 (Print) 1573-658X (Online) Journal homepage: http://www.tandfonline.com/loi/ysdh20

Remembering Catherine “Kitty” Genovese 40 years later: A public forum

Harold Takooshian, Darren Bedrosian, John. J. Cecero, Lynn Chancer, Andrew Karmen, Jim Rasenberger, A. M. Rosenthal, Curtis Silwa, Charles E. Skoller & Joyce Stephen

To cite this article: Harold Takooshian, Darren Bedrosian, John. J. Cecero, Lynn Chancer, Andrew Karmen, Jim Rasenberger, A. M. Rosenthal, Curtis Silwa, Charles E. Skoller & Joyce Stephen (2005) Remembering Catherine “Kitty” Genovese 40 years later: A public forum, Journal of Social Distress and the Homeless, 14:1-2, 72-85, DOI: 10.1179/105307805807066284

To link to this article: http://dx.doi.org/10.1179/105307805807066284

Published online: 20 Nov 2013.

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Download by: [University of Birmingham] Date: 08 May 2016, At: 04:31 72 Remembering Kitty Genovese

Remembering Catherine “Kitty” Genovese 40 years later: A public forum1

Harold Takooshian, Darren Bedrosian, John. J. Cecero, Lynn Chancer, Andrew Karmen, Jim Rasenberger, A. M. Rosenthal, Curtis Silwa, Charles E. Skoller, Joyce Stephen

To mark the fortieth anniversary of the tragic death of Catherine “Kitty” Genovese on March 13, 1964 in City, a public forum hosted by Fordham University brought together an interdisciplinary group of experts to look back on this sad event. What follows is a summary of this forum, joined by 100 New Yorkers and the mass media. Even four decades after this tragedy was brought to world-wide attention by the book Thirty-eight witnesses (Rosenthal, 1965), new facts continue to surface about this haunting crime and its aftermath (DeMay, 2004). This forum addressed some timely questions, such as: (1) Were Genovese- type situations rare or common in the past, or even today? (2) How did mass media coverage

Downloaded by [University of Birmingham] at 04:31 08 May 2016 of Ms. Genovese' 1964 tragedy impact society? (3) Why does this woman’s tragedy continue to move us so deeply today, even those of us who were not yet born in 1964? (4) Should U.S. duty-to-aid laws encourage or even oblige citizens to come to each other’s aid in crises if they can safely do so--as is typically the law in other nations? The forum benefited from the expertise of 10 panelists who review diverse aspects of this topic:

1 Fordham University, New York City, March 9, 2004. In addition to the 10 panelists, this public forum benefited from many folks who kindly “got involved” to organize various parts of it: Michele Snipe, Elizabeth Schmalz, John Blythe, Gavin Ramoutar, Jean-Marie Ciaffone, Francis Katai, Richard Waite, Andrew Blauner, Chris Kavanagh, Melody Shafir, Joseph DeMay, Chaplain William G. Kalaidjian, Candy and Mildred Senn. A videotape of this forum is available from The Fordham Institute. Address any inquiries to Harold Takooshian, Fordham University, New York NY 10023. ([email protected])

Remembering Kitty Genovese 73

Panelists: 2 Darren Bedrosian, President, Fordham Psychology Association Welcome to the Public forum Jim Rasenberger, Author and journalist, Why does her tragedy touch us so deeply? Charles E. Skoller, Esq., County District Attorney’s Office (ret.), Little-known facts about the Genovese tragedy Harold Takooshian, Psychology, Fordham University, Impacts on the behavioral sciences John J. Cecero, SJ, Psychology, Fordham University, Sprituality and altruistic compassion Joyce Stephen, Commander, Community Affairs, NYC Police Department, Urban law enforcement Andrew Karmen, Sociology, CUNY John Jay College of Criminal Justice, Crime victims and the justice system Lynn Chancer, Sociology, Fordham University, Crimes against women, then and now Curtis Sliwa, Founder and President, Alliance of Guardian Angels, Neighborhood crime prevention and community awareness Discussant: A.M. Rosenthal, Author and Editor, (ret.). Benediction: John J. Cecero, SJ Audience and panel dialogue. (30 minute discussion, on videotape only.)

Darren Bedrosian: Welcome to the public forum

It is my pleasure to welcome you to this public forum. Our thanks to all those involved in organizing this forum, and to Fordham University for hosting it. One recurring phrase seems to epitomize what brings us together today, “I just didn’t want to get involved.” These were the words spoken by so many of the witnesses of the Kitty Genovese murder in 1964. When police later asked her killer why he lacked fear of the many witnesses, he coldly replied, “I knew they Downloaded by [University of Birmingham] at 04:31 08 May 2016

2 Panelists: Darren Bedrosian is a student and the President of the Psychology Association of Fordham University. John J. Cecero, SJ, is a psychologist and Jesuit priest at Fordham University, where he teaches the course on Human Values, and directs the Center for Spirituality and Psychology. ([email protected]) Lynn Chancer is a sociologist on the faculty of Fordham University. ([email protected]) Andrew Karmen is a sociologist on the faculty of the John Jay College of Criminal Justice, CUNY, and the author of Crime victims (5th ed., 2004). ([email protected]) Jim Rasenberger is a journalist, and the author of High Steel: The daring men who built the world’s greatest skyline (2004). ([email protected]) A.M. Rosenthal was the Metropolitan Editor and Executive Editor of The New York Times (ret.), and the author of the pivotal book, 38 witnesses (1965). ([email protected]) Charles E. Skoller of the Queens County District Attorney's Office (ret.) was one of the two prosecutors of the killer of Ms. Genovese in 1964, and author of the forthcoming book, A prosecutor’s dilemma. ([email protected]) Curtis Sliwa is the Founder and President of Alliance of Guardian Angels, the global community self-help movement he formed in Bronx, NY in 1979. (curtis [email protected]) Joyce Stephen is Deputy Chief of the NYC Police Department, and the Commander of its Community Affairs Division. Harold Takooshian is a psychologist on the faculty of Fordham University, and the Director of the Fordham Institute. ([email protected]). 74 Remembering Kitty Genovese

wouldn’t do anything. People never do”. The murder of Ms. Genovese taught us that people are willing to stand idly by while a fellow human being is attacked and killed. By gathering here today, we show that we are ready to examine this indifference, so we never again turn our backs on a person in need. Our human values are in the spotlight here. Do we value the well-being of our neighbor as much as we should? Two years ago I was walking with a friend past Duane Reade’s here on Tenth Avenue. I saw what at first looked like a man playfully chasing a woman, until I glimpsed the fear on her face. It turned out to be a drunken homeless man attempting to grab at her. What I then saw were at least six people who casually walked past this terrified woman. With my friend I chose to confront the man, and that simple intervention ended the event peacefully. Here in New York City, it is the rare person who has not had an experience of this sort. But we must not turn our backs on someone in need. I was not yet born in 1964, yet I and my generation are quite familiar with Ms. Genovese’ tragedy, and we too are moved by its powerful lesson. In fact we all live now in a time when the colors of orange and red remind us of our greater vulnerability. This is not a time for indifference. Today our turning a blind eye to danger may not cost us the life of just one lovely young lady, but possibly 3,000 lives. If Kitty’s death opens our eyes and hearts to care more for one another, then perhaps her death was not in vain. Maybe that is a definition for our values, thinking of the welfare of others as our own.

Jim Rasenberger: Why does her tragedy touch us so deeply?

When I began researching in November 2003 the article that appeared in the New York

Downloaded by [University of Birmingham] at 04:31 08 May 2016 Times on February 8 (Rasenberger, 2004), I started with two questions. The first was factual, What exactly occurred in those early morning hours of March 13th, 1964? (2) The second question was more philosophical, What did the events of that night mean? In other words, what lessons or morals could we draw from the death of Kitty Genovese? Within days of the front- page, March 27th New York Times article on the 38 witnesses, everyone in New York was speculating on how this could have happened. Some views leaned towards the absurd. One psychiatrist blamed television for hypnotizing people, to they point that they could no longer distinguish entertainment from reality. A woman writing to the New York Times blamed “male insufficiency,” that men have become so emasculated by women that they now lack the Remembering Kitty Genovese 75

masculine courage to rescue a woman being murdered. Since 1964, Kitty Genovese’ death has been pondered often and deeply--by clergy, politicians, writers, and especially psychologists. But first, what exactly did happen that night of March 13th? I certainly thought I knew the answer. A woman had been butchered by a psychopath while dozens of people watched from their window seats, like spectators watching gladiators at a Roman Coliseum. What a horrific scene. This was in fact how the story was originally reported on March 27th. I quote: “For more than half an hour, 38 respectable, law-abiding citizens in Queens watched a killer stab a woman in three separate attacks in Kew Gardens.” Now that sounds as if all 38 people watched all 35 minutes of the murder, an impression soon echoed in Life Magazine and other major accounts. No wonder there was such contempt for the people of Kew Gardens for months after the murder. How horrifying. But is the one of the pre-eminent urban myths of the latter half of the 20th century? Like all myths, it not quite true. Since she was stabbed in three attacks in two locations—first on Austin Street, then in her own building’s foyer—and all but one of the 38 witnesses (Carl Ross) simply could not have seen all the attacks. It turns out the great majority were not eyewitnesses, but earwitnesses, and what they heard was likely fragmentary and confusing, through closed windows on a chilly night. Whether or not we choose to overlook the inaction of these 38, they were hardly monsters for us to judge with moral superiority. In that situation, would we have behaved differently? According to psychology researchers, maybe not. Before we are quick to judge the 38, we might examine ourselves, each time we walk by homeless people on the sidewalk. If the original Genovese accounts had not been exaggerated, would this have been a 3- day story rather than a 40-year story?

Downloaded by [University of Birmingham] at 04:31 08 May 2016 Before closing my brief remarks, I share with you one true irony of this story, based on my journalistic interviews with Kitty’s friends, and her brother William Genovese. By all accounts, Kitty herself was an extraordinarily vibrant and generous person--exactly the kind of person likely to get involved if someone else were in need of help.

76 Remembering Kitty Genovese

Charles E. Skoller: Little-known facts about the Genovese tragedy

Forty years ago I prosecuted Winston Mosley, the killer of Kitty Genovese, together with another District Attorney in Queens County. The initial investigation disclosed at least half a dozen eyewitnesses. I will tell you about two of them. Joseph Fink was assistant superintendent of the nine-storey Marbury Apartments, across the street from Kitty’s first attack. He sat in the sofa at the large bay window, saw the first attack, knew exactly what was happening. He saw the shiny blade of the knife as it struck Kitty in the back four times. He got up from his sofa, went downstairs to his apartment, and went to sleep, with the telephone right beside his bed. He did nothing. Second was Carl Ross. Twenty minutes later Kitty’s second attack was in his vestibule in 82-62 Austin Street. He opened the door, saw the attack, closed the door, phoned his girlfriend for advice, she told him not to get involved. Carl called Kitty’s neighbor Sophie Farrar. Now this is a heroic person. She immediately phoned the police, then rushed to Kitty’s side. She was four-feet-eight, a tiny woman in her thirties, had just given birth a few months earlier. She rushed into that vestibule not knowing what was happening there, found Kitty semiconscious, and cradled Kitty in her arms until the ambulance and police arrived. Kitty died en route to the hospital. The mortal wounds were inflicted in the second attack. To this day, I believe Kitty would be alive today if someone had phoned during the first attack. Despite the absence of 9-1-1, response time was still excellent in 1964. At trial we sought the death penalty. Only three witnesses could actually identify Winston Mosley: Joseph Fink, Carl Ross, and a milkman who saw Mosley leaving the scene. We did not

Downloaded by [University of Birmingham] at 04:31 08 May 2016 call Fink or Ross as witnesses, for their horrible conduct could distract jurors from the death penalty Mosley deserved for his brutal attack. And Mosely did get the death penalty, until a later court replaced this with life in prison. It is ironic that five days later, on March 18, Winston was arrested because neighbors did get involved. Mosley was burgling a home nearby in Corona. Neighbor Dan Fulton saw him carry a television set to his car, and confronted him, “What are you doing?” Mosley replied, "I'm helping the people to move.” Fulton went to ask his neighbor Jack Green, “Are the Bannisters moving?” Green said “Absolutely not.” Unsure, they chose to take no chance. While Fulton phoned the 114th Precinct, Green quietly opened the hood of Mosley’s white Corvair and Remembering Kitty Genovese 77

disconnected its distributor cap. When Mosley came out, he was unable to start his car, and was apprehended by police as he tried to walk away. So Mosley was arrested only because neighbors “got involved,” and this was before The New York Times had heard or wrote anything about 38 witnesses. In preparing for trial, I spoke with over 25 witnesses. I believe more than 38 heard Kitty’s screams, but fewer than 38 saw the attacks. Whatever the number, we should all be disturbed. A human life is worth more than a telephone call, and one need not identify themselves in a in a call for help. For those who do not know, three years after Mosley was sentenced, he escaped while being transported to a hospital. He took a pregnant woman hostage in upstate New York, and raped her in the presence of her family. I am currently completing my book, A prosecutor’s dilemma, recounting a few of my cases including the Genovese murder which had such a great impact on all of us.

Harold Takooshian: Impacts of the behavioral sciences

When Kitty Genovese screamed for her life at 3 am, her screams may have seemed unheard by her neighbors, but have been heard by millions of people around the world since 1964. Thanks to A.M. Rosenthal and others, we have been deeply touched by Kitty’s screams, and society is not the same (Crimes, 1991). Kitty’s nightmare has become a symbol for all of us, impacting many parts of our society (Takooshian, 2003). I will focus on how dramatically my field of psychology has been changed by her experience.

Downloaded by [University of Birmingham] at 04:31 08 May 2016 At first we all wondered how this incident could happen. Rosenthal’s book 38 witnesses demanded a rational explanation, but behavioral scientists were initially at a loss (Krebs, 1970). Yet psychologists here in New York soon found that this type of incident was not unique, might even be common. Like Genovese, the sensational Bonnie Bush murder (Daniel, 1980), New Bedford barroom rape (Butterworth, 1984) and Goetz shooting also escaped notice at first, until a savvy reporter was able to clutch them from oblivion (Perera, 1983). At a 1984 conference here at Fordham (Dowd, 1984), we found the Genovese incident was the single most cited event in the field of psychology, in over 1,000 publications— articles, books, films. Two new psychology specialties emerged, now termed “prosocial behavior”—to 78 Remembering Kitty Genovese

learn why we do or do not help others (Takooshian & Barsumyan, 1992), and “urban psychology”—to study the impact of city life on our individual behavior and personality (Milgram, 1970). Sadly, psychologists’ early research was based on flawed details of the Genovese case, until the publication of Chief! (Seedman & Hellman, 1974) gave a detailed and accurate account, which continues to evolve today (DeMay, 2004; Rogers & Eftimiades, 1995). Since 1964, New York City has been home to at least three psychology research programs. 1. First among these was the survey research on moral judgment by Harry Kaufmann (1967) of Hunter College. His team found that simply labeling a behavior like “bystander inaction” as “illegal” caused people to judge it as more “immoral.” This is crucial since the inaction of the Genovese witnesses who “just didn’t want to get involved” was quite legal in New York State. He found our law clearly sets the tone for what we view as proper behavior. 2. The most widely-known were the lab experiments of Bibb Latane of Columbia University and John Darley of NYU in 1968 (Darley & Latane, 1970). Their team documented the “diffusion of responsibility”--that, ironically, the more witnesses at the scene of a crisis, the less any one witness feels responsible to intervene. It is witness’ relation with each other more than the victim that is crucial, so many of us may fail to help if a Genovese-type situation lends itself to ambiguity. 3. Here at Fordham University, a team of faculty and 64 students has used diverse methods to document what we have termed “the secret of street crime”--that criminals expect witnesses not to intervene (Takooshian & O’Connor, 1983). Our field experiments (Takooshian & Panzarella, 1983) and observation of real crimes (Takooshian, 1982) found that citizens fail to notice possible crimes, and intervene in fewer than 10 percent of trials. Our survey of career

Downloaded by [University of Birmingham] at 04:31 08 May 2016 criminals confirms this finding (Weinberger, 1981), while a survey of New Yorkers found 82 percent of them favor duty-to-aid laws to promote witness intervention (Takooshian & Stravitz, 1984; Costa, Nutini & Potere, 2000), and citizen groups that “get involved” (Collins, 1981; Wong, 1991). It is sad that other cases where witnesses “get involved”—like the case of courageous George Senn in August 1964—are also overlooked by the media (Stone, 1981). I close with the sad words that Darren quoted earlier, from the loathsome psychopath who told Chief Albert Seedman, “I knew they wouldn’t do anything. People never do”. It is up to all of us, including psychologists, to learn from the Genovese tragedy, and work together on ways to remove the truth from this psychopath’s words. Remembering Kitty Genovese 79

John J. Cecero, SJ: Sprituality and altruistic compassion

This is naturally a difficult topic to recall and discuss. My own research is on quite the opposite side of our psyche—altruism, hope, faith, virtue. Today we heard Mr. Skoller contrast those witnesses who did less than nothing with Sophie Farrar and others who chose to help. The social sciences define altruism as helpful behavior that provides no anticipated benefit to the helper, and may even incur some loss. This is what was lacking in the Genovese case. Back in 1902, in his Varieties of religious experience, William James identified spirituality as a key determinant of altruism. My recent article with Anne Higgins-D’Allesandro, “The social nature of saintliness and moral action,” verifies that one’s level of religious commitment predicts moral actions. Other studies of “intrinsic religiosity”--which is the practice of religion for its own sake, because of a desired connection with God—find this is related to charitable behavior. Why are spiritual people more prosocial? A growing number of studies today are investigating this, with sponsorship from the Templeton Foundation and the emerging specialty of “positive psychology.” This desire to embody the love of a compassionate God is poignantly rendered in the prayer of Saint Francis: “Lord, make me an instrument of Your peace. Where there is hatred let me sow love, where there is injury, pardon, where there is despair, hope, where there is sadness, joy, where there is darkness, light.” May this be our prayer today as we commemorate Kitty Genovese and search for ways to increase altruism, so that this tragedy may never happen again.

Joyce Stephen: Urban law enforcement

Downloaded by [University of Birmingham] at 04:31 08 May 2016 As a representative of the New York City Police Department, I can point out, How does the NYC Police Department in 1964 compare with today? Look how things have changed. In the past 40 years the Police Department has learned it can do little without the participation of the community. Our Ride-Along and other programs educate our many communities about how the Police Department operates, and now encourage citizens to volunteer, to be “the eyes and ears” of the police. We try to bridge the gap between citizens and police. The NYPD now starts in grade school, teaching youngsters to recognize police as their friends and protectors. People are taught police procedures and how to call 9-1-1. We offer classes to community patrols, 80 Remembering Kitty Genovese

teaching individuals how to be more effective witness--what to do and what to look for whenever a crime is taking place. This community-based policing is very different from urban law enforcement in 1964, and surely has some role in the sharp drops in street crime we have seen in our City in recent years.

Andrew Karmen: Crime victims and the justice system

Look with me at some of the many positive changes since this tragedy in 1964, to ease the plight of crime victims. For example, in 1965, here in the Columbus Circle Subway, a good Samaritan intervened on behalf of an elderly woman harassed by two young men, and was stabbed to death. This provided a catalyst for a Victim Compensation Program, making New York State one of the first U.S. states to help compensate crime victims for losses. In the mid 1970’s, new Victim-Witness Assistance Programs encouraged people to come forward to aid in prosecution by testifying in court. By 1977 Son of Sam laws prevented criminals from profiting from their notoriety. In the 1970s mandatory reporting duties were imposed on doctors, social workers, teachers to notify authorities of suspected cases of child abuse. As early as 1964, there were civilian neighborhood watch organizations, civilian anti- crime patrol--originally dubbed “vigilantes,” but as long as they did not overstep the law, they reduced crime. By 1974, in Minneapolis a battered women’s shelter was set up as a place of refuge. By 1972, California opened a rape crisis center—now common at hospitals and college campuses. Since 1980, the media no longer violate rape victims’ privacy. In addition, anti-stalking laws

Downloaded by [University of Birmingham] at 04:31 08 May 2016 have been passed to prevent people from being harassed. Since the 1970s 9-1-1 emergency and tip-lines now encourage people to furnish information to law-enforcement officers. Since the 1980s, bias crime squads now prevent people from committing crime against individuals because they dislike who they are. Since the 1970s, victim empowerment opportunities have proliferated within the criminal justice system, victims are now given a voice to influence the decision making process. We also have Victim–Offender Reconciliation Programs, to allow victims to take charge of their own cases, to meet their offenders face-to-face, to insist on recognition of their plight, arrange restitution from the offenders, and to put the incident behind them. Since the 1960s, a crime victims movement has been a driving force within the criminal justice system, Remembering Kitty Genovese 81

and outside of it as well. Rape victims, battered women, and murder victims’ loved ones are all working together in a crime victim movement, for a Constitutional amendment to readjust the criminal justice process. Finally, there is a new field of study in over 150 U.S. universities known as “victimology”—the objective study of crime victims. Traditional criminology typically overlooked the victim, and was thus really “offenderology” in the past. Now more people world- wide are refocusing their attention and research on the well-being of crime victims.

Lynn Chancer: Crimes against women, then and now

Look with me at the gender aspect of the Genovese murder. Can we re-imagine the victim as a man, being brutally attacked by a woman in a similar way in front of inactive witnesses? Not so easy, is it? There is clearly a gender aspect to the Genovese murder. My message offers good news and bad news. Good news is that crime is down overall according to the Bureau of Justice Statistics. Violent crimes per 100,000 dropped sharply, from 47.7 in 1973 to 22.8 in 2002. For example rape was down 2.5 to 0.7 per one 100,000. If you look at the decline of overall crime it relates to both men and women. The number of male victims per 100,000 dropped from 68 in 1973 to 25.5 in 2002, while female victimization rates went from 31.4 to 20.8. Interestingly, by 2002, the number of female and male victims is closer together than it had been before. The bad news is that most offenders are male. For example, in 1976 16.3 per 100,000 offenders were men, while 3.1 were women. So five the number of men were offenders than women in 1976. But in 2002 it goes down for both sexes, 11.6 for men and 1.2 for women—ten

Downloaded by [University of Birmingham] at 04:31 08 May 2016 times more male than female offenders. The second not-so-good news takes us a bit away from the Kitty Genovese incident. Most intimate homicide victims are female. In 1976 there were three times as many women who were victims of intimate partner homicide. It becomes even more for non-fatal violent victimization. There were 691,710 between 1993 and 2001, in which 85% were women. Obviously this is bad news on the whole. We can still see a worrisome number of violent against women even in this context. In reference to the Genovese case, What can and should be done about all of this? There are preventive measures. Sociologist Carol Brooks-Gardner has termed as “Public Harassment” “that group of public abuses and annoyances in public places, including pinching, slapping, 82 Remembering Kitty Genovese

hitting, shouting, vulgarity” which may escalate to violent crimes like assault, rape and murder. This is everyday sexism, which can be learnt starting at an early age. It is important to make it unacceptable across class, race and ethnicity for boys not to harass girls in any way--implicitly or explicitly, young or old. To prevent future Kitty Genovese nightmares, we should work at two levels-- both on our own preventive and responsive reactions, and also on the still very gendered character of violent crimes that are far too often committed by men against women.

Curtis Sliwa: Neighborhood crime prevention and community awareness

My name is Curtis Sliwa, founder and President of the Guardian Angels. For me, this forum is a valuable retrospective in many ways. On February 13, 1979 I formed the Guardian Angels Safety Patrol on Fordham Road in Bronx, NY—25 years ago last month. And on March 26th of this month I will turn 50 years old. I already received my AARP letter. In 1964, I was a ten-year-old transferring from the cocoon of a Roman Catholic grade school to multi-ethnic P.S. 114 in Canarsie, learning the importance of the world of current events, national and international news. It was at that time that The New York Times focused on this tragedy that happened on Austin Street. I was very street smart at the time because I grew up with my cousins in East New York, with no locks on the doors and no bars on the windows. It was a tough area with Italians and Hispanics. Then still some Jews lived among blacks in nearby Brownsville. But past this, Forest Hills was a secure community, with private security where no one could trespass. It was full of Republicans and conservatives, who still live there to this day. Austin Street was the dividing line, one side is the LIRR and the other side is open space.

Downloaded by [University of Birmingham] at 04:31 08 May 2016 This Genovese murder on Austin Street shook things up. Everyone got into a funk. Suddenly New York was branded MYOB—Mind Your Own Business. Kitty murder at first caused an amazing setback for the people of New York City. Mayor Wagner and the police warned citizens, “Look what happened to Kitty Genovese. There are really serious criminals out there, cretins with chromosome damage. We are trained professionals, don’t you dare to try to get involved.” This message was emasculating our communities. A malaise descended. Honest people fled from the streets, turning our parks and playgrounds over to the drug dealers and hookers. New Yorkers fled their city by the thousands for the suburbs or for . Others decided to take care of just me, myself, and my possessions, with no concern for others. Remembering Kitty Genovese 83

But for me, the Genovese tragedy taught a different and opposite lesson, to return to the values of my parents and grandparents, when we took responsibility for our own neighborhood. The Genovese murder was a major motivation for me to start the Guardian Angels, to become more community-minded, to empower young men and women to dare to care, to “get involved,” to take the shades from their eyes and the cotton balls from their ears. It is truly the people in a neighborhood that make the difference, not the professionals, politicians and police. Instead, these assist the citizens to maintain our quality of life. For 25 years now, I have been training Guardian Angels around the world to reclaim their own neighborhoods—now in 27 cities from Tokyo to London, New York to Rio de Janeiro. We work with police aggressively and proactively to make sure that those who violate the law are put on notice: We are the hunters, and they are the hunted.

Discussant: A.M. Rosenthal

Yes I would like to add my word about the Genovese tragedy, and how and why I wrote 38 witnesses. I had published an article in the Times Magazine on May 3 (Rosenthal, 1964), and was impassioned to write the book, which finished quickly in 1964. In 1964, I had just returned from ten years as a foreign correspondent of The New York Times, and was appointed its Metropolitan Editor. As I did in foreign lands, I was in the process meeting the people who ran the city, when I met Police Commissioner Michael Murphy for lunch near City Hall. He casually asked if I had heard the story about that murder in Queens. I said no. Then I soon found out about the 38 people who were watching through their windows,

Downloaded by [University of Birmingham] at 04:31 08 May 2016 and was deeply moved. Three people were involved in my book. One was Commissioner Murphy. Second was Andrew Blauner, who encouraged me to publish book, which was reissued by the University of California in 1999. Third was prosecutor Skoller, whom I never met before today, but who I sincerely thank here and now. Why did the Genovese incident move me so deeply? I tell you this. I had five sisters, and I was the youngest. What loving and magnificent sisters I had. But one of my sisters was murdered. Young Bess was returning home two nights before New Years through a path in Van Cortlandt Park, when a sexual pervert jumped out of the bushes and exposed himself to her. In shock, she escaped, and ran home one mile, sweaty in the chill weather. Within two days, Bess 84 Remembering Kitty Genovese

fell ill and died. I still miss our darling Bess, and feel Bess was murdered by this criminal who took her life away, no less than the monster who killed Kitty Genovese. While I was a foreign correspondent in Poland, Nepal, India, Pakistan and Bangladesh, I remember walking past dead and dying bodies in the streets of Calcutta. What did I do to help? Nothing. It was too bad, and I carried all these things with me. Sometimes, I would carry an apple to give to a beggar. And I ask myself, was there any difference between those 38 witnesses and me? Does God count how many people we pass by? I don’t know. But I do know I will never walk past a corpse again, thanks to the valuable lesson I learnt from these two noble women--my dear sister Bess and Kitty Genovese. Thank you.

John J. Cecero, SJ: Benediction

We have heard a lot this morning. May we just take a moment to be quiet now, and allow ourselves to sit in the presence of God. God of compassion, we have gathered here today to remember Kitty Genovese, and her family who have suffered much. We honor her life, we ask for forgiveness for the indifference of our brothers and sisters. We seek insight and wisdom to see more clearly our human darkness, not to dwell there, nor despair, but all the better to seek Your light and love, for our hearts, for our world, so that where there is hatred, we may sow Your love. Amen. Thank you.

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