Bill Schenley
2006-04-09 21:43:37 UTC
In August of last year, [John] Broderick Hehman wrote this letter to
the Vijay Verghese's Check-In column in Smart Travel Magazine:
FROM: Smart Travel (August 16th 2005) ~
By Broderick Hehman
(In response to a Check-In article writen by Vijay Verghese)
Big Apple is no crime capital
I recently read Vijay Verghese's February 2003 Check-in
comment "Advice on Travel Advisories". As a New Yorker, I
was greatly enlightened about the horrifically violent state
of my city, as well as London and Paris. I was particularly
intrigued by the statistics cited about the Big Apple,
particularly those regarding homicides.
Your article erroneously states that New York's homicide
rate was 13.5 "in its heyday." If we are talking about the
1940s and 1950s, when the city's prosperity and optimism
knew no bounds, then that figure is wrong. For a city of its
size (eight million then, eight million now), the average
murder count 1940s-1950s of 250 to 300 is a relatively tame
3.12 to 3.75. That may be oh so frightening for a resident
of Hongkong, with a tame one murder per 100,000 people, but
no one is perfect.
I've spent time in Harlem and I've never been mugged, shot,
raped, or had my car stolen. [This reputation] is so
Eighties
In another section of the article, Verghese wrote that New
York experienced 2,000 homicides a year up until the
mid-1990s. This is only partially true, as the only two
years in the city's history where the murder count exceeded
2,000 were 1990 and 1991. That number has since declined to
fewer than six hundred - 587 in 2002 - Year of the Hearse
indeed! And the figure is dropping. Your statistics for the
year 2000, which included 952 murders, are off by about four
years; that was the murder count for 1996.
No, pretty much every single business traveller survives the
trip to the airport, where the biggest problem is the
traffic on the Van Wyck Expressway. Yes, I've spent plenty
of time in Harlem and have never been mugged, shot, raped,
or had my car stolen; its reputation as a crime-ridden place
is SO 1980s. No, I don't barricade myself in my house every
day, as you have advised. New York City is no
Medellin-on-the-Hudson.
As for London and Paris: London does not have a homicide
every day, more like 170 a year - fairly tame for a
Hongkong-sized city. The Paris figure, however, is accurate,
because that city is struggling with a huge rise in violent
crime due to unemployment and racial tension. I also take
offense at your statement that the United States's murder
rate is three times the international average. Where is the
source?
Colombia, Brazil, South Africa, the Philippines, Thailand,
Venezuela, Peru, Jamaica and Haiti, among others, all have
much higher murder rates. If you must recommend a travel
advisory for an American city, however, apply it to one that
actually HAS a contemporary reputation for violence:
Detroit, New Orleans, Washington DC and Chicago would all be
valid examples.
Now if you will excuse me, I have a jazz performance in
Harlem to attend. I'll let you know if I see a Balinese
kecak dance up on 125th Street.
FROM: Smart Travel ~
By The Editors
(In response to Mr. Hehman's letter)
Thank you for that detailed and enjoyable rebuttal. Check-in
is a satirical column. Far be it for us to recommend
knee-jerk Travel Advisories. The point is crime and
accidents of fate lurk everywhere and it is no point
churning out Travel Advisories covering practically the
whole world. Americans need to get out and travel, albeit
sensibly, and the rest of the world should have the moxie to
visit a good Harlem jazz show.
---
Then, on April 1st of this year:
---
Man Hit By Car; Witnesses Say He Was Chased
FROM: The New York Times (April 3rd 2006) ~
A college student was struck and injured by a car on Saturday evening
when he darted into a busy Harlem intersection, a witness and a law
enforcement official said yesterday. The official said the police were
investigating reports that the victim was being chased.
The student, Broderick Hehman, 20, a junior at New York University,
was in critical condition at Harlem Hospital Center yesterday, the
police said. The driver of the car, a 38-year-old man who was not
identified yesterday, remained at the scene of the accident. He was
not charged.
The police were trying to determine why Mr. Hehman ran into the
intersection, at 125th Street and Park Avenue. Witnesses told
investigators that it appeared that Mr. Hehman was being chased by
several young men, the law enforcement official said.
David Jones, a homeless man who sells used goods at the intersection,
said he witnessed the accident, which took place about 8:30. "They
were trying to beat him," he said. "Some kids were trying to beat
him." Mr. Hehman, who ran east on 125th Street, turned south into the
intersection, he said, and then was hit by the car, which the police
said was a silver Mercedes-Benz.
An uncle, Andy Hehman, said his nephew was an urban studies major at
N.Y.U. "He's a very warm person," he said at the hospital last night.
"He never lets you get out of there with just a handshake. It always
had to be a hug."
---
Student At NYU Hit By Car Is In Coma
FROM: The New York Daily News (April 3rd 2006) ~
By Melissa Grace and Jane H. Furse
http://www.nydailynews.com/news/story/405340p-343268c.html
(w/photo)
New York University student has been in a coma since Saturday night,
when he was struck by a car while being chased onto a street in
Harlem, police said.
Broderick Hehman, 20, was hit at 8:37 p.m. Saturday night near 125th
St. and Park Ave. while running from an unidentified male, witnesses
told police. Witnesses also said the driver was unable to avoid
Hehman.
"The thoughts and prayers of the NYU community are with the students
and his family," said John Beckman, spokesman for the university.
Hehman, whose friends call him JB, is a junior at NYU who is majoring
in metropolitan studies. On the student Web site Facebook.com, Hehman
pokes fun at himself, describing his interests as ranging from "the
city" to "doing the laundry" and "food history."
He remained in critical condition last night at Harlem Hospital, where
his parents - Patricia McGovern-Hehman, a securities analyst, and
Thomas Hehman, a Manhattan investment banker - sat vigil.
The family had no comment yesterday, and police were still
investigating the events leading up to the incident.
But authorities have been unable to question the young man, who was
still unconscious last night.
---
A Damning Silence
FROM: The New York Post (April 9th 2006) ~
By (Editorial)
It's been a week now since a car hit NYU student John Hehman after he
ran into a Harlem street, fleeing from a gang of thugs.
After laying in a coma for five days, Hehman died on Wednesday.
Despite its eerie resemblance to the 1986 Howard Beach affair, this
incident has all but passed unnoticed.
Back in '86, a gang of white thugs chased Michael Griffith, a black
man, onto the busy Belt Parkway - where he, too, was killed by a car.
The outrageous act inflamed racial passions across the city.
Last year, when another black man was beaten by several white thugs
from Howard Beach, the city again took notice.
Al Sharpton & Co. saw to that.
So, Howard Beach, big headlines.
Harlem, hardly any headlines at all.
Could it be because this time the gang was black and the victim white?
Obviously, the police have to take their time as they make their case,
but the silence in the media - relative to the other two cases - is
stunning.
Eyewitness accounts say Hehman had stopped to give a homeless man a
dollar. One thug allegedly approached, asking, "Where's our dollar?"
Another yelled, "Get the white boy!" or "Get whitey!" The gang chased
him.
Running into 125th Street, Hehman was hit by a Mercedes Benz.
The incident is troubling in other respects: The gang members were
allegedly smoking pot in a local Popeye's right before accosting
Hehman.
If that's the case, the NYPD must get these thugs off the street
immediately: Tolerance for this sort of activity violates the basic
precepts that restored this city's social fabric these last dozen
years.
Meanwhile, while we have never particularly cared for the concept of
"hate" crimes, the fact is that the statutes must be enforced as
written.
A little public protest from Al Sharpton and his merry pranksters
would go a long way toward making their reflexive "outrage" when the
shoe is on the other foot a bit more credible.
Even if they don't really mean it.
---
Teens Busted In Death Of NYU Student
FROM: The New York Post (April 9th 2006) ~
By John Mazor and Perry Chiaramonte
Four Harlem teens have been arrested in connection with the death of
an NYU student who was hit by a car on 125th Street after being chased
by a gang that was allegedly screaming anti-white racial epithets,
cops said.
Hassan Mayfield and Andre Johnson, both 15, were charged with murder
in the second degree and attempted robbery in the second degree, cops
said.
Charges against two 13-year-olds were pending last night.
John Broderick Hehman, a 20-year-old urban-affairs student at NYU was
chased into the street at about 8:30 p.m. in East Harlem on April 1 by
a gang of black teens.
the Vijay Verghese's Check-In column in Smart Travel Magazine:
FROM: Smart Travel (August 16th 2005) ~
By Broderick Hehman
(In response to a Check-In article writen by Vijay Verghese)
Big Apple is no crime capital
I recently read Vijay Verghese's February 2003 Check-in
comment "Advice on Travel Advisories". As a New Yorker, I
was greatly enlightened about the horrifically violent state
of my city, as well as London and Paris. I was particularly
intrigued by the statistics cited about the Big Apple,
particularly those regarding homicides.
Your article erroneously states that New York's homicide
rate was 13.5 "in its heyday." If we are talking about the
1940s and 1950s, when the city's prosperity and optimism
knew no bounds, then that figure is wrong. For a city of its
size (eight million then, eight million now), the average
murder count 1940s-1950s of 250 to 300 is a relatively tame
3.12 to 3.75. That may be oh so frightening for a resident
of Hongkong, with a tame one murder per 100,000 people, but
no one is perfect.
I've spent time in Harlem and I've never been mugged, shot,
raped, or had my car stolen. [This reputation] is so
Eighties
In another section of the article, Verghese wrote that New
York experienced 2,000 homicides a year up until the
mid-1990s. This is only partially true, as the only two
years in the city's history where the murder count exceeded
2,000 were 1990 and 1991. That number has since declined to
fewer than six hundred - 587 in 2002 - Year of the Hearse
indeed! And the figure is dropping. Your statistics for the
year 2000, which included 952 murders, are off by about four
years; that was the murder count for 1996.
No, pretty much every single business traveller survives the
trip to the airport, where the biggest problem is the
traffic on the Van Wyck Expressway. Yes, I've spent plenty
of time in Harlem and have never been mugged, shot, raped,
or had my car stolen; its reputation as a crime-ridden place
is SO 1980s. No, I don't barricade myself in my house every
day, as you have advised. New York City is no
Medellin-on-the-Hudson.
As for London and Paris: London does not have a homicide
every day, more like 170 a year - fairly tame for a
Hongkong-sized city. The Paris figure, however, is accurate,
because that city is struggling with a huge rise in violent
crime due to unemployment and racial tension. I also take
offense at your statement that the United States's murder
rate is three times the international average. Where is the
source?
Colombia, Brazil, South Africa, the Philippines, Thailand,
Venezuela, Peru, Jamaica and Haiti, among others, all have
much higher murder rates. If you must recommend a travel
advisory for an American city, however, apply it to one that
actually HAS a contemporary reputation for violence:
Detroit, New Orleans, Washington DC and Chicago would all be
valid examples.
Now if you will excuse me, I have a jazz performance in
Harlem to attend. I'll let you know if I see a Balinese
kecak dance up on 125th Street.
FROM: Smart Travel ~
By The Editors
(In response to Mr. Hehman's letter)
Thank you for that detailed and enjoyable rebuttal. Check-in
is a satirical column. Far be it for us to recommend
knee-jerk Travel Advisories. The point is crime and
accidents of fate lurk everywhere and it is no point
churning out Travel Advisories covering practically the
whole world. Americans need to get out and travel, albeit
sensibly, and the rest of the world should have the moxie to
visit a good Harlem jazz show.
---
Then, on April 1st of this year:
---
Man Hit By Car; Witnesses Say He Was Chased
FROM: The New York Times (April 3rd 2006) ~
A college student was struck and injured by a car on Saturday evening
when he darted into a busy Harlem intersection, a witness and a law
enforcement official said yesterday. The official said the police were
investigating reports that the victim was being chased.
The student, Broderick Hehman, 20, a junior at New York University,
was in critical condition at Harlem Hospital Center yesterday, the
police said. The driver of the car, a 38-year-old man who was not
identified yesterday, remained at the scene of the accident. He was
not charged.
The police were trying to determine why Mr. Hehman ran into the
intersection, at 125th Street and Park Avenue. Witnesses told
investigators that it appeared that Mr. Hehman was being chased by
several young men, the law enforcement official said.
David Jones, a homeless man who sells used goods at the intersection,
said he witnessed the accident, which took place about 8:30. "They
were trying to beat him," he said. "Some kids were trying to beat
him." Mr. Hehman, who ran east on 125th Street, turned south into the
intersection, he said, and then was hit by the car, which the police
said was a silver Mercedes-Benz.
An uncle, Andy Hehman, said his nephew was an urban studies major at
N.Y.U. "He's a very warm person," he said at the hospital last night.
"He never lets you get out of there with just a handshake. It always
had to be a hug."
---
Student At NYU Hit By Car Is In Coma
FROM: The New York Daily News (April 3rd 2006) ~
By Melissa Grace and Jane H. Furse
http://www.nydailynews.com/news/story/405340p-343268c.html
(w/photo)
New York University student has been in a coma since Saturday night,
when he was struck by a car while being chased onto a street in
Harlem, police said.
Broderick Hehman, 20, was hit at 8:37 p.m. Saturday night near 125th
St. and Park Ave. while running from an unidentified male, witnesses
told police. Witnesses also said the driver was unable to avoid
Hehman.
"The thoughts and prayers of the NYU community are with the students
and his family," said John Beckman, spokesman for the university.
Hehman, whose friends call him JB, is a junior at NYU who is majoring
in metropolitan studies. On the student Web site Facebook.com, Hehman
pokes fun at himself, describing his interests as ranging from "the
city" to "doing the laundry" and "food history."
He remained in critical condition last night at Harlem Hospital, where
his parents - Patricia McGovern-Hehman, a securities analyst, and
Thomas Hehman, a Manhattan investment banker - sat vigil.
The family had no comment yesterday, and police were still
investigating the events leading up to the incident.
But authorities have been unable to question the young man, who was
still unconscious last night.
---
A Damning Silence
FROM: The New York Post (April 9th 2006) ~
By (Editorial)
It's been a week now since a car hit NYU student John Hehman after he
ran into a Harlem street, fleeing from a gang of thugs.
After laying in a coma for five days, Hehman died on Wednesday.
Despite its eerie resemblance to the 1986 Howard Beach affair, this
incident has all but passed unnoticed.
Back in '86, a gang of white thugs chased Michael Griffith, a black
man, onto the busy Belt Parkway - where he, too, was killed by a car.
The outrageous act inflamed racial passions across the city.
Last year, when another black man was beaten by several white thugs
from Howard Beach, the city again took notice.
Al Sharpton & Co. saw to that.
So, Howard Beach, big headlines.
Harlem, hardly any headlines at all.
Could it be because this time the gang was black and the victim white?
Obviously, the police have to take their time as they make their case,
but the silence in the media - relative to the other two cases - is
stunning.
Eyewitness accounts say Hehman had stopped to give a homeless man a
dollar. One thug allegedly approached, asking, "Where's our dollar?"
Another yelled, "Get the white boy!" or "Get whitey!" The gang chased
him.
Running into 125th Street, Hehman was hit by a Mercedes Benz.
The incident is troubling in other respects: The gang members were
allegedly smoking pot in a local Popeye's right before accosting
Hehman.
If that's the case, the NYPD must get these thugs off the street
immediately: Tolerance for this sort of activity violates the basic
precepts that restored this city's social fabric these last dozen
years.
Meanwhile, while we have never particularly cared for the concept of
"hate" crimes, the fact is that the statutes must be enforced as
written.
A little public protest from Al Sharpton and his merry pranksters
would go a long way toward making their reflexive "outrage" when the
shoe is on the other foot a bit more credible.
Even if they don't really mean it.
---
Teens Busted In Death Of NYU Student
FROM: The New York Post (April 9th 2006) ~
By John Mazor and Perry Chiaramonte
Four Harlem teens have been arrested in connection with the death of
an NYU student who was hit by a car on 125th Street after being chased
by a gang that was allegedly screaming anti-white racial epithets,
cops said.
Hassan Mayfield and Andre Johnson, both 15, were charged with murder
in the second degree and attempted robbery in the second degree, cops
said.
Charges against two 13-year-olds were pending last night.
John Broderick Hehman, a 20-year-old urban-affairs student at NYU was
chased into the street at about 8:30 p.m. in East Harlem on April 1 by
a gang of black teens.