It's 3:30 AM, New Years Day. You own a nightclub on Glenwood Avenue. You're heading home after a great evening, whereas you've offered your customers a safe, fun place to celebrate the New Year.
You and a few of the bar staff try to enter the Morse Avenue CTA EL Station. You witness a dozen minors (15-17 years old/males and females) hanging inside the terminal, blocking the turn styles. Politely, you ask them to move so you may board the train.
Then BAM. All hell breaks loose. You and your friends are viciously attacked. You hear the females egging on the young boys to prove their manhood. The beating continues. The blood flows. The CTA security and personal do nothing.
Blognotes: Questions? We've got questions...
1) Why were teenagers allowed to hang out in the CTA station at Morse Avenue well past curfew?
2) Why didn't the CTA staff call the police to have the minors taken home?
3) Why did the girls in the group feel it was necessary to encourage the boys to beat down these non-violent workers of a nightclub on Glenwood?
4) Are any of these youth part of any of the Block gangs we've been talking about for the past 2 weeks?
5) Where's Joe Moore while Rogers Park is under attack from the teen gangs roaming the neighborhood?
Finally, why do all these attacks lately seem to center around the CTA Red Line stations; Morse, Jarvis and Howard?
47 comments:
This attack is abouselty insane. Why would they do something like this to someone just trying to go home and get on a train?! It makes no sense at all!
I'm hoping that the bar owners called the police after the beatdown (which they did not deserve AT ALL) and at least tried to press charges against them.
The girls probably howled on their boys to do this beat down because they want it proved to them that these boys are "real" boys to them. It may also because of, like one of the questions you asked, they're in one of those gangs.
As for CTA staff not doing anything, they usually never do. They could care less what happens to you. But if you photograph their buses/train (as a hobby I might add), they get all defensive about it and threaten to take you to jail. This has been done to me at least twice over the past three years since I've been photographing the buses and trains.
I hope the offenders are found and they get the justice they deserve.
P.S. Craig, I never got a reply from my alderman regarding that blog post I sent him.
which bar?
Adelie, I got to draw the line somewhere. Your first sentence was cause for the rejection.
I just added a photo of the bar mentioned in the story.
I was informed the owner called the Alderman's office and has yet to here back from anyone.
I would like to recommend a letter writing/telephone campaign for the new year.
Each of us should write or phone the alderman and request two things:
1. A written copy of his plan for eradicating the drug dealing and violent crime in our neighborhood, including a timeline of how that plan has progressed over his 17 years in office.
2. A written copy of his plan for bringing quality businesses to Morse Avenue, Howard Street and other blighted streets of his ward, including the historic steps he has taken to attract new businesses to our community and a list of next steps. (Note: We will not accept a list of businesses that have opened here without direct invitation or pre-opening partnership with Joe.)
Please write or phone your alderman's office today.
Nice police work. Nice work by the complicit CTA slacker on duty. Nice parenting on the part of those vicious Japanese-American honor students. Nice work by Alderman Moore in not demanding extra officers for public transit stations in his ward on that night. Just frikking nice all around.
I have witnessed these types of senseless attacks on citizens by gangs of youth in many other cities, and was nearly the victim of one once. It is the reason I cross the street when I see a noisy, unruly gang of teens of any race, sex, or ethnicity, especially if they are intoxicated.
We obviously need more aggressive law enforcement in this ward, and we need an alderman who will step to the plate and take responsibility for the increasing problems. We were making progress for a couple of years, but now we are backsliding.
There is a reason for a youth curfew, which was aggressively enforced when I was a teen. Other measures were taken as well, such as breaking up large groups of teens into pairs. It was considered that we were all a bunch of ticking bombs who needed supervision at all times, and I have to agree. Packs of unruly, drunk people are always dangerous, doubly so when they are teens. What makes us think kids are any different than they were 40 years ago?
There is NO CTA staff in the station at 3 AM, only security guards from a firm CTA contracts. These people walk off their shifts with impunity.
If real CTA workers are present, you will usually be assisted.
If a CTA worker with a CTA badge does NOT assist you, take his/her badge number and write to everyone at CTA you can find an email address for. Follow up with a snailmail letter and phone calls.
Do the same for the security guards there. I have many times found stations totally unattended when guards were supposed to be on duty, and I call and write every time.
On December 22nd, I posted an article on my blog, www.anotherthousandwords.blogspot.com, titled "BOYS IN BLUE". Go there, SEARCH for it.
The pix show a map on the Red Line L which had been defaced sometime before I took the shots on October 22, 2008.
B-Block (Booty Boyz) was "up to no good" back then. The graffiti states: "B-BLOCK WE ON DA MAD", with the Morse and Howard stations highlighted in BLUE.
After the stabbing death of "Freaky Nu Nu", the walls of the Jarvis station viaduct were defaced IN HIS MEMORY. (see www.rp1000.blogspot.com) for a video posted again on January 2, 2009 titled "Before and After: Jarvis Station Murder".
These CHEAP LITTLE THUGS think they OWN the far north side of Chicago. They call it THE NORTH POLE. Until they are STOPPED, by the community, they will continue to destroy, deface, harrass or even KILL anyone they choose. Because DEY ON DA MAD.
Wake up, people! Ald. Joe Moore doesn't give a rat's asterisk about YOU! You can call and call, send e-mail-after e-mail...do you really think this ALDER-JOKER has an answer? Does he even LIVE here, in Rogers Park?
And, yes, MJH, I AM frustrated...that there is NO WAY TO GET RID OF HIM (and others like him)...immediately!
The 49th Ward of Chicago desperately needs A MAN OF THE PEOPLE--not a "progressive Dummocrat"!
Intimadation tatics and attacks at these red line stations in the early morning.
What is so 'lately' about that?
Admittedly I don't have specific answers for the first five questions.
THIS IS NOT A CRITICISM: I appreciate the unrelenting attention that you give to your ward of residence and community as well as the work that you put into your blog.
Still I wonder if there isn't righteous indignation and naive rhetoric in some of your post tag lines and content queries?
The right to live in a safe community as a tax-paying free citizen of Chicago notwithstanding.
Happy New Year Craig, sincerely.
And that is your perogative because it is your blog. I had a feeling it would be censored because it was harsh.
But obviously, these "kids" (I hesitate to call them kids because of their age) will go unpunished and their violence will escalate until they actually kill an innocent person. Violence is fun for them, Craig. So, what is really more harsh, what I said, or what they do? My crime was putting what many people think down in writing.
Their parent's won't discipline them, our juvenile system is a joke, and we all sit here and wonder why it just gets worse. You think those thugs don't know all of this? You think they don't count on our sense of misplaced compassion to wreak havoc on our society?
Things are only going to get worse. Why? Because at the core of our existence, we are all animals. We only become human when we develop a conscience and learn to control our impulses. These "kids" have neither a conscience nor impulse control. They never will.
And each day, the problem grows exponentially. But hey, at least those of us who try to do the right thing (whatever that is) can rest easy in knowing we died as humans.
I'm going to go sing Kumbaya and avoid the Rogers Park "L" stations from now on, and maybe, just maybe, God will come by here, sprinkle some magic and make all the bad boys and girls magically disappear!
newgarder said:
What is so 'lately' about that?
Admittedly I don't have specific answers for the first five questions.
THIS IS NOT A CRITICISM: I appreciate the unrelenting attention that you give to your ward of residence and community as well as the work that you put into your blog.
Still I wonder if there isn't righteous indignation and naive rhetoric in some of your post tag lines and content queries?
The right to live in a safe community as a tax-paying free citizen of Chicago notwithstanding.
Happy New Year Craig, sincerely.
*********
I have called today, on www.rp1000.blogspot.com, for the resignation of Ald. Joe Moore.
Appaently, 'newgarder' does not live here, in the 49th Ward, and consequently, is blinded to to "Pay-for-Play thst has been "de rigeur" for Ald. Joe Moore.
"righteous indignation and naive rhetoric" DO NOT APPLY to Craig Gernhardt!
And your 'SINCERELY" realy isn't sounding very SINCERE, Tad!
here is an answer: STERILIZATION! It does wonders!
I think it's simple, the CTA staff should call the police/911 to disperse the loiterers. If loitering was not tolerated on CTA property, it wouldn't happen. Didn't we fund a TIF to help finish the Howard L recently? I think the CTA owes us a safe station in return. Staff that will nt do their jobs should be fired. Or add cameras inside and outside the station-whatever it takes.
Newsflash: Name calling continues to not solve anything as usual.
Didn't this happen at 3:30 AM. What an idiot. "Excuse me would you mind if we get by" Take a friggen cab. There no limit to people's stupidity.
In reply to RP4Life: People should be able to take a train without being beaten almost to death, no matter what time of the day.
they are idiots for trying to take the train? I think that Is an idiotic post! they may not be able to afford to take a cab every night after work.
I agree with ya, Chicago.
RP4Life, this may shock you, but most people cannot afford to take cabs on a daily basis, and many more people can ill afford to run a car.
I have often had to catch the el at 3 AM to make an early flight, and cab fare to the airport is prohibitive. I am not poor, but I value paying my bills, staying solvent, and saving money, and therefore do not own a car. And I have had jobs that required me to report at 5 AM.
Hospital workers, restaurant workers, and people who work demanding jobs requiring them to report very early and stay very late, have to be on the streets in the small hours. Shall we all be required to front the awful cost of automobile and further clog the streets of the city?
Get real. We have a right to expect a safe, civil environment. It is the definition of civilization, and my belief is that the United States began to lose its grip on civilization when we decided to become a nation of victim-blamers and turn our public environment over to criminal scum.
We need to reclaim our public spaces, and get it across to the thug population that our city belongs to productive citizens, not to them.
When (what time) do we start taking the train RP4Life? I mean, what time is acceptable to you? You must own a cab company or maybe you're just a cab driver? Maybe you're the seat of a cab cuz your solution stinks.
I did not mean to minimize the injuries that were sustained by any persons in this attack. The facts are that the main person that was attacked owns a bar in this area. He/She should know the types of people that hang here. There are windows in the train station. People have an obligation to keep themselves safe and know when they are in danger. I would say that a vestibule full of youths at 3:30 AM would raise some flags. There are limits to common sense. We live in a crime ridden area with Morse ave at its center. For a Bar owner to walk into a group of drunk youths and ask to pass is completely stupid. You can say whatever you want about me. If you put yourself in a dangerous situation, you put yourself in a dangerous situation. Get your head out of your asses and elect people that will do their jobs, like you/we do everyday. Raise some Hell. Call the alderman.
How many of you that responded to my post have ever called the police or alderman's offices to complain about the crime in the area? How many of you go to the community meetings? How many of you go out and pick up bags of garbage every week? How many of you donate your time to our community? I do all of these things. Do you?
Write a letter. If everyone that goes on this blog writes a snail mail letter to the following people something just might happen.
Steve Caluris
24th District Commander
6464 N. Clark St.
Chicago, IL 60626
Joe Moore
49th Ward Alderman
7356 N. Greenview Ave.
Chicago, IL 60626
Can you provide the name of the bar, or the names of the people who were attacked?
This is information people should know about, and I would like to do something, but I need more information than "Some people were attacked on New Year's Day at the el."
Anyone who wants more information can contact Renee, the bar owner, at the Glenwood.
RP4Life. We have a new commander now.
Well u know wat yall really dont know shit about shit but want 2 b on here posting shit i was there that night and that bar owner and his staff push my guy girl and called her a black bitch so that was on them what ever happen to them that on them they lucky they really aint get fucked up
they did deserve it
RP4Life:
Steve Caluris is no longer the 24th District Commander and hasn't been since November 28th when David Sobczyk was announced as the new Commander.
Jammo, Renee never told me that part. If true, that's wrong. Very, very wrong - and I'll address that part of the alleged story if this accusation can be confirmed.
Still,
1) you're out way past curfew. Why?
2) Why is fighting so appealing?
3) Please use proper wording, ie: no texting. Otherwise I will not allow your comments. I would like to understand what you are saying, but I am not versed, nor do I care to be on texting. Please understand and follow my blog rules I set up for easy reading communication between the Rogers Park on-line community.
And to my neighbors go the same. Let's not bash Jammo, let's try to resolve our differences.
Jammo came on and wanted to tell us we don't know "shit" from "shit." I'd like to hear what this "shit" Jammo's talking about is all about. Is that cool with you, Jammo?
I want to know why Jammo and his friends want to fight and kill so much.
I want to know why your girlfriends like to see you guys fight and die.
To me, this is just plain strange and I want to understand why you guys do this meaningless acts of violence.
Grammar Gal is correct: I do not presently reside in the 49th ward district.
Yet this does not mean that I don't have memories about living in that district.
I applied the phrases 'righteous indignation' & 'naive rhetoric' to some of Mr. Grenhardt's post tag lines and content queries.Not to him personally.
I merely wondered why a group would attempt to pass through an apparently risky situation.
Isn't part of being safe using one's mental faculties to assess a situation?
Perhaps it was factors of age, monetary means and/or the confidence of a being in a collective group of individuals which determined entering the EL station.
Yet wouldn't it have been worthwhile to avoid the possibility of trauma by making other arrangements like pooling funds for a taxi?
Ironically I was mugged on my way to work on New Years morning six years ago. I felt confident enough to walk to where I needed to get to since my initial transportation plans were falling through.
The reason that I felt confident was the training that I received while living in Rogers Park. Some of the street IQ stays with a person.For example I realized blocks away that this might be apotential for trouble when I spied a white mini van heading my way two blocks down the street. I just felt confident enough that I could talk my way out of it or that these muggers would pass when they realized I probably didn't have enough of what they were looking for.
Luckily after the incident the only fractured part of me was my ego-especially when I gave an accurate sketch of one of the perpetrators to the responding cop and he dismissed it.That and the fact that I later realized that this was probably some type of gang initiation ritual.
After fourteen years of urban living(more or less) my cherry (the unspoken fear of every urban dweller) got popped in the suburbs!
FYI I did extend 'sincerely' sincerely to Craig and I extend the same to you Grammar Gal.
If someone is blocking the turnstyles at 3:30a.m., you call 911, first, rather than challenge a bunch of holes looking for an adrenaline rush.
I appreciate that hindsight is 20/20, but when confronted with road rage, most of us will recognize it, let the more frustrated vent emotions, and eventually drive on. If assaulted, but not beaten, you should report it.
If there was a brown security or securitas suit at Morse, then the concern is whether they had any bkg check. Half the battle is that CTA too often outsources to private security agencies who simply look for bodies to place in locations in my opinion. I believe that most have minimal training. Take down the badge and report the useless guard to Craig. The CTA needs to hire a reasonable amount of CTA cops.
The CPD needs to be more than just a 'mop up' crew. Securing safe passage is worth the investment. This is bad PR for the Morse stop, but when confronted with such crap, it is no time to play bouncer. Fortunately, no one was killed.
On the flip side of the CTA's mentality:
A few years ago Beat 2422 was out in the frigid night air Christmas caroling. We stopped in the Howard station to warm up and sing. We were told to leave! The best part is we were accompanied by a sergent and at least two other police officers.
Newgarder:
The 49th Ward you lived in is vastly different from the current situation here. And even though it borders a major 'burb (Evanston), things have changed dramatically there, also.
The gangs have become bigger, more animalistic, driven by lust for money, lust for drugs, and lust for the alcohol that "frees their spirits".
And, they are EVERYWHERE, not just in the City of Chicago. The CPD initiates its new "Gang Unit" shortly. Hopefully, it will be fully funded--are you reading this, Mayor?- and will be able to take down gang members one by one.
Please support your local police, wherever you live.
And Newgarder, I hope 2009 brings good things to your life! Sincerely.
YourChicagoFriend - I agree - email and email - call and call - don't let the aldermans' office think that ignoring us will make us go away. I did receive an email from Anne Sullivan a while back that said the Morse L is very safe now - I emailed her back and asked her when the last time was she or the Alderman actually took it? No reply to that!! What about contacting the Chicago Tribune?? Getting more legs on the story about the absence of governing from our Alderman!
Laura - you think a real CTA person will assist you?? WOW - I must have been going to the wrong stations - they usually are so busy talking to people or co-workers they completely ignore me.
Most CTA workers will assist you if you ask.
If a CTA worker does NOT assist, take the badge number, on the worker's right sleeve, and report it over every CTA email address. Don't use the CTA customer service number for they outsource their customer service and you will not get an answer.
Always report rudeness, or refusal to assist you. Complaints do work, at least against individual employees. They don't work so well against the companies CTA outsources to, though.
After 9:30 or 10 PM at most stations, and after 6 at many others are manned by guards from a private security firm. These people are notorious for walking off their shifts and leaving their stations unattended. To address this, we need for our alderman to complain to CTA to run their stations differently.
I took all of my information off the Chicago Police Web site. Thanks for the heads up.
I may belly ache, but after ten years, I still see improvement with a little ebb in some areas and tremendous improvement in others. A sudden rise in graffiti is a blip. Eventually, graffiti Blasters will get better information if neighbors properly report it to the online website.
Also, no one deserves to be attacked, but some may welcome the challenge. There is no end to those trying to assert their rights at a time when CPD should be brought in to serve and protect. Whether officers take long to report will depend upon how an offense is reported.
I was just at that bar on Saturday night around 10:30 (with my GF... not that there's anything wrong with that). Even though it's a gay bar it's still pretty lowkey and OK sometimes. There was a woman and a guy behind the bar - I was told that the woman was the owner. We sat and watched a movie with them ("Wet Hot American Summer" to be exact). They made no mention of this incident.
Doesn't the CTA have a security force? Those guys with the dogs or whomever they hire? Where the hell were they, particularly knowing that there have been incidents in recent months of this type going on there? Hell, even one security guy with a dog could have kept the station clear. Post one security with a dog at Howard, Jarvis, Morse, Loyola, Granville, Thorndale, Bryn Mawr... that's only seven people on the payroll. Considering how much revenue they will lose if this keeps up, it's worth. Hell, tell some of those CTA mopes who sit on their asses in the booths to get out there and hold a dog leash.
This is ridiculous. Hell, I could solve the crime problem at CTA stations in one day. One qualified security guard per station. End of problem.
Between the ineptitude of the CTA, the absence of morals in some teens in the area nd the obvious who-gives-a-f*ck attitude of their parents (my kid is out drinking and beating people up at 3 in the am... oh well), you're going to hear a lot more of these stories next summer as the teens learn they can get away with it. Get prepared. Not saying get something for protection (ahem), but I'm not NOT saying it either.
If someone is blocking the turnstyles at 3:30a.m., you call 911, first, rather than challenge a bunch of holes looking for an adrenaline rush.
Call 911 about a blocked turnstyle at a train station and you'll be waiting for quite some time for a response.
To Man on the Street:
There was "mob action, assault, and battery in progress." 720 ILCS 5/25-1(a)(2), 5/12-1(a), 5/12-3(a). Take your pick, all of the above took place before the confrontation. All, but mob action, are crimes punishable by a maximum of less than one year of imprisonment.
Police could have dispersed the crowd. It seemed best to blog my concerns based upon the information known to me. The post is at
http://fortysomething-politics.blogspot.com/2009/01/to-man-on-street-about-morse-l-attack.html
Perhaps, it will evoke further contemplation, rather than frustration.
I emailed the Alderman's office about the safety of our L stops - (Anne Sullivan had told me the L stops up here are very safe) - guess what? no reply! We all have to keep calling, emailing, attending meetings, doing whatever we can to control the crime. Our Alderman and his staff want to be paid the big bucks - let's force them to do their jobs
Lafew...
I read your post on your website and commented on it. I definitely see your point of view. As for my response, it's a little rambling and unfocused but I hope it makes sense.
Bottom line (for me): Sure the victims may have been able to take a cab. But that's not always an option for everyone for a variety of reasons. I'm not going to pretend they couldn't afford to take a cab. Perhaps the train was more convenient, maybe they were only going a couple of stops. But for whatever reason they chose to take the train as is their right.
And yes, if you can call 911 in response to a situation, by all means do so. But that's IF you can call 911. I don't have the statistics, but I'm going to guess that 911 calls are mostly by people not at the scene of the incident, who HEAR things (gunshots, screams), or discover things AFTER they happen (broken car windows, etc.). I can't think of too many situations involving an assault in progress where the victim has time to call 911 and give a detailed description of the incident and the perpetrators. Even if the victims had left to avoid confrontation, who's to say that the perpetrators wouldn't follow them? And if they victims had stood there and tried to call 911 right then and there, I'm sure the perpetrators weren't going to slink away without retaliation. They were teens in a train station at 3:30 a.m. after drinking. They weren't the shy types.
And as for the "mob action IN PROGRESS" calls, who made those calls? If they're "in progress", I'm going to guess it wasn't the victims being pummeled. And what do you mean by "There was "mob action, assault, and battery in progress" calls took place BEFORE the confrontation?" Where these thugs attacking other people all night long? Did someone report a "battery in progress" before there was actually a "battery in progress". I'm a little confused by this.
I understand your point: If you can avoid a problem by taking a cab, etc., do so. If you can call 911 at the onset of a problem, do so. But sometimes you can't do one or either of those. Sometimes you have to rely on yourself. Perhaps that's what happened here. But it shouldn't have come down to this at all.
Perhaps, it will evoke further contemplation, rather than frustration.
Sorry, just to add. My post was not written out of "frustration". Asking why CTA doesn't have at least one security guard at each train station or at least at each train station with a history of trouble is not a question borne of frustration but common sense. Questioning why teens were out drinking and carousing in a CTA train station at 3:30 a.m. is not a question from someone "frustrated" but a legitimate issue.
My comments are at
http://fortysomething-politics.blogspot.com/2009/01/to-man-on-street-about-morse-l-attack.html
I was born in Chicago. I attended University in Chicago. I have lived in Chicago for the last 22 years. I have lived in Chicago and the Chicago area for nearly my entire life. My opinion comes from a lifetime of experiences and observations.
My opinion comes from a lifetime of experiences and observations.
Mine too. Lived in Robert Taylor in the late 60s. Moved north in the early 70s, then back to the south side. Attended NIU. Worked at several local newspapers, worked for CHA, now with a state agency.
Edgewater Crime Blotter has a blurb about a crime that occured on Jarvis on New Year's eve, the same night as this incident. The assailants got off at Morse at aproximately 2:14 a.m. The incident with the Glenwood Tap folks happened at around 3:30 a.m., right? MIght it be the same assailants?
Edgewater Crime Blotter
There is an Aldermanic election on February 22. Those of you who have been ignored by Joe Moore can do some talking with your vote.
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