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About The daily Nebraskan. ([Lincoln, Neb.) 1901-current | View Entire Issue (Sept. 13, 1971)
Greenwich Village: crime takes over By Tom Mathews Newsweek Feature Service NEW YORK-Once, the great outpost of the permissive society was Greenwich Village, an entrancing area of Manhattan bounded by Houston Street, 14th Street, Broadway, the Hudson River and a touching belief in the sanctity of the lawbreaker. But through the years, the great-granddaddy of all street crime waves has engulfed the live- and-let-live atmosphere of the old neighborhood. So of late, Village liberals, and radicals as well, have begun to react just like any other citizens who safety and property are menaced. Villagers are forming block associations to fight back against the muggers, robbers, rapists and occasional murderers on their streets. They are talking of organizing vigilante groups. They have even gone to the extreme point-for people who once equated the law-and order issue with backlash-of supporting their local police. "The community is coming around," says Inspector Salvatore Matteis, commander of the local precinct. "The first sign of change came when we started getting more reports of crime. In the past, these people just wouldn't report crimes very much. Now we're getting so much cooperation it's amazing."" Last year, the rate of robberies in the Village increased by a thunderous 89 per cent This year, there have already been more than 700 robberies, 1,500 burglaries, some 25 reported rapes and six murders. With the crime wave has come a change in life-style for many Villagers. Old people, who know that they are the easiest targets for robbers, no longer sun themselves in Washington Square Park Shopkeepers, who used to stay open for the lively evening crowds, now close up and barricade their stores at sundown.. Middle-class parents do not allow their children to walk home from school alone. "My son has been held up and robbed three times in the past year," says a Village identist who has lived in the area for 20 years. "When I first moved here, this was the nicest place in Manhattan to bring up children."" Drugs are the major source of the problem. But even without the thievery of the addicts, the drug cultural brings its own deterioration. Take the case of the Haven, a Shendan Square . after-hours spot which billed itself as "the ultimate teen-age club.1" Originally, the site of the Haven was occupied by the Downtown Cafe Society, a well-known club of the postwar era. According to one lady who has lived a few doors away for the past 20 years, it has been all downhill ever since. "When Cafe Society left, Murder, Inc., took over the place, she says. "Even they were better than the Haven. As least they wer quiet Then there was an off-Broadway theater, then a discotheque called Salvation and finally the Haven. "Nuisance is a euphemism for what the Haven was. It opened at 9 p.m. and stayed open until noon the next day. The kids would come in from Westchester and New Jersy. They had money and fancy cars, and in the morning we would see them all zonked out "It was a horrible sight They used the vestibules in the neighboring buildings for johns. In the morning, you would come down and find urine, feces, vomit, glassine envelopes and maybe a hypodermic syringe in your halL After a collection of 300 signatures on a petition, intercession by the local congressman and an investigation by the state Attorney General., the place was finally closed down this summer. But it took a year of hard pressure to get il closed. And there are still similar, if smaller, clubs operating in other parts of the Village. Turn tc page 10. modern donee club ORCHESIS Tryouts, September 29th Women's P.E. Bldg - Room 304 REGULAR MEETINGS EVERY WEDNESDAY EVENING FH2ESiHIAflAE!l (Ml A P9Tli WEDNESDAY, SEPT 15th 9:30 A.M. - 4:30 P.M. Nebraska Union (Room Will Be Posted) sponsored by BUILDERS K Ph. v t or M : - s "k mamfczz ImPpTtSJ? inn t -'r-i r. - IB la? ; J I I Hi i H ' 1 Hi o in fc&a5ss.& "ft P-"- V 13 "1 3 1 ft imrwAiLW mrwMiintt,iii,Tii 11, ., -Mum OS? IFOUQOCS Write ad below using one blank for each word. 17 1- 2- 3. 1 4. 5! fe! 7. 8. 9. To" 77 75! 13. 14. 15! m. 7 7b. 19- 20. 22. 23. 24. 25- 26. 27 2S! 29! 30! NAME ADDRESS ZIP CODE PHONE No CITY. Daily Nebraskan Classifieds may be placed in Room 34 Nebraska Union between 9:00 AM and 5:00 PM daily weekdays. Cost for one ad is $.08 per word ($.80 minimum) for one insertion. Call 472-2590 for more information, or use the above form and bring it into the off ice. No refunds. No complimentary ads unless the error is brought to our attention within the first business day after publication. m have U an 1 " xJ Midi Y y: glass jiA FROM ARBY'S ROGUE'S BEEF GALLERY Mth&Q r MONDAY. SEPTEMBER 13, 1971 THE DAILY NEBRASKAN PAGES