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As a New Yorker, good tips will always be to stay in the middle of the train and be in the conductor’s car, never enter an empty train car, don’t stand too close to the edge, avoid wearing headphones, pulling out a phone, or displaying other overtly pricey items that may attract thieves, and stay away from the edge of the platform.
Chief
@OW1: whether these precautionary measures make a difference or not—it doesn’t mean one shouldn’t take them. That mindset hinders our ability to live our lives as normally as possible.
Rising Star
I wear a hoodie / hat and sunglasses whenever I leave my apartment. The mask also helps. I tuck all my hair in so that my ethnicity is not as obvious. I also carry a personal alarm; haven’t gotten mace yet but I will. Ironically I’ve gotten a lot of side eyes from old white people probably because I looked somewhat suspicious to them.
I can’t believe it’s gotten to this, but please do whatever you can to make you feel safe.
Try a silk scarf to cover your hair (in a pony tail)
Dang, this is a tough situation. 1) because of all of the violence 2) not everyone has been vaccinated and your office is opening up. Is this something you’ve talked to your boss about? I’m sorry you’re in this situation
Rising Star
Wear sunglasses
I have mace and it’s made me feel a lot safer. I test sprayed it & unknowingly rubbed my nose & it stung like a mf 🥲
Also make sure you are looking back if you walk by yourself once in a while, scope out the people around you& just try to stay alert and be aware.
Just ask to keep working from home. Your life is not worth your job. I am also a small AA woman, my team completely understands and have no reason to make me come back to the office.
I recommend looking into a birdie. It’s this little key chain that if you pull it apart let’s off a very loud alarm. I haven’t used it and hope not to but gives me some confidence and safety to use. Highly recommend for any woman walking alone.
Rising Star
Pepper spray isn’t life threatening. Dump the entire bottle into the criminals face
Conversation Starter
One long term thing you can do is to not vote for democrats because all cities run by them are crime ridden sanctuaries especially considering the recent criminals for the asian attacks were released due to bail reforms. Democrats have also discriminated against us asians for school admissions and compared us to “white privelege”.
Not hating on other parts of the country. Just stating that saying democratic coastal cities like NYC are worst for having more racism is a blanket statement that works both ways. What I do know is, exposure to people of all walks of life and interacting with such people is a big way to bridge the hate. Hard to relate to a group of people if you never interact with them. And having a higher rate of Asian American hate crimes in an area with a higher population of Asian Americans is not a good metric. You would think an analytics manager would understand this.
It’s so sad to see some groups of people having to live like this. Stay safe.
I avoid subway and buses. I don’t walk alone. I carry a maze, wear sunglasses and mask, baseball cap, I dyed my hair. I bike if I have to go out alone. Not sure if the alarm would help much because New Yorkers don’t give a shit when someone is attacked. Not sure what else I can do and still scared when I’m out.
I’m AA smol woman been working and commuting to the office since June 2020 taking the subway all over the city. Yes, even at 11 pm at night to Queens. It really freaked me out tho so I have been taking a lot of ubers when it gets that late lol. Look, you’ll be OK. I’d say that you need to be more perceptive of the people around you, check out your surroundings, and learn to swerve people that look “off”. Generally if you’ve been here a while you should know how to be to avoid weird people. Also don’t look happy or smile or make eye contact lol.
Hugs to you OP
Avoid working in the office late. Definitely keep mace handy but don’t carry weapons that an attacker and can take away and use against you. If someone starts to harass you leave the car immediately at the next possible stop. Point out individuals and ask them for help - a group of people may stand idle but when pointed out individually people will feel more responsible for stepping in on a moral level. If you have time try taking a self defense class. It doesn’t matter how small or fragile you think you are. The worst thing you can do is nothing (and bystanders too)!
Take train during rush hours. If you have to work late see if your company can expense a car ride OR leave during rush hour and log back in from home.
Rising Star
Get those cat keychains made of steel with the sharp points. Put your fingers through them and you have a very deadly weapon when you punch. I want to use this so bad because I can’t carry my handgun but I’ll def rip someone’s guts out instead
Rising Star
Don’t bring these through airports. They’ll take it away
it’s not just the police. It’s the law. The crime cost is too low.... the guy who beaten Asian women was a criminal and killed his mother when he was 19. how come a guy who killed his mother can be out of jail after 20 yrs? ? He should go death sentence immediately rather than spending my tax to live in the world.
Omg same here. And I am also pregnant, so the level of anxiety sky rocketed. Especially in the subway, you never know if I guy just wants money or he is already approaching you. I changed my hair color to blonde and I am wearing sunglasses now. It helped me to feel safer even though it sounds too much.
Pro
What subway lines and where from/to? I take the subway to go from uws to midtown occasionally. It’s been fine, but yeah have to be vigilant. I’ve opted to Citibike especially when I see an ebike available
Also if you have an Apple Watch, enable the emergency call feature.
It’s devastating to see that so many people don’t feel safe and have to look into getting a mace/bear spray for protection during their daily commute.. so sorry you are going through this...
Have you considered investing into a foldable e-bike for a safer commute? Swagtron EB5 Pro is one of the “office-friendly” models: https://youtu.be/ylcAU_PqnaE