Ditmas Park Throws Its Hands Up in the Air... Literally.

Photo by Andrew Weakland via Ditmas Park Corner

Yikes! Our sister or brother hood (do neighborhoods have genders?), Ditmas Park has fallen prey to a series of armed robberies. Gunmen in hooded sweatshirts have been terrorizing restaurants and coffee shops by holding up the workers and patrons, stealing cash and valuables then bolting. 

The latest incident was at 9:50 this past Thursday night at Lark cafe on Church Avenue. A group of writers were engaged in their weekly workshop session when an armed robber in a hoodie and wearing a mask came in and held the whole place up at gunpoint. According to Gothamist he made off with three laptops, a bunch of iPads and some money cash from the register. Again this was only one in a series. Kari Brown owner of Lark told the New York Times on Friday, "It was our turn last night." In other incidents the assailants have made off with jewelry and other valuables. 

Brown then posted the following on Lark's Facebook page:

Our business community has been experiencing a recent wave of robberies in the last few weeks. Unfortunately, it was our turn last night. It is a terrible feeling of being so vulnerable and experiencing such a violation of trust, of respect and of humanity. As a business, open to the public, it is our pleasure to serve and welcome. It's a terrible thing when an act violates our community, our business and our neighbors. Our hearts are heavy for those whose worlds were shaken last night, and for those who now carry a bit more suspicion, a bit more anxiety, a bit more fear. We thank you for your continued support and are grateful for the wonderful community we serve on a daily basis. May you all be safe, be well and be strong in the face of fear. 

Lark was the sixth in the string of assaults including a hold up at neighborhood main-stays the Ox Cart Tavern, Stratford Deli and Mimi's Hummus. Luckily no one yet has been hurt during the robberies but these were also followed by a fatal home invasion on Rugby Road where a 69 year old man was shot in the head confronting armed robbers who were tying up his sister. 

Strangely enough many have likened these hold-ups to the Honey Bunny scene in Pulp Fiction which sorta says alot about the demographic being preyed upon AND also sets up the neighborhood consensus as to why these robberies are taking place: the big G... gentrification. Kari Brown told the Times: "There’s a lot of transition. Multimillion-dollar homes pushed up against rough apartment complexes. Everyone is here. That’s what people love about this place. But the edges clash.”

And she might be right, scrolling down Gothamist's Facebook page reveals some pretty harsh words including this comment: 

Wowza! "Tearing families apart?" The 43 following comments are quite interesting too. I mean, I understand the downside of gentrification, but robbing people is just not cool. Am I wrong?