WHO GIVES A SHIT: Have You Ever Had An iPhone Stolen in Park Slope?

You guys send us tips...and that rocks. Keep doing it please.

But lately we've been getting an increasing number of tips about people who have had their iphones stolen while casually walking around the leafy streets of Park Slope. And today I got one about a chick who had her phone stolen RIGHT THE FUCK near my apartment:

"I was just witness to an iPhone robbery on 8th Ave & Union Street tonight.  The attack happened around 10pm this evening.   The young lady was walking down Union Street and had her iPhone out connected to her headsets.   She wasn't listening to music at the time, but in the middle of sending a text message and the perpetrator ran up to her, grabbed her iPhone and then ran into a car - and then took off.   There was a driver in the car waiting for him, so this action was presumably planned and he was looking for any victim that was off his/her guard.

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Tonight: Safe Slope's Take Back the Night Rally

As we previously announced, tonight the newly-formed group Safe Slope is holding a Take Back the Night Rally in response to the recent string of attacks against women in Brooklyn. The rally, sponsored by RightRides and The Center for Anti-Violence Education is GOING DOWN AT 8:00PM.

Via Safe Slope:

"The rally will begin by the Prospect Avenue R stop on 4th Avenue at 17th Street and end at the Detective Joseph Mayrose Park on 17th Street between 6th and 7th Avenues, where Safe Slope volunteers, Nancy Schwartzman from The Line Campaign, Audacia Ray from The Umbrella Project, and others will be speaking. The Center for Anti-Violence Education will offer a mini self-defense demonstration and will be on-site to sign-up participants for a series of free self-defense classes they are offering in collaboration with Council Members Sara Gonzalez and Brad Lander. CAE’s workshop participants learn physical and verbal self-defense strategies that help them find their own strength, feel safer, and break through the fear and isolation caused by violence." 

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72nd Precinct Community Meeting Tonight

 The 72nd Precinct / Photo via Flickr User jag9889

If you want to speak directly to police regarding what they're doing to keep the women of Brooklyn safe, now's your chance. The monthly 72nd Precinct Community meeting is happening TONIGHT @ 7:30 at The Marien Heim Center at 4520 4th Avenue (between 45th/46th streets).

[Via Brooklynian's Forum]

FiPS Readers Weigh In On NYPD's reaction to the BK Attacker

Everyone's been talking about how the NYPD is (or isn't) going about handling this BK attacker sitch. City Councilman Brad Lander recently wrote a letter to the public regarding the string of attacks. He says, "Every day, women are attacked by men and too often their accounts are dismissed, downplayed, or not prosecuted. This indifference keeps victims silent, and attackers pray on that silence. We need to hold the police, the press, your politicians (yes, me too), and each other accountable, to take sexual assault seriously." As one commenter responded, "Now that is a community letter.  That last paragraph makes me want to hug him so hard."

A few people wrote in over the weekend and weighed in with their own thoughts on the matter. One recounts her Saturday night spent watching cops use their time and manpower ticketing cyclists and cars cutting through Prospect Park. The other suggest a way we may actually catch the BK attacker:

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Councilmember Brad Lander Speaks Out on BK Attacks

Brad Lander / Photo by Bryan Smith for The Daily News

Brooklyn's recent string of sexual attacks against women have prompted multiple petitions, free self defense classes, a Take Back the Night Rally and pah-lenty of outrage from our borough's residents. Is the NYPD doing enough to keep our ladies safe? After hearing recent accounts from victims in which the police come across as inattentive, most of our commenters say nein. 

City Councilman Brad Lander recently spoke out in an email addressing our safety concerns:

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