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September 1, 2008
    We may never know the truth about what happened. But considering the historic time when it occurred, during the very liberal days of the LBJ era, and the indifference of many to get involved, I tend to think a lot of people did see something and were just afraid of being identified. Afraid their name, address and picture would be in the newspaper or mentioned on radio or television.
    Maybe, maybe not. But if it had happened a little further south, in Richmond Hill which at that time was a mostly Italian neighborhood, Kitty would likely have been saved. They'd have come out with bats, chains, guns and fists - and beaten Moseley to a pulp.
[Name withheld]



August 1, 2008
    A few years ago, I lived in Rego Park. There were several times when I was present when I or someone else called the police, and in almost every case they took a long time to arrive and were extremely reluctant to file reports because:
    A) "The guy will never get caught anyway."
    B) "So what if you followed the guy and have his license number? Maybe it's someone else's car."
    C) "Hopefully it won't happen again; burglars don't usually hit the same place twice."
    D) I suspect the truth is closer to "I don't want to do paperwork" or "We're told to minimize how many crimes we report."
    I was jumped and beaten once, walking home late one night. I didn't have the presence of mind to call for help, and it might have gotten a lot more serious except that someone yelled from a window to "Leave that guy alone, I'm calling the police." I thank that man for having done so, because my three attackers backed off. When I called the police myself, they claimed no one else had called - maybe true, maybe not. They took almost an hour to arrive, and were eager to be on their way after they drove me around the block a couple of times.
    A week later, one of my coworkers almost got jumped by the same three guys. Apparently this was now a fun sport, and they weren't worried about getting caught. When he called he got the same indifference. That is, until as we were talking to the officers a call came in that our buddies got themselves stabbed a block over when they tried to jump the wrong person. Even then, after two hours of having us sit in the back of a squad car, the police told us to go home and never followed up. Apparently those guys were now the "victims."
    In the subway, I saw someone trying to pickpocket a lady's purse right in front of me. I loudly told him to stop, and looked around for the police. She remained oblivious as he finished grabbing her wallet, and he ran off. The transit police I found moments later couldn't be bothered, and the regular police didn't even come.
    Those are actually only a few of the stories I managed to accumulate in the five years I lived there. But I think you can see a common theme, many years after the events you've chronicled. I'm strongly predisposed to believe that most of the apathy that contributed to poor Ms. Genovese's death wasn't on the part of the citizens - it was on the part of the police.
    In my experience, New Yorkers look out for each other... because they know the police won't.
David Reynolds



July 3, 2008
    Congratulations! I must say that the site I visited last night was by far the most comprehensive site I have ever seen on the Internet or anywhere else.
    Several days ago, I experienced the indifference of people in a way that makes me want to find a solution to that aberration of humanity.
    In a nutshell:
The incident I encountered was near a sidewalk. A woman I couldn't see but could hear crying inconsolably - was sprawled on the steps of the the substation of an electric company. A young male was standing in front of her making it difficult to see her entirely.
    I called out to them from across the street. I asked if they needed help. ONLY he answered. He said, "No, everything is fine."
    I saw a Comcast man sitting in his truck speaking on his cell phone. I approached him and asked to use his phone so I could call the police WITH HIS CELL PHONE. (Later he told me that the woman was like that for an hour).
    I waited for the police so I could flag them to the exact spot. I waited a good 15 minutes.
    Meanwhile, neighbor came out of her home with her cell phone. I asked her if I could use her cell phone to call the police - I told her why. WITH HER CELL PHONE I called the police. I was told that they would dispatch a police car right away. (While I waited, the neighbor told me that she saw the woman for about two hours).
    After my first and second call, I asked the neighbor to call the police. She asked me for the number to call the police. Of course, I told her 911 and told her it's the number used throughout the USA. After she called we waited until a police car arrived with two officers.
    While I waited for over 1/2 an hour - on the same side of the sidewalk with the woman crying:
     • I saw a meter maid (for parking tickets),
     • a woman walking her dog,
     • several guys walk
    In this day and age of cell phones, NO one called except me, and only after I had to ask for the two mentioned cell phones!
    Oh yes, the two police officers that did arrive had difficulty with the male who had been standing over that woman, it was so bad, that I told my neighbor to call the police to help the two police officers. Somehow, the two officers must have had their own way for summonsing help - because a bevy of police cars and a "paddy wagon" rolled down the street.
    After the uncooperative male was hauled away, the first two officers remained to help the woman. I went across the street and spoke to her, etc. I did learn that the male had been stalking her and that she was crying because he kept beating and beating her (something I could not see).
    I live in Philadelphia that claims to have more murders than our neighboring NYC.
    I sent a letter to the Mayor of Philadelphia to disclose the indifference of people much like Kitty Genovese. In a day and age of cell phones, everyone should become the eyes and ears of our cities. Certainly, workers like U.S. Post, Comcast, UPS, etc. should all be encouraged by their employers to become part of the solution.
    I have more ideas, but more about that later. Basically, I look for solutions to problems.
Thanks for hearing me,
[Name withheld]



March 31, 2008
HI,
JUST WANTED TO SAY ONE THING ABOUT HER MURDER. ON THE NIGHT SHE WAS KILLED, MY GREAT AUNT AND UNCLE LIVED IN KEW GARDENS AT THE TIME. I WAS TOLD THEY WERE WOKEN BY HER SCREAMS FOR HELP, AND LIKE A LOT OF OTHER PEOPLE, DID NOTHING, DON’T KNOW WHY, I THINK ITS CRAZY NOT TO DO ANYTHING. FROM WHAT I HEARD, PEOPLE DID NOTHING BECAUSE THEY ALL THOUGHT IT WAS A JOKE. I AM JUST GLAD THEY CAUGHT HER KILLER, MAKES ME SICK TO THINK ABOUT WHAT WENT ON THAT NIGHT!! YOU CAN REPLY TO THIS AND POST IT IF YOU WANT TO. THANKS A MILLION!!
JEFF COSTIGAN
[To contact Jeff costigan, click here]



December 14, 2007
Re fna's rant on this site, of all sites...ah ha! it was only a matter of time. The case is now really solved! Kitty's murder was.........."Bush's fault!"
Judy Gallagher
[To contact Judy Gallagher, click here]



November 1, 2007
You did great work but I don't buy any of what you wrote. What did Hamlet say about his murdering mother? The bottom line is that, to even the most casual witness, there was someone in trouble down on that street, maybe even desperate trouble. That witness (or those witnesses) didn't have enough humanity to help. Kew Gardens? No peeyou gardens. But Kew Gardens is not unique. 500,000 innocent Iraqi women and children have been murdered by the Bush gang and we turn our heads. 2 million Sudanese people are murdered by the Bush gang, who cares? Tens of thousands of Burmese are murdered or enslaved by American oil companies - I should worry? Thousands of innocent fathers, brothers, children are secretly kiodnapped (rendition?) by the Bush gang and tortured into making hideous confessions, hey! It's not me and thousands of live have been saved. Which thousands? ?Ah? who cares. My expectation is that Israel will start requiring Palestinians to wear a large "P" on all their clothing. Palestinians aren't human beings - and even if scientists can prove they are human beings, scientists can't prove they're better human beings than Israili right wing thugs. Better yet?No scientist can prove that the Jewish people are NOT God's CHOSEN PEOPLE. Who are we to argue with God. It's a settled point.
WHO FRIGGIN CARES?
Je reste, avec beaucoup respect
fna
[To contact fna, click here]



Cited to by American Psychologist
September 26, 2007
    Editor's Note:  The current issue of a professional journal called American Psychologist features an article written by Rachel Manning, Mark Levine, and Alan Collins of the University of West England, Bristol, Lancaster University which:

... argues that an iconic event in the history of helping research - the story of the 38 witnesses who remained inactive during the murder of Kitty Genovese - is not supported by the available evidence. [See, "The Kitty Genovese murder and the social psychology of helping: The parable of the 38 witnesses." American Psychologist, 2007 Sept. Vol. 62(6) 555 - 562.]

    Pointing to the analysis contained in this web site. the article says that, "... it has begun to attract attention ... [and] it deserves still more."
    A copy of the article must be purchased from American Psychologist, but it looks like it can be downloaded for nothing from a web page for one of the authors. [See links below.]
Click here to purchase the article
Click here to download the article for free from Dr. Mark Levine's web page.



September 16, 2007
    "It is difficult to imagine that psychologists, sociologists, clergy and others have spent 40 years searching for the meaning of a phenomenon that did not occur. "
    A phenomenon did occure, and you stated it youself earlier in your "essay" of the original newspaper artical on the incident.
    "When they saw Moseley enter that same door, Koshkin went to call the police. His wife stopped him saying that 30 people must already have called. "
    There is a problem with group mentality that if there is someone else around to do something, they must have done it. It is presumed if each person who heard Kitty was unaware other people heard her as well, each of those persons would have phone the police. This would have raised the awarness of what was going on was not just a drunken fight as the police were led to believe originally, and they would have acted sooner perhaps saving Kitty.
    This has been seen in many other incidences. If there are other people around to do something, or if a person thinks there is someone else around, they assume the other person will do it.
    Well, thats just my 2 cents. When I learned about this Kitty incident in my 12th year of schooling, it wasn't on the topic of 38 witnesses did nothing, it was on the topic of people not reacting because they thought someone else had. And you gave the proof to that in what you stated of Samuel Koshkin saying.
Adam Safauna
[To contact Adam Safauna, click here]



Moseley loses lawsuit seeking parole
September 6, 2007
Editor's Note:  Kitty's killer, Winston Moseley, has lost a lawsuit he brought to win parole from state prison.
Click here to read the full story


August 28, 2007
To this day I go straight to the phone to report any unusual noises or circumstances. I am 50+ and the name is easily remembered. People expecting others to call and NO ONE called. It still creeps me out.
Geraldine Fitzgerald
[To contact Geraldine Fitzgerald, click here]



August 4, 2007
Does anyone know whether witness and assistant super of the Mowbray, Joseph Fink moved out of Kew Gardens and into Woodhaven, after 1964? Is there a photo of him from the newspapers as someone whom they interviewed? I know he wasn't called as a witness at Moseley's trial. My former super (now deceased) of the co-op building where I moved in 1993 in Woodhaven, across Forest Park from Kew Gardens, was named Joseph Fink. He was foreign-born (Germany, I think, possibly Austria), and was in his late 60s when he died in a fall from a ladder outside my building around the late 1990s, possibly the year 2000. He had come to this building as a young man (possibly to escape the notoriety of the Genovese case and subsequent publicity about Kew Gardens?) I was told by old-time neighbors. At the time of his death, I think he had only a brother, who made his funeral arrangements. He was waked up on Woodhaven Blvd. in the Rego Park area, with the room where he was laid out looking rather Germanic-Medieval; and that's the occasion when I realized he was Christian. In my opinion, he was a strange man all the years I just knew him as my super here in Woodhaven -- and his little comments to both my teen son and myself forming my opinion of him. He looked like Weird Al Yankovich, only much older and grayer when I knew him. He was single all the years he was super in my building, although as far as the supers I've seen since in my building, he was the best handyman, and my elderly neighbors liked to give him breakfast or other meals in exchange for his household fix-its. If anyone could advise whether it's the same man, or even how old the witness to the Genovese stabbing was in March 1964, I would appreciate it. My neighbors have never mentioned his involvement with the Genovese case, but perhaps he never told anyone. Thank you.
Judy Gallagher
[To contact Judy Gallagher, click here]

Editor's Note:  The Joseph Fink story comes from former Queens Assistant District Attorney, Charles Skoller. Click here. I have never seen any reference to him in the press and do not know where he came from or where he went to. In paras. 14 - 17 of his affidavit, former Mowbray resident, Michael Hoffman, talks about the elevator operator that night, whose name he did not remember. It was probably Fink, but there is no biographical information about him there.



July 30, 2004
If I remember that day in 1964, I had just left Dani's House of Pizza , on the south side of the Kew Gardens Long Island Railroad station, at about 1:07 AM that morning and went home to the Balfour Apartments, in Forest Hills. At that time, I believe (it was a while ago!) the Balfour was owned by the Cord Meyer Development Company. Cord Meyer has a very colorful history, what with his clandestine involvement with the Central Intelligence Agency (see
    http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cord_Meyer
for the gory details).
Herman Greenstein
[To contact Herman Greenstein, click here]



July 7, 2007
    This was a very interesting read. The only real quibble I have is with the last paragraph. Moseley was able to locate Genovese because he followed her blood trail to the doorway of the hall that she entered. If the police had been called and arrived, would they not have seen the blood trail as well? Would they not have followed it to make sure that the person who'd been reported as attacked was okay?
    I mourn for her family and everything they've gone through. If anything good could be said to have come out of her death, it was making it easier for people to report crimes (i.e. not requiring personal details of people reporting) and the beginning of a centralized emergency number. Certainly it would be much better for Kitty to still be alive, but at least there was that tiny silver lining. Hopefully people now, because of those factors, are more willing to call and report crimes.
Beth
[To contact Beth, click here]



June 16, 2007
What were you saying?
    I did not know the name of the young woman who was murdered in 1964, the year I graduated from high school, but I do remember the disgust I felt and then moved on with my life. Teenagers back then displayed a lack of intuitiveness that something needs to be done. "Oh well, that's in New York, another sphere." Most people, including adults, teenagers, and children, probably even babies, today display a lack of intuitiveness that something needs to be done. They move on with their lives. "Oh well, it didn't happen in MY home. It happened to the people who live next door. That's another sphere." Why get involved?
    Someone, anyone, calling for assistance from law enforcement, may not have made a difference in prolonging her life, BUT the call should have been made. It doesn't matter whether it would made a difference; it matters that man has an indifference to fellowman. My disgust today is deeper and peppered with tears for a lost and unloving and uncaring society, my country The United States of America, which I love dearly.
    Did you know that "Kitty" Genovese is still dead? What didn't happen will last forever; inaction by all was propelled into the atmosphere. This atmospheric pollution will last generation after generation if we as a people, a country, do not have a mindset adjustment in love for ourselves and others. No adjustment--I call it doomnation.
    In your text, were you saying because 38 people didn't see or hear or interpret accurately what was actually happening, that what people didn't do was appropriate? You know what--we'll NEVER know if a simple call for help or citizen action would have made a difference, will we?
    I know her name now and it is : Catherine "Kitty" Genovese and I won't ever forget it and will always be reminded when I see unloving, uncaring, inaction espoused by my fellowman.
BG
[To contact Bill, click here]



May 24, 2007
I used to live across from a Mexican bar in Colorado (not completely Mexican but primarily). Quite often there was lots of noise and an occasional fight. One night I saw two guys out on the sidewalk about to go at it, and a third came up behind and smashed a glass or a bottle over one's head. I was on the phone to 911 in a flash, and by the time I finished describing the incident that was unfolding to the dispatcher, the 3 guys were hugging each other and going back arm-in-arm into the bar to drink some more.
Bill Eldridge
[To contact Bill, click here]



May 22, 2007
Finally---recognition of the truth. Of course Wolfowitz would use the Rosenthal version of events related to the Genovese case to justify our defense of entering into war with Iraq. Joe, thanks for your honest and thorough coverage of the Kitty Genovese case. I wish the present administration would have learned something from your many articles.
Aaron Adler
Kew Gardens
[To contact Aaron Adler, click here]



Cited in the Financial Times
May 21, 2007
Editor's Note:  Old Kew Gardens [.com] was cited to by none other than the Financial Times in its May 19, 2007 Weekend Edition. The story had to do with former U.S. Deputy Defense Secretary, Paul Wolfowitz, and his frequent allusions to the Kitty Genovese case. Here are the relevant excerpts:

    One thing about Wolfowitz, though, has long made me warm to him. He is an enthusiast for the Kitty Genovese case, and cited it as an argument for the war. It seemed like one of the few noble justifications of that catastrophic venture.
* * *     But if Iraq has taught us anything, it is that facts are slippery little creatures, even when published in The New York Times. For there is now a revisionist view of the Genovese murder. For the fullest version, you have to turn to www.oldkewgardens.com, "a picture history of Kew Gardens, NY". Truly, citizen-journalism blooms in the unlikeliest places. For there, amid news of the civic association's community day (June 10) and photos of the old railroad station, is a remarkable deconstruction of the Times story.
    A local resident and lawyer, Joseph De May, has taken the text and eviscerated it, starting with that famous intro which, he says, contains six errors on its own: 1. Not all of the 38 witnesses were eye witnesses. 2. None of the 38 could have watched for half an hour because Genovese and Moseley would have been visible for only a few moments. 3. Almost certainly, only three of the 38 saw any of the stabbings. 4. The police were called right after the first attack. 5. There were two separate attacks, not three, and the second was in a hallway where only one of the 38 could have seen it. 6. Kitty was still alive when the "one witness" called police.
    And so on, and on. We are torn between the Texas book depository and the grassy knoll here: you could spend your life trying and failing to work out the facts. Rosenthal, who died last year, defended the essential truth of the story to the end. But what is truth? If Wolfowitz and his cohorts had been warier in 2003, the world might now be in less of a mess.

Click here to read the full story.



"The Inevitable Revisionist" by Bill Van Dyk
May 21, 2007
Editor's Note:  If I'm going to report the bouquets (see above), I have to report the brickbats, too. Here's someone who was not at all impressed with what I've had to say about the case.
Click here to read the article.



May 15, 2007
    Speculation and intrigue aside, has anyone ever lived opposite a bar, or even passed by a neighborhood bar during a weekend? Having been inside of the Austin Steak and Ale House's dining room hundreds of times over the past few decades [Bailey's Pub was bought years ago and renamed], it never ceases to amaze me the amounts of noises, shouts, fights and general noise that is generated within a bar. I can only imagine that living across the street from a bar could be a terribly noisy place to be. A bored, lonely or nosy person might have a life rife with reasons to call for the police as husbands/wives, girlfriends/boyfriends, patrons of the bars, inebriated and often far beyond the realms of common sense perform all sorts of loud, lewd and bizarre acts. After years of this, I would imagine that people might learn to ignore noises as residents of nearby railroads and trains and planes learn to tune out the droning sounds.
    In no way do I mean to excuse the purported horrendous acts that took place that night. If only one person dared to hang out their window and scream, I've called the police, they're on their way.......perhaps enough to scare away the attacker.
    Having been attacked myself within my apartment building in Kew Gardens, several blocks away, in 1989, [not in anyway nearly as brutally as Kitty Genovese must have been] I know too well how it feels to scream and scream and have not one apartment door open. Albeit, it was July, perhaps air-conditioners were on, but people just do not wish to get involved.
    I will never forget how I felt when I went to my superintendent of the building [he's no longer our super, thank God] the next day to advise him to change the locks, as the mugger had knocked me down, and gotten away with my pocket book and keys. He said to me, "Oh yeah, I heard you screaming" I said, "what, why didn't you come and help or open your door and say something." His response, I'll never forget as long as I live. He said,"I was in my underwear."
    Saving someone's life, I suppose takes careful planning and clothing.
Susie
[To contact Susie, click here]



May 15, 2007
    I was 20 years old, when I flew out from California to visit my great aunt Julie who lived in the Shellball Apartments in Kew Gardens. It was in April 1964. We went to see Funny Girl a few weeks after it opened on Broadway.
    Everyone was talking about the Kitty Genovese murder. The killer was still at large. Silly me, I still walked around the beautiful village of Kew Gardens, sometimes at night, had my hair done at the local beauty parlor. I can still remember the drug store, it smelled so good!
    I asked my great aunt if she had heard anything that night, I believe her apartment was on the fourth floor of the Shellball. She said she did not.
    With regard to the Shellball, I remember when I was a little girl, there was a uniformed elevator operator. Then when I visited in 1964, there was no operator. My aunt lived in a one bedroom, a tiny apartment, but I remember it so well this many years ago!
    Poor Kitty Genovese. All these years later, and she is still remembered because of that horrible night.
Janice Mahon
[To contact Janice Mahon, click here]



April 26, 2007
    It is amazing how this story will not go away and it should not. I was only 14 years old and living in Brooklyn New York at the time of her murder. I remember the feeling I got when I heard on the evening news and read in the papers about this senseless killing. I felt a sincere since of sadness for someone I did not even know. I remember the face of the killer as if it was published yesterday. There have been many murders of innocent women but this one still remains to bother me in the worst way. When you read the profile on the killer, the way he lived, he was a hard working individual with a family, it boggles the mine to even try and understand not only his sick mine but others just like him living among use today. You just never know.
    I moved from Briarwood to Kew Gardens a few years ago and discovered this website wanted to know a little bit more about my new community. It brought back the memories of this horrific crime. I have a grown daughter now and I have either driven or walked her to the Long Island Railroad when she is returning to her home and I do give pause for thought each time I do so. I look in faces of the people on the street and wonder if I were in trouble would they help me. I shutter to think that the same atmosphere from the 60?s, to retreat when someone is in trouble still remains in this beautiful neighborhood.
[Name withheld]
[To contact this writer, click here]



April 24, 2007
I was a little baby two towns away in Rego Park when that poor young lady Kitty Genovese wa brutally murdered by that fool. We can debate all day how people could have came to her aid or it wasn't 38 witnesses but we can't change what happened. But what we can do is remember Kitty and if we see someone who might need help to get more involved. Now that fool and murderer Winston Moseley is currently in prison and will go to the board parole in 2008. We can draft a petition to the parole board protesting any parole to make sure this murderer dies in prison. Let's unite and never forget. I was over by the Kew Gardens LIRR station earlier looking over that crime scene and only can imagine the terror and pain that poor Kitty suffered at the hands of that monster. It was Winston Moseley's fault Kitty Genovese is dead. He is the one to blame, there is no debating that fact. So let's start a petition protesting this lowlife killers parole bid!!!
Chris
[To contact Chris, click here]



April 24, 2007
Whatever excuses you might make on behalf of the various witnesses, I doubt that you would want them to be the only people around if you were in trouble or being attacked. I really can?t find any justification for the behaviour in question apart from a kind of apathy, laziness and plain old indifference. When in doubt, do nothing it?s easier and stops you losing out on your valuable sleep and hey it?s not happening to someone you know, right?
R Beck
[To contact R Beck, click here]



April 5, 2007
i think those neighbours where spineless they could have saved her the guy was gone for 5mins adn they could hvae done something. they could have gone down to her or logically CALLED the POLICE. they could have saved her but they didnt. isn't it better to get 40 reports than 1??? everyone could have called at least they would have known they were doing the right thing; and they are partly to blame for her death and they do deserve to feel bad about the death they just stood there and watched her be stabbed then sexually assulted. where's the humanity?????
K. Millowick
[To contact K. Millowick, click here]



March 11, 2007
    I was 15 years old when Kitty was brutally murdered. But I remember it and how frightened I was at the time. All the talk about "apathy" fueled an atmosphere of tension and anger and sometimes eclipsed the tragic death itself. But I did take something away. I promised I would always open my window if I thought I heard someone in distress. To this day, my husband and I open our windows or our door if we sense a neighbor in trouble. We have phoned the police on a number of occasions.
    My son and new daughter-in-law have just moved into the Kew Gardens/Richmond Hill area. In trying to learn more about the history of the neighborhood, I was aware of Kitty, once again. I felt the fear of 43 years ago, revisit me. I still feel that apprehension of how dangerous it can be here. Kitty is all of us, trying to make a decent life in a city that has so much to offer. We can get caught up in the controversy of apathy, but we must not loose sight of the man who killed her. And all the criminals that still exist, who would snatch a life and think nothing of it.
    To her remaining family, I offer my sincere and deepest sympathy for her tragic loss on this upcoming anniversary. Perhaps, it would help to know that some of us remember her example of innocent stranger just going about her life. We remember her and connect with her. And because of her, some of us continue to open our windows.
Most Sincerely,
Annonymous



March 5, 2007
    Whoever you are, this was great journalism.... about shoddy journalism.
    College students should have to read the original article in the newspapers, and then read your analysis.
Joe Garrett
Berkeley, California
[To contact Joe Garrett, click here]



Charles Krauthammer writes of Kitty's Death
March 2, 2007
Editor's Note:  Columnist, Charles Krauthammer, has a poignant take on the death of Kitty Genovese in the current issue of Time Magazine.

I've always been struck by the double injustice of her murder. Not only did the killer cut short her life amid immense terror and suffering, but he defined it. He--a stranger, an intruder--gave her a perverse immortality of a kind she never sought, never expected, never consented to. She surely thought that in her 28 years she had been building a life of joys and loves, struggle and achievement, friendship and fellowship. That and everything else she built her life into were simply swallowed up by the notoriety of her death, a notoriety unchosen and unbidden.

Click here to read the full article



February 25, 2007
to whom it may concern,
i would like to correct an error i have seen on your message board in regard to the posted message concerning Frances McGrath. the information provided by Kathy McGrath was not only completely inaccurate, but an insult to a caring man who served this country in the armed forces. Frances McGrath was never a suspect nor even a possible suspect in the Kitty incident. He and Kitty were friends, nothing more, and he liked her as most of us did. i find it to be appalling that people find it necessary to use tragedy as a way to get attention and Miss McGrath, you should be sorry for saying such things about your father. he would never leave his 6 yr old in a bar alone.
thank you.



February 22, 2007
    It is sad, truly, that the media would take any tragedy and blow it all out of proportion. In this way, it dehumanizes the victim and exposes the family to prolonged grief every time they pass by a news stand or open up the morning paper. Thank you for humanizing not only the victims, but the people who unwittingly witnessed a horrific murder. Were I in their place, I would have probably been unwilling to step forward and call the police. I say this from self honesty.
    Imagine this scene; it is the middle of the night. You hear a loud bang that wakes you up. Was that a car back firing? Was that a gun shot? The fear sets in. You don't know what to do. Hopefully someone else isn't nearly as scared as you are. Hopefully somebody will save the day. What if it was just a car backfiring? What if it was just a prank. What if...
    It is hard to judge those witnesses unless you know what it is like to live in fear. I know full well how debilitating it is. I can say with all honesty that had I heard those screams, I would have been paralyzed by fear thinking that I would somehow be next if I did anything. All I can say is that I am at least aware of my shortcomings, sad though they be.
JeNeal Archibald
[To contact JeNeal Archibald, click here]



"Witnesses of Kitty Genovese" featured at the ?No Frills? Film and Arts Festival
January 30, 2007
Editor's Note:  "The Witnesses of Kitty Genovese" - a play by J.R. Teeter - will be presented by Bread & Water Theatre at St. John Fisher College?s Basil Auditorium, 3690 East Avenue Rochester, NY, in conjunction with the ?No Frills? Film and Arts Festival. The performance will begin on February 10th at 7pm. Tickets are free and the event is open to the public. For more information, call (585) 271-5523.
Click here to view a web page about the play



Kitty Genovese, Revised
January 23, 2007
Editor's Note:  That's the title of the following article which appears in the Wilson Quarterly. This web site gets a mention in the second last paragraph. The link will open in a new window. Close out the window to return here.
Click here to read the article



Personal Recollection of Kitty
January 16, 2007
I want to THANK YOU for this site and the information that you have supplied. Especially the school pic's. With regard to Kitty!!!! I was there on that morning in the HofBrau with my dad and the police took him for questioning....Leaving me a little kid sitting in a bar alone. Anyway he was seeing Kitty at the time and I guess they thought this guy looks good for it. Nothing ever came of it. Kitty was a wonderful kind person who, when I hear her name brings up fond memories. I try not to remember the blood or the tears that shed that day. I was told my some friends that lived on the steps that the police were called. Anyway, All is what it is! Please publish this comment
Kathy McGrath
mominnj2006@yahoo.com



True Stories of Law & Order
December 16, 2006
Editor's Note:  Jur? Fiorillo and Kevin Dwyer, both senior copywriters at Doubleday Entertainment in Garden City, have written a paperback book called "True Stories of Law & Order: The Real Crimes Behind the Best Episodes of the Hit TV Show," published by Berkley Boulevard Books, a division of Penguin. The book compares 50 stories from the popular television show, "Law & Order" with the actual crimes on which they were based, one of which is the murder of Kitty Genovese. In endnote 6 on page 252, the authors graciously cite to this web site, writing:

For what is perhaps the most in-depth account of the Kitty Genovese murder and subsequent controversy, see www.oldkewgardens.com .. . The website was invaluable to authors researching this case.

Buy the book at Amazon
Buy the book at Barnes and Noble



December 5, 2006
Is there any known geneological relation between the perp and the noted novelist Walter Moseley? Though the writer is originally from California, there appears to be somewhat of a resemblence between both men. LF Wolf
[Email address withheld]



October 30, 2006
I agree. This scum must never be allowed to breathe air on the outside again.
[Name and email address withheld]



October 26, 2006
    I have read the majority of your findings and I don't have a lot of comment for your work. But I do want to make a comment about the whole situation. As a witness in a murder case a few years back, over ten years I can say, I had pretty much said the same thing. I will go home and thank my lucky stars it wasn't me. But it was Mother's Day morning and someone(a mother) had lost her child on a day that was suppose to be a day of celebration and much pamering.
    So a friend and I decided to go home and act like nothing happened. But my conscious got the better of me. I couldn't do it. What if I had to go to trial and testify. What if they found out my name and where I stayed. I was living in a pretty bad neighborhood(gangs, drugs, and violence). But before I could decide not to do it, my conscious did a battle for justice. So I decided to become involved.
    There were plenty of witnesses at that gas station, but only two people came forward, myself and my friend. Not counting the other witness that was in the car with the victim. I went against my family wishes of testifying at the trial. It was a scary, scary experience for me. We ended up seeing him the next day walking down the street as though nothing had went down the pervious night. So he is taken down, arrested and booked for the murder of this 16 year old child(mistaken identity) who happens to be the son of my mailman who delivers mail to my apartment.
    I was given a fright when the suspect escape from jail before trial and was on the loose for about a week or two. I was petrified, I didn't come outside, go to work, or shopping because I was scared he would find me.
    In the end, he got what he deserved life in prison.
    But my last comment, be it 38 or 12 that was one too many who didn't open their mouth and help another individual in a time of need or emergency. This woman could possibly survived if they had called the first and if you dont get a response keep trying till you do.
    Thank you for your time and patience of reading what I had to offer.
Liz
[To contact Liz, click here]



October 25, 2006
    Wasn't there an article in NEW YORK magazine (NOT "The New Yorker"), probably in the summer of 1975, that also went deep into this story, with major emphasis on Moseley? Some points still stand out, even 30+ years later:
    1) What tipped the police off to Moseley was his description, while committing burlaries, of waiting on the stairs or outside of the bedrooms of his victims, listening to them breath while they were sleeping. This he stated when he was giving the confession for the burglary that he was arrested for; at this point, the interrogator, now aware that Moseley wasn't a run-of-the-mill criminal, asked him if there weren't some other crimes that he, Moselely, might like to talk about-- at which point, he began his confession regarding Genovese...
    2) There was a distinct racial overtone to Moseley's motive: he confessed that, on the night he murdered Kitty, that he had wanted to go out "and rape a white woman"...
    3) The article also had a picture of Moseley, seated and grinning, while in custody...
    4) There were two other attacks that Moseley confessed to, and both had, if I remember correctly, resulted in murder; each might have commenced as a mugging and a rape, but Moseley was armed with a .22 pistol on both occaissions. This is what had stymied the NYPD: according to them, both previous victims had been stabbed. It was only when one of these victim's body was exhumed that it was shown to have been bullet wounds and not a stiletto knife; Moseley reported having danced around one of these two victims as she lay bleeding on the sidewalk, joyfully pumping bullets, one after another into her dying body...
    Again, someone will have to find that article; but my memory is pretty good...
    The owner of the bookstore where the first attack took place later moved to, and might still be in business on, Jamaica Avenue: "Austin Book Shop"(?) He would display a newspaper article in the shopwindow, which stated that it was in the doorway of his shop that Kitty's body was found; at least, that's what I remember reading. (The store is open only on weekends, and is located to east-- Long Island side-- of Woodhaven Blvd., across the from a hobby shop, and just under an elevated train station...
    The site of the original bookstore is now an "internet cafe" type of business, where you can take computer lessons to learn, for example, MS Office; the owner, Mr. Moy, is very knowledgeable about his shop and what transpired in front of it many years ago (he also knew about this website)...
    And I just discovered that a friend I went to high school with now resides in that notorious apartment house across the street...
Joseph Fernandez
JastaBoelke@JUNO.com



October 22, 2006
Instead of wringing our hands and reminiscing, what are we doing to see to it that this evil Winston Moseley never gets out of prison? Don't think it's impossible. With a liberal, pro-inmate movement in the general populace, it can happen. It has before. Remember Willy Horton? How about organizing and seeing to it that the governor and prison release board hears from us. If not, guess who's coming to dinner.
alex
alleyoop999@verizon.net.



Article in American Heritage Magazine
October 13, 2006
Editor's Note:  Click on the link below to read an article about the Kitty Genovese case by freelance writer, Jim Rasenberger, in the current issue of American Heritage Magazine. "It was a story so disturbing that we all still remember it," writes Rasenberger, "But what if it wasn?t true?" The article makes reference to this web site.
Click here to read the article.



Picture of Kitty Genovese
October 10, 2006
Click on thumbnail to enlarge.
Many thanks to the family of Kitty Genovese for this photograph of her.





October 7, 2006
       After reading about 2/3 of your article, it struck me that it achieves the same results that actually happened that night; absolution from the duty in all of us as human beings to come to the aid of another.
       It doesn't matter how many saw or heard the murder take place, what matters is that THEY WERE ALL WITNESSES. It's almost as if your taking the side of the killer.
       I'm not sure which disturbs me more: the fact that 38 people chose not to do anything to help another human being, or the fact that your article makes excuses for those same people doing nothing.
Michael Blankenship
[To contact Michael Blankenship, click here]



October 5, 2006
Hello,
I just came across your article on Kitty. I was reading in the Yahoo Oddly Enough news on a subject titled Long-dead body found in Vienna apartment and one of the posts touched on the Genovese murder, well i searched for it and got the story and my God! Its so sad what happened, i wasnt there but it touched me. She could be 70 today, am so sorry! What happened to the killer Winston Moseley as of today 05/10/2006, his kids and wife? How come they never touched on the fact that he was roaming at night and had a wife and kids, didnt they ever care where he went at night? Were they ever questioned.
[Name withheld]
[To contact this poster, Click here to post a message]

Editor's Note:  The killer, Winston Moseley, was sentenced to death, but the New York State Court of Appeals reduced his sentence to life in prison. He is still there, having been repeatedly denied parole. I do not know what became of his wife and children. On the night of the murder, Moseley's wife was working nights. He waited until she had left for work, and the children had gone to sleep, before leaving the house. I do not know if the wife or children were ever questioned by police. The children were probably too young at the time, and there may have been little need to question his wife since Moseley confessed to the murder within hours after being arrested on other charges.



"The Screams of Kitty Genovese" on Broadway
September 24, 2006
Editor's Note:  A musical drama called "The Screams of Kitty Genovese" opens this coming Tuesday night, September 26th, for a 6 day run at the St. Clement's Theater, 423 W. 46th St. (212-352-3101). It is part of the New York Musical Theater Festival. Tickets are $20. The story and lyrics are by David Simpatico, and the music is by Will Todd. You can read a review of the play by clicking on the following link.
Click here to read the review
Click here to hear samples of the musical score and to buy tickets



September 4, 2006
After reading the information that is on the page devoted to Kitty I am now sending an apology. I never thought that so many people would use this information for college and different reasons. I guess it is something that will stay with us for years to come. I now understand the importance of this information.
Linda Wiesner
LindaJ42@aol.com
[To contact Linda Wiesner, Click here to post a message]



August 29, 2006
I am an undergraduate student at a small univesity and just yesterday I was informed of this violital historic issue. After reading the article from this website as well as the "Times" I can still not find this issue humane. What blows my mind is how can we as a people, much less a community, (even in the 60's era)never console a woman in need for help. Not once did someone run to her and ask her if she we ok and in need of shelter. I am currently working on an undergraduate degree in Legal Studies and then advance to law school. After hearing of this attack from one of my Psychology professors, this case compells my drive to become a lawyer.I am writing a research paper on this murder case this semester and I am baffled that no one sought out to help this woman after her first attack.. I understand law enforcement of that time may not have been as efficient as what it is now but never the less, I am baffled that no one went to check on this woman in the 12 ! minutes following her first attack. I understand that the time of night and the area of the attack were said to be confused with just an assault, but it is just the plain principle that this woman had to die because we just assume that it is none of our business or thinking it was a fued between a couple. This common reaction of humans called a "bystandered" is nothihg more to me than an excuse that we can all be inhumane. This murder could also be the fault of a chatty Police facility. No one person can take the blame except for the killer. But maybe we should work on (now ESPECIALLY) being a humane society instead of an individual anarchiy. Folks, this murder happened in the 1960's and it shocks me that this sort of crime did not occur today.
[Name and email address withheld]



August 6, 2006
       Only a few years after her murder, my family moved into 82-62 Austin Street. The two bedroom apartment was just 100 dollars a month in 1967 and hard to rent. My family had little money. As a child I endured some taunting over "Kitty's ghost" and how the real killer was never caught or that he was something supernatural, one day to return.
       Walking down the narrow stairway I sometimes thought of her, of her final moments and her whole future slipping away .... but no one was to blame. The killer was clearly insane. Only a decisive understanding of what was happening and intervention could have saved her that night.
       I greatly appreciate that someone took the time to look back on this murder case and shed some brighter light on it. I also welcome the photos, even the one of her headstone. The headstone is a connection of sorts, a hard reality. If it's morbid to examine the facts and details of a tragedy, then I should hope we all are to some degree. If we derive some pleasure out of it, let's assume it lies within a learning process.
       Those who are tired of her story, weary of the memories, can certainly look away. She should not be forgotten. I'm not religious and believe dead is dead, but I have respect for the living memory of the dead ... and what we may learn from it.
Robert Brody
Bobsprit@aol.com



July 2, 2006
I lived over Duffys Tavern on Beverly Rd I remember the day this happenedI was on my way to PS99. I saw all the police around Austin St by the LIRR. I had friends that lived there.I can tell you one thing I will never forget seeing her blood all over the hallway at the bottom of the stairs. To this day I still get a very sad feeling that such a thing could happen.
Patricia McGrath
seetheraven@yahoo.com



June 17, 2006
Thank you for your very thorough and enlightening analysis of this famous case. You have obviously done an extraordinary amount of work on it.
Frederick Rhine
[To contact Frederick Rhine, click here]



June 17, 2006
According to Brownmiller, each of Mosley's murders--including that of Genovese---was also a rape. Why is that not noted anywhere in this piece?
Ginmarie
[To contact Ginmarie, click here]

       Editor's Note:  The focus of my articles was very narrow (although you might not know that from the word count). I concentrated only on those aspects of Kitty's murder that I think have been exaggerated - or in some cases grossly exaggerated - in the press and popular culture. The particulars of Moseley's second attack have not received wide play and in any case do not seem to be disputed. However, I do make tactful references to that aspect of the attack. See: main text preceding fns. 48 and 56.1 on this page. See also, main text between fns. 93 and 94 on this page.
       One thing to note, Moseley attempted to rape Kitty, but failed due to impotence. See, the bottom of page 1 and page 6 in this file.

[Ginmarie replies:]  The problem with omitting the attempted rape is subtle: it makes the attack inexplicable. Mosley's other crimes were also rape murders. As such, he falls squarely into the profile of a rapist/murderer, and the case becomes something different. A savage murder is likely to arouse people's curiosity and later, guilt; a rape murder has a motive that is all too easily turned on the victim. I've read numerous accounts of the case, and every one of them seems to omitt Moseley's identity as a rapist.



June 17, 2006
       I am a psychology student who has read the Kitty Genovese story with fascination. Under the circumstances in those days, and the explanations given by behavioral and cognitive perspectives, I can understand what happened. I can't seem to understand the case psychodynamically, though. Can you explain the psychoanalytic perspective on the behavior of the 38 people who one way or the other heard Kitty cry for help?
       I think it was an extremely unfortunate incident, and those 38 people would have blamed them selves for ever. Our society has changed since for the better, atleast I hope so.
[Name withheld]

Editor's Note:  Since I have no background in psychology, I cannot shed any light on the psychological perspective. A psychology student has suggested to me that cognitive dissonance provides the answer, but I haven't the expertise to say whether it does or not.



June 11, 2006
       The name "Kitty Genovese" just popped into my head for no apparent reason. I typed it into Google and found your remarkable website. The story all came back to me in an instant. Someone compared this to Anne Frank or the JFK assassination. For me, it recalls a Chicago murder of several nursing students around the same period. The name Richard Speck comes to mind in that regard.
       In 1968, four years after the Genovese murder, I moved to New York from the midwest to take a job. Except for the Genovese connection, I'd never heard of Kew Gardens. Ironically, my first New York apartment was at 83-36 Beverly Road, corner of Lefferts Blvd., just two blocks from the crime scene -- although I didn't know that until I ran a mapquest an hour ago.
       It's been nearly 40 years since I've been there, but I distinctly enjoyed the "village" feel of the quaint Tudor architecture where Lefferts crossed the LIRR tracks at Austin. I don't recall Old Bailey's bar, but there was a neighborhood bar & grill nearby on (I think) the southeast side of Lefferts near Austin where I occasionally had a burger & brew.
       Curiously, I don't recall hearing a word about the Genovese murder during the several months I lived there.
       Your website brings back a lot of old memories.
James Tuttle
[To contact James Tuttle, click here]



May 31, 2006
I grew up in the attached row of tudor homes up the clock from the train station on austin. vivvidly remember the police cars all around the scene that morning as i walked to 3rd grade at 99. the blood remeained on the sidewalk it seems, like for years. brought home a friend from another neighborhood and we gawked at the blood, knowing my friend's mom would probably not let him visit my neighborhood again. r.i.p. kitty.
Lenny Bloch
lbloch@ilikejack.com



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