Later: A public forum Remembering Catherine “Kitty” Genovese 40 years

Journal of Social Distress and the Homeless

ISSN: 1053-0789 (Print) 1573-658X (Online) Journal homepage:

Remembering Catherine "Kitty" Genovese 40 years later: A public forum

Harold Takooshian, Darren Bedrosian, John. J. Cecero, Lynn Chancer, Andrew Karmen, Jim Rasenberger, A. M. Rosenthal, Curtis Silwa, Charles E. Skoller & Joyce Stephen

To cite this article: Harold Takooshian, Darren Bedrosian, John. J. Cecero, Lynn Chancer, Andrew Karmen, Jim Rasenberger, A. M. Rosenthal, Curtis Silwa, Charles E. Skoller & Joyce Stephen (2005) Remembering Catherine "Kitty" Genovese 40 years later: A public forum, Journal of Social Distress and the Homeless, 14:1-2, 72-85, DOI: 10.1179/105307805807066284 To link to this article:

Published online: 20 Nov 2013.

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72 Remembering Kitty Genovese

Remembering Catherine "Kitty" Genovese 40 years later: A public forum1 Harold Takooshian, Darren Bedrosian, John. J. Cecero, Lynn Chancer, Andrew Karmen,

Jim Rasenberger, A. M. Rosenthal, Curtis Silwa, Charles E. Skoller, Joyce Stephen

To mark the fortieth anniversary of the tragic death of Catherine "Kitty" Genovese on March 13, 1964 in New York City, a public forum hosted by Fordham University brought together an interdisciplinary group of experts to look back on this sad event. What follows is a summary of this forum, joined by 100 New Yorkers and the mass media. Even four decades after this tragedy was brought to world-wide attention by the book Thirty-eight witnesses (Rosenthal, 1965), new facts continue to surface about this haunting crime and its aftermath (DeMay, 2004). This forum addressed some timely questions, such as: (1) Were Genovesetype situations rare or common in the past, or even today? (2) How did mass media coverage of Ms. Genovese' 1964 tragedy impact society? (3) Why does this woman's tragedy continue to move us so deeply today, even those of us who were not yet born in 1964? (4) Should U.S. duty-to-aid laws encourage or even oblige citizens to come to each other's aid in crises if they can safely do so--as is typically the law in other nations? The forum benefited from the expertise of 10 panelists who review diverse aspects of this topic:

1 Fordham University, New York City, March 9, 2004. In addition to the 10 panelists, this public forum benefited from many folks who kindly "got involved" to organize various parts of it: Michele Snipe, Elizabeth Schmalz, John Blythe, Gavin Ramoutar, Jean-Marie Ciaffone, Francis Katai, Richard Waite, Andrew Blauner, Chris Kavanagh, Melody Shafir, Joseph DeMay, Chaplain William G. Kalaidjian, Candy and Mildred Senn. A videotape of this forum is available from The Fordham Institute. Address any inquiries to Harold Takooshian, Fordham University, New York NY 10023. (takoosh@)

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Panelists: 2 Darren Bedrosian, President, Fordham Psychology Association Welcome to the Public forum

Jim Rasenberger, Author and journalist, Why does her tragedy touch us so deeply?

Charles E. Skoller, Esq., Queens County District Attorney's Office (ret.), Little-known facts about the Genovese tragedy

Harold Takooshian, Psychology, Fordham University, Impacts on the behavioral sciences

John J. Cecero, SJ, Psychology, Fordham University, Sprituality and altruistic compassion

Joyce Stephen, Commander, Community Affairs, NYC Police Department, Urban law enforcement

Andrew Karmen, Sociology, CUNY John Jay College of Criminal Justice, Crime victims and the justice system

Lynn Chancer, Sociology, Fordham University, Crimes against women, then and now

Curtis Sliwa, Founder and President, Alliance of Guardian Angels, Neighborhood crime prevention and community awareness

Discussant: A.M. Rosenthal, Author and Editor, The New York Times (ret.). Benediction: John J. Cecero, SJ Audience and panel dialogue. (30 minute discussion, on videotape only.)

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Darren Bedrosian: Welcome to the public forum

It is my pleasure to welcome you to this public forum. Our thanks to all those involved in organizing this forum, and to Fordham University for hosting it. One recurring phrase seems to epitomize what brings us together today, "I just didn't want to get involved." These were the words spoken by so ma ny of the witnesses of the Kitty Genovese murder in 1964. When police later asked her killer why he lacked fear of the many witnesses, he coldly replied, "I knew they

2 Panelists: Darren Bedrosian is a student and the President of the Psychology Association of Fordham University.

John J. Cecero, SJ, is a psychologist and Jesuit priest at Fordham University, where he teaches the course on Human Values, and directs the Center for Spirituality and Psychology. (jjcsj@) Lynn Chancer is a sociologist on the faculty of Fordham University. (chancer@fortdham.edu) Andrew Karmen is a sociologist on the faculty of the John Jay College of Criminal Justice, CUNY, and the author of Crime victims (5th ed., 2004). (karmen@jjay.cuny.edu) Jim Rasenberger is a journalist, and the author of High Steel: The daring men who built the world's greatest skyline (2004). (rasenberger@) A.M. Rosenthal was the Metropolitan Editor and Executive Editor of The New York

Times (ret.), and the author of the pivotal book, 38 witnesses (1965). (blauner@) Charles E. Skoller of the Queens County District Attorney's Office (ret.) was one of the two prosecutors of the killer of Ms. Genovese in 1964, and author of the forthcoming book, A prosecutor's dilemma. (ceskoller@) Curtis Sliwa is the Founder and

President of Alliance of Guardian Angels, the global community self-help movement he formed in Bronx, NY in 1979. (curtis sliwa@) Joyce Stephen is Deputy Chief of the NYC Police Department, and the Commander of its Community Affairs Division. Harold Takooshian is a psychologist on the faculty of Fordham University, and the

Director of the Fordham Institute. (takoosh@).

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74 Remembering Kitty Genovese

wouldn't do anything. People never do". The murder of Ms. Genovese taught us that people are willing to stand idly by while a fellow human being is attacked and killed.

By gathering here today, we show that we are ready to examine this indifference, so we never again turn our backs on a person in need. Our human values are in the spotlight here. Do we value the well-being of our neighbor as much as we should? Two years ago I was walking with a friend past Duane Reade's here on Tenth Avenue. I saw what at first looked like a man playfully chasing a woman, until I glimpsed the fear on her face. It turned out to be a drunken homeless man attempting to grab at her. What I then saw were at least six people who casually walked past this terrified woman. With my friend I chose to confront the man, and that simple intervention ended the event peacefully. Here in New York City, it is the rare person who has not had an experience of this sort. But we must not turn our backs on someone in need. I was not yet born in 1964, yet I and my generation are quite familiar with Ms. Genovese' tragedy, and we too are moved by its powerful lesson. In fact we all live now in a time when the colors of orange and red remind us of our greater vulnerability. This is not a time for indifference. Today our turning a blind eye to danger may not cost us the life of just one lovely young lady, but possibly 3,000 lives. If Kitty's death opens our eyes and hearts to care more for one another, then perhaps her death was not in vain. Maybe that is a definition for our values, thinking of the welfare of others as our own.

Jim Rasenberger: Why does her tragedy touch us so deeply?

When I began researching in November 2003 the article that appeared in the New York Times on February 8 (Rasenberger, 2004), I started with two questions. The first was factual, What exactly occurred in those early morning hours of March 13th, 1964? (2) The second question was more philosophical, What did the events of that night mean? In other words, what lessons or morals could we draw from the death of Kitty Genovese? Within days of the frontpage, March 27th New York Times article on the 38 witnesses, everyone in New York was speculating on how this could have happened. Some views leaned towards the absurd. One psychiatrist blamed television for hypnotizing people, to they point that they could no longer distinguish entertainment from reality. A woman writing to the New York Times blamed "male insufficiency," that men have become so emasculated by women that they now lack the

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masculine courage to rescue a woman being murdered. Since 1964, Kitty Genovese' death has been pondered often and deeply--by clergy, politicians, writers, and especially psychologists.

But first, what exactly did happen that night of March 13th? I certainly thought I knew the answer. A woman had been butchered by a psychopath while dozens of people watched from their window seats, like spectators watching gladiators at a Roman Coliseum. What a horrific scene. This was in fact how the story was originally reported on March 27th. I quote: "For more than half an hour, 38 respectable, law-abiding citizens in Queens watched a killer stab a woman in three separate attacks in Kew Gardens."

Now that sounds as if all 38 people watched all 35 minutes of the murder, an impression soon echoed in Life Magazine and other major accounts. No wonder there was such contempt for the people of Kew Gardens for months after the murder. How horrifying. But is the murder of Kitty Genovese one of the pre-eminent urban myths of the latter half of the 20th century? Like all myths, it no t quite true. Since she was stabbed in three attacks in two locations--first on Austin Street, then in her own building's foyer--and all but one of the 38 witnesses (Carl Ross) simply could not have seen all the attacks. It turns out the great majority were not eyewitnesses, but earwitnesses, and what they heard was likely fragmentary and confusing, through closed windows on a chilly night. Whether or not we choose to overlook the inaction of these 38, they were hardly monsters for us to judge with moral superiority. In that situation, would we have behaved differently? According to psychology researchers, maybe not. Before we are quick to judge the 38, we might examine ourselves, each time we walk by homeless people on the sidewalk. If the original Geno vese accounts had not been exaggerated, would this have been a 3day story rather than a 40-year story?

Before closing my brief remarks, I share with you one true irony of this story, based on my journalistic interviews with Kitty's friends, and her brother William Genovese. By all accounts, Kitty herself was an extraordinarily vibrant and generous person--exactly the kind of person likely to get involved if someone else were in need of help.

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76 Remembering Kitty Genovese

Charles E. Skoller: Little-known facts about the Genovese tragedy

Forty years ago I prosecuted Winston Mosley, the killer of Kitty Genovese, together with another District Attorney in Queens County. The initial investigation disclosed at least half a dozen eyewitnesses. I will tell you about two of them.

Joseph Fink was assistant superintendent of the nine-storey Marbury Apartments, across the street from Kitty's first attack. He sat in the sofa at the large bay window, saw the first attack, knew exactly what was happening. He saw the shiny blade of the knife as it struck Kitty in the back four times. He got up from his sofa, went downstairs to his apartment, and went to sleep, with the telephone right beside his bed. He did nothing.

Second was Carl Ross. Twenty minutes later Kitty's second attack was in his vestibule in 82-62 Austin Street. He opened the door, saw the attack, closed the door, phoned his girlfriend for advice, she told him not to get involved. Carl called Kitty's neighbor Sophie Farrar. Now this is a heroic person. She immediately phoned the police, then rushed to Kitty's side. She was four-feet-eight, a tiny woman in her thirties, had just given birth a few months earlier. She rushed into that vestibule not knowing what was happening there, found Kitty semiconscious, and cradled Kitty in her arms until the ambulance and police arrived. Kitty died en route to the hospital. The mortal wounds were inflicted in the second attack. To this day, I believe Kitty would be alive today if someone had phoned during the first attack. Despite the absence of 9-1-1, response time was still excellent in 1964.

At trial we sought the death penalty. Only three witnesses could actually identify Winston Mosley: Joseph Fink, Carl Ross, and a milkman who saw Mosley leaving the scene. We did not call Fink or Ross as witnesses, for their horrible conduct could distract jurors from the death penalty Mosley deserved for his brutal attack. And Mosely did get the death penalty, until a later court replaced this with life in prison.

It is ironic that five days later, on March 18, Winston was arrested because neighbors did get involved. Mosley was burgling a home nearby in Corona. Neighbor Dan Fulton saw him carry a television set to his car, and confronted him, "What are you doing?" Mosley replied, "I'm helping the people to move." Fulton went to ask his neighbor Jack Green, "Are the Bannisters moving?" Green said "Absolutely not." Unsure, they chose to take no chance. While Fulton phoned the 114th Precinct, Green quietly opened the hood of Mosley's white Corvair and

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disconnected its distributor cap. When Mosley came out, he was unable to start his car, and was apprehended by police as he tried to walk away. So Mosley was arrested only because neighbors "got involved," and this was before The New York Times had heard or wrote anything about 38 witnesses.

In preparing for trial, I spoke with over 25 witnesses. I believe more than 38 heard Kitty's screams, but fewer than 38 saw the attacks. Whatever the number, we should all be disturbed. A human life is worth more than a telephone call, and one need not identify themselves in a in a call for help.

For those who do not know, three years after Mosley was sentenced, he escaped while being transported to a hospital. He took a pregnant woman hostage in upstate New York, and raped her in the presence of her family. I am currently completing my book, A prosecutor's dilemma, recounting a few of my cases including the Genovese murder which had such a great impact on all of us.

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Harold Takooshian: Impacts of the behavioral sciences

When Kitty Genovese screamed for her life at 3 am, her screams may have seemed unheard by her neighbors, but have been heard by millions of people around the world since 1964. Thanks to A.M. Rosenthal and others, we have been deeply touched by Kitty's screams, and society is not the same (Crimes, 1991). Kitty's nightmare has become a symbol for all of us, impacting many parts of our society (Takooshian, 2003). I will focus on how dramatically my field of psychology has been changed by her experience.

At first we all wondered how this incident could happen. Rosenthal's book 38 witnesses demanded a rational explanation, but behavioral scientists were initially at a loss (Krebs, 1970). Yet psychologists here in New York soon found that this type of incident was not unique, might even be common. Like Genovese, the sensational Bonnie Bush murder (Daniel, 1980), New Bedford barroom rape (Butterworth, 1984) and Goetz shooting also escaped notice at first, until a savvy reporter was able to clutch them from oblivion (Perera, 1983).

At a 1984 conference here at Fordham (Dowd, 1984), we found the Genovese incident was the single most cited event in the field of psychology, in over 1,000 publications-- articles, books, films. Two new psychology specialties emerged, now termed "prosocial behavior"--to

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78 Remembering Kitty Genovese

learn why we do or do not help others (Takooshian & Barsumyan, 1992), and "urban psychology"--to study the impact of city life on our individual behavior and personality (Milgram, 1970). Sadly, psychologists' early research was based on flawed details of the Genovese case, until the publication of Chief! (Seedman & Hellman, 1974) gave a detailed and accurate account, which continues to evolve today (DeMay, 2004; Rogers & Eftimiades, 1995). Since 1964, New York City has been home to at least three psychology research programs.

1. First among these was the survey research on moral judgment by Harry Kaufmann (1967) of Hunter College. His team found that simply labeling a behavior like "bystander inaction" as "illegal" caused people to judge it as more "immoral." This is crucial since the inaction of the Genovese witnesses who "just didn't want to get involved" was quite legal in New York State. He found our law clearly sets the tone for what we view as proper behavior.

2. The most widely-known were the lab experiments of Bibb Latane of Columbia University and John Darley of NYU in 1968 (Darley & Latane, 1970). Their team documented the "diffusion of responsibility"--that, ironically, the more witnesses at the scene of a crisis, the less any one witness feels responsible to intervene. It is witness' relation with each other more than the victim that is crucial, so many of us may fail to help if a Genovese-type situation lends itself to ambiguity.

3. Here at Fordham University, a team of faculty and 64 students has used diverse methods to document what we have termed "the secret of street crime"--that criminals expect witnesses not to intervene (Takooshian & O'Connor, 1983). Our field experiments (Takooshian & Panzarella, 1983) and observation of real crimes (Takooshian, 1982) found that citizens fail to notice possible crimes, and intervene in fewer than 10 percent of trials. Our survey of career criminals confirms this finding (Weinberger, 1981), while a survey of New Yorkers found 82 percent of them favor duty-to-aid laws to promote witness intervention (Takooshian & Stravitz, 1984; Costa, Nutini & Potere, 2000), and citizen groups that "get involved" (Collins, 1981; Wong, 1991). It is sad that other cases where witnesses "get involved"--like the case of courageous George Senn in August 1964--are also overlooked by the media (Stone, 1981).

I close with the sad words that Darren quoted earlier, from the loathsome psychopath who told Chief Albert Seedman, "I knew they wouldn't do anything. People never do". It is up to all of us, including psychologists, to learn from the Genovese tragedy, and work together on ways to remove the truth from this psychopath's words.

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