Featured on the Sun: https://www.the-sun.com/news/5020649/perv-busters-guardian-angels-new-york-city/
A SQUAD of women known as the ‘Perv Busters’ patrol the subways in New York City to keep riders safe from sexual predators.
The head of the all-female subgroup group of the Guardian Angels said the city’s subways are “subterranean hellholes” for women that embolden sexual criminals.
Crime on the New York City subways spiked about 200 percent in mid February, which prompted Mayor Eric Adams to flood the platforms and stations with about 1,000 extra police officers.
The action appears to have wrangled crime, but it’s still up over 70 percent versus this time last year, according to the latest NYPD stats.
As of March 13, 2022, there were three reported rapes in the subways, 128 robberies, 114 felony assaults and 218 grand larcenies, according to data provided by the NYPD.
The numbers are all significantly up from March 13, 2021, when there was one reported rape in the subway, 67 robberies, 92 felony assaults and 94 grand larcenies.
The numbers don’t break down how many of the victims are men or women.
But Mary “KC” Gethins told The Sun that women tend to be targets of crimes like sexual assault, rape and purse snatches (grand larceny).
“There are so many crimes against women that we never even know about because they go unreported,” KC said.
The Sun followed KC for about three hours Saturday night as she led a five-woman squad through Penn Station, where they were joined by Guardian Angels founder Curtis Sliwa.
“There are so many corridors, and pervs know exactly where to hide. It’s a nonstop revolving door, and it’s only gotten worse during the pandemic and with bail reform.”
During the pandemic, the city’s needs evolved, and the Guardian Angelettes adapted.
They split their time above and below the subways while taking on a social worker’s role, the group’s de facto captain said.
They help anyone who needs it, but their focus is women.
“Sometimes they feel like it won’t go anywhere if they report a groping to the police. Sometimes they don’t feel comfortable telling a man. Sometimes it’s pride because they don’t want anyone to see them cry,” KC said.
“Pervs know if they commit a crime underground, it’ll just be a minor charge, and they’ll be out in 24 to 48 hours and go right back and do the same thing.
“If they’ve already been caught, it wasn’t the first time they did it. We even had a guy tell us to say hi to the NYPD for him.”
PERV BUSTERS VS MAN WITH AN ICE PICK
The Perv Buster’s first major case was in 2017.
KC said they helped a woman who was fighting off a man after he exposed himself on a subway and threatened her with an ice pick.
“That was the first time we followed a case through the criminal justice system. We showed up at every court appearance in our red jackets and berets,” KC said.
“We were kicked out of the courtroom because the perv said we were intimidating him.”
The Perv Busters go out twice a week, and their “missions” depend on the need and who’s available, KC said.
They urge women who have been attacked or victimised to take photos of the suspect.
As a group, they post flyers of “targets” or “serial pervs,” deescalate potential violence against women and – if need to – use physical force to make a citizen’s arrest or save a woman from an attack, KC said.
But most of the time being a presence is enough.
Regina “Chagi” Stewart, who joined the Perv Busters a little over a year ago after losing her job during the pandemic, typically patrols the subways around the Woodside section of Queens.
There was one night, she said, a woman was running from her boyfriend during a domestic violence situation.
The Perv Busters – decked out in the traditional red jackets and red berets – surrounded her, and the man walked away, Stewart said.
“Just seeing us can diffuse the situation and deter crime,” she said. “But there are so many things that happen to women on the trains.
“I’ve had it happen to me. Some guy grabbed my a** on the subway and wouldn’t let go and then ran off the train at the next stop.”
‘HER FACE CAN’T HIDE PANIC’
Saturday’s “mission” in and around Penn Station was homeless outreach.
They handed out food, toiletries and clothes while keeping an eye out for known predators in the area.
But the Perv Busters have a different approach to handing out food to homeless women; above or below ground.
“If there’s one or two homeless women with a group of men, I look at her face. Her body language might hide fear, but her face can’t hide panic,” KC said.
So, the Perv Busters are discrete. They’ll slip a card with contact info for help or whisper in their ear while they give them food, KC said.
At times, KC broke from the group to talk to a woman one-on-one to ask if she’s OK.
“If we really think they’re in danger, we’ll circle back because the men can be like, ‘What did she want because they see our jackets.'”
Attacks against women on the subways continue.
In early February, a man tried to rape a 21-year-old woman on the E train in Lower Manhattan, the NYPD said.
She jumped off the seat after a man put his hands in her pants and then allegedly held her against the wall of the train and tried to rape her before running away.
The E train, which is the only train that never goes above ground, has historically been a hot spot for crime and “a shuttle for the homeless,” Sliwa said.
