Brownsville Preview
August 10, 2011 11:07 amNot long ago I had the opportunity to shoot a story about New York City’s most dangerous neighborhood. Brownsville has the highest concentration of low-income public housing in America, and therefore it is one of the few places in Brooklyn where gentrification is nowhere in sight.
The entire story should be published soon so I can’t post the all of it just yet. But here is a preview:
“UPS driver Hakeem Basheer delivered packages without a security guard for about a year, until he was robbed at gunpoint while walking into a project building. As a Brownsville native, Hakeem had felt secure that he would be left alone, but it didn’t take long for reality to prove him wrong. The stolen package was left in the hallway, but the robbery motivated Hakeem to ask the company for an armed security guard. Retired NYPD officer Curtis Walston accompanies him during deliveries in Brownsville and neighboring high-crime communities. Curtis carries two guns, a .38mm and a .9mm, for protection.”
5 Comments
Word.
I used to deliver for UPS… no where like this. Interesting that a company would spend money on hiring a security guard as opposed to just not delivering to that neighborhood… Obviously it must somehow be cheaper to provide security than to try and manage the process of excluding certain segments. Please let us know when and where the full story comes out.
I BET YOU IT’S NOT CHEAPER TO HAVE AN ARMED GUARD. IT’S CHEAPER THAN A DISCRIMINATION LAWSUIT:)
epic! want to see more photos!