Noise tonight
  • Tallboy
    I am on the Upper East side and can hear a lot of noise tonight. Is something going on in the Park or is it an incredibly loud local party?
  • Emma
    Where is the Upper East Side? There was a lot of noise out the back last night (I am on Upper Tollington Park) which I assumed was a party in a neighbouring back garden. Didn't seem to go on too late (although I am excellent at sleeping through this kind of thing) so maybe this isn't what you're talking about.
  • Billy Bookcase
    Horrible screaming last night around midnight at the junction of MPC and Victoria Rd. There have been some assaults in the street at night here lately.
  • jandb
    I heard the blood-curdling scream at midnight, but didn't see anything.

    Could it have been foxes?
  • Billy Bookcase
    No it wasn't foxes.
    It was my daughter.
  • Tallboy
    I'm on Stapleton Hall Road, Stroud Green end. Jeremy, is your daughter ok?
  • ladysmall
    I heard the screaming too and couldn't work out if it was foxes or not. Does any one know what happened?
  • Billy Bookcase
    Yes, thankfully she is ok.

    All I can say is that any woman walking in that area late at night should be extra careful until he is caught.
  • jandb
    Good to hear that Jeremy.
  • sincers

    Hang on. Am I missing something? Can you elaborate?

  • Billy Bookcase
    I'm not able to elaborate nor do I want to be alarmist.
    I'm saying only that an extra degree of prudence seems appropriate at this particular time.
  • miss annie
    @Jeremy Fisher
    I'm very glad that your daughter is ok, thank you on behalf of all of the ladies here for the warning.
  • Mirandola
    Thank you for the warning.

    There is, though, and it's not your fault, something dispiriting about the implication that women who aren't committing crimes should have their freedom to move curtailed because men are committing crimes.

    All the more so since the fewer women there are around at night the more dangerous it becomes for those women that are around. It's one of those infuriating vicious circles where the only sensible behaviour probably makes things worse in the long run.

    Flashback to this: http://www.reclaimthenight.org/
  • Billy Bookcase
    @Mirandola

    I agree wholeheartedly with your point though I think there are other things to be said about Reclaim The Night at least in its earlier incarnations that I am more familiar with.

    I am speaking here only in the most practical and immediate way about what to do until this disturbed young man is apprehended as I'm certain he will be.
    My daughter--and I do not intend to sound patriarchal here--is a bright and fearless young woman who has seen many worse environments than this one.
    I posted what I thought was a measured warning just because I don't want what happened to her last night to happen to anybody else.
  • sophie

    until who is caught?? you could give us an idea of who we're looking out for. i'm glad your daughter is ok but the way you've written it is pretty alarmist i'd say. are the police doing anything about it?

  • Mirandola
    Jeremy,

    Your daughter sounds like a splendid woman. Thanks again for your message.
  • Billy Bookcase
    @sophie
    I certainly don't want to sound alarmist.
    I proposed sensible precaution not panic.
    Yes, I can assure you that the police are very much involved.
    Obviously If I knew who it was then I'd be helping to catch them.
  • JoeV
    @Jeremy Fisher. Thanks for the warning and I'll certainly keep an ear out.

    There also was a mugging on the corner or SHR and Victoria about three weeks ago, which resulted in a full out response by the police that surprised me. I hope they catch the person(s).
  • sincers

    Ok message heeded, thanks @Jeremy. I hope your daughter is ok.

  • Jenowl
    Thank you for the warning, Jeremy.
  • sophie

    sorry i just wondered if you had a description of the person. i didn't mean to sound negative, i just hate feeling freaked out since i often have no option other than walking alone in the dark, and i can only pretend to myself that i'm not scared so much. i err on the side of paranoia and over-cautiousness so if i start thinking about things like this too much it would take over my life & i'd never be able to leave the house.

    good luck with the police investigation, i hope it's sorted asap.

  • N4Matt
    I've recently noticed in and around SG that there is a four man motorcycle team (light scrambling BMW bikes) of London's finest which seem to work as a quick reaction force. It all looks a bit robocop but if they are cleaning up the mean streets or even acting as a deterrent then fairplay.
  • john-of-the-jungle
    @Tallboy
    If you're on the Upper East Side, does this mean I'm in the West Village?
  • Archer
    I always hear noises similar to screams, but I have always put that down to the geese and wildlife on the park and parkland walk - My home is between these two areas.

    @ Jeremy Fisher - I do hope your daughter is O.K
  • sincers

    Normally the ungodly screeches are from foxes.

  • Helena
    There was a woman screaming on Thursday morning at around 3am, at the junction of Ossian road and MPV.I don't know what happened but thankfully a kind person took her in and a man walked her home to safety. Thankfully the police arrived within five minutes too.
    Having read about other attacks, it is becoming very worrying!
  • Peter
    Helena: turned out the woman had been muggd on the way home from work. A chap from Ossian Road helped her home and one of the other neighbours called the cops who turned up quickly and were with her for 40 minutes or so.
  • Philistine'sMonster
    Hi Mister Fisher, sorry to hear about this. I thought your post was a very calm and rational response and it didn’t (to me at least) sound alarmist at all. Hope there’s no lasting damage done.

    I am concerned that the posting of some recent events is contributing to a disproportionate sense of pessimism. While I don’t wish to soft-pedal the severity of these disturbing incidents, they’re not a new phenomenon, I’m afraid. I’m sure those of us that have lived here, or who have family or friends that have lived here for the past 30 years, have their own grim stories to tell. I write this not to alarm you but to put it into perspective.

    For example: A bunch of guys once set their “status” dogs on a family friend (this was the late 80s, early 90s, by the way). There was a girl gang-raped behind the playground near what is now the Arts and Media School. A close member of my family distinctly remembers following a trail of blood to school where someone had been stabbed the previous night, and I’ve lost count of the amount of my contemporaries (I’m now nearly 40) that were mugged at knifepoint as teenagers.

    There was the Fonthill Road Flasher. There was a very dodgy local bloke who preyed on schoolgirls. And does anyone remember the time the pub (now the N4) was bombed?

    I expect it’s the same in Hampstead, Muswell Hill and other north London districts.

    Finsbury Park has always had a reputation for being “dodgy”, but rather than getting worse, I think things are getting better here.

    So don’t have nightmares … and feel free to share your own gruesome stories from the past, cos I love a bit of gossip, too.

    X Phil
  • missisclack
    I'd rather be freaked out into extra vigilance and caution than ignorantly vulnerable, so I'm grateful for the warning. Thank you.

    Perhaps anyone who hears of progress catching the assailant could keep us updated here? (Jeremy? as you seem unfortunatley closest to the police investigation).

    I'm glad too Jeremy that your daughter is OK.
  • sincers

    This is worrying, but I've held back on warning the missus specifically because I don't want to spook her. I advise her to get the bus, rather than walk home etc. and since my dog sitting exploits, I have taken to walking down Ossian Road ready to Boondock someone's ass if there's anything untoward.

  • Billy Bookcase
    @ Philistine.
    I have also lived here for 30 years.
    I agree that things are getting better in many ways.
    My motive is not gossip. I am not keen to circulate horror stories or spook people.
    Philosophically, what you call pessimism is a more valuable starting point for me but this is not a philosophical debate.
    My concerns here are immediate and practical.
    I think that it's worth knowing even via this largely nuance-free technology what is going on around you.
    Usually when these clusters of events happen in a small area they are the work of a small number of people or perhaps only one person. I'm sure that's true in this case.
    Of course I'll pass on good news if I hear it.
  • Philistine'sMonster
    Agree with you entirely.
  • ArkadyArkady

    The N4 was bombed..!?

  • missisclack
    Eh? The N4 was bombed? For real? Blimey! Any further info?
  • samtheman
    tell you what if the N4 keep me up again i might bomb it my self when was this bombing meant to happen ive lived here 28 years and i don't recall of it
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