New Yorkers who are afraid of random attacks can rest a little easier.
A Manhattan therapist – who was randomly attacked in broad daylight – launches its own “Uber for pedestrians” mobile app that wants to stimulate street safety in numbers.
Resident Pamela Garber from Upper East Side said her invention, Never walk alone NYCwill link users to other pedestrians in a ‘buddy system’, similar to Rideshare services such as Uber or Lyft, so that they can commute without fear.
“Walking is proof of our freedom,” she told the post, “[but] I walk past people who shoot up, I walk past someone who looks hostile, and I call my fiancé then and says, “Stay on the phone with me.”
“If we can’t just walk and patronize restaurants and shops, we will lose our entire way of life, especially in New York,” she added.
Garber’s fiancé died tragically in an accident before the couple could make the knot, but she said she found comfort by walking through the city – until the Covid Pandemie brought more disorder on the street.
“My strong desire for family and subsequent disappointments was always chosen by walking through the streets of the city,” said Garber, 55.
“The streets of New York were always reassuring. It was always as if the city was a large neighborhood with the best northeast hospitality, and the welcome of witty-people, often colorful-sherts. Walking to work was my off-Broadway show for the front.”
But Garber began to notice “visible” changes in her walking residential work traffic from the Upper East Side to her former office in the financial district – and in 2019, after almost a decade of a walk from the center, “it just became impossible” for her to get the sidewalk without becoming afraid of her safety.
“I only know that the environment has changed, that it visually changed,” she said, adding that the fully-fledged app idea in 2020 was created during the pandemic.
Garber said she was also inspired to take action after she was flooded with horrible anecdotes of her psychotherapy clients.
The therapist remembers that her clients have witnessed stitches, were followed for blocks and robberies after leaving a supermarket.
“They feel helpless,” she said. “This app offers a practical solution.”
Her decision to launch the app was reinforced after her own attack in the summer of 2022, she said, when she was repeatedly beaten by a stranger in her own neighborhood on a Saturday afternoon.
“The police, although professional, did not arrest my attacker,” said Garber. “The [same] Woman immediately attacked a pregnant woman. ‘
Felony and crime attacks in the city fell by 1%and 1.8%respectively, so far compared to this time frame last year, according to police data, while the theft had fallen by 21.2%.
But for Garber and others, one attack experience can be enough to look for an alternative to walking or just taking the metro.
The app is still in the development phase as Garber Courts Investors for the approximately $ 250,000 company. She is planning to launch beta tests with 100 participants in Manhattan in the coming 12 months.
“I risk my life about the cabinet rate,” A promotional Because the app clearly claims.
Some New Yorkers told the post that they are alert in the streets of the city in the same way that walking with another person would add a much needed level of protection to their commuting.
“As a New Yorker I am always aware of. I pay more attention to trains and [to] People in the neighborhood, “said Janice Tsao, a resident of Midtown East and broker.
“It sounds interesting,” Tsao added. “I would be curious to see if there are enough people for that, and if it were soon enough to get someone because you don’t want something to happen to you while you wait [on the street] For that person. “
Stevie from Upper East Side, who refused to give her last name, said: “I feel it is a great idea” – but noticed that it would not curb all care.
‘If I am with other people, I would certainly feel safer, even, even, [with] Another woman – when I’m with a man, that doesn’t really do much to help, “she said.
Stevie added that she was doubtful, a “buddy system” could crush all the random attacks – such as one that a woman put in a busy Soho Street earlier this month.
“It really makes a difference [to walk in a group?]”She asked.” Someone was put in the neck and I have something like “well.” I feel that society should just be better for women. “
Garber said she is planning to implement background controls and virtual interviews to screen users as a way to ease the fear that the app could fall into the wrong hands or be used by people with nasty motives.
For individuals, never only NYC will follow a ‘Citi Bike Model’, in which the app coordinates a meeting place every hour through each metro station, Garber said.
Companies, schools and other institutions will also be able to ‘subscribe’ their own meeting points.
Garber expects the app to cost around $ 25 per month for individual users and a custom price for settings based on company size.
Groups with an internal subscription would effectively use their own recruitment or admission process as a de facto ‘control’ tool.
While she is waiting for potential private investors, Garber also tries her happiness in getting used to the interest of the administration of mayor Eric Adams-EN claims that the app can even be a multiple dollar income generator for the city through advertisements, subscriptions and data mining.
“We get increased safety by walking together, getting more social opportunities in real life and going into a health component,” she said about her project.
“I just need the business company to make the walking company happen.”
