"If you can't feel safe eating a pancake at 7 in the morning," said my friend, "where can you feel safe?"
I've been hearing rumors of Westport's demise as a dining location for decades, even back in the 1980s, when The Prospect of Westport and Metropolis were two of the most popular venues in the metro. I'm not sure that Westport was any more or less "safe" then. And I have a friend whose father survived a shooting on the Country Club Plaza in the 1970s -- it was a robbery attempt too, during another downturn in the economy. There were always rumor that the J.C. Nichols Company effectively tamped down any negative news about robberies, muggings and the like on the Plaza and maybe that's true, since two friends of mine were, indeed, mugged in parking garages on the Plaza (one was a waiter, returning to his car after finishing the evening shift at the old Bristol). There wasn't even a footnote about the crimes in the daily paper.
So what are diners supposed to do now? Take along a gun when they go to brunch? Hide all their valuables in the car before going into a restaurant for dinner?
I guess if I owned diamonds, I wouldn't be wearing them at First Watch at 7 a.m. anyway.
(Image via Flickr: Arenamontanus)
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My girlfriend was just mugged in the parking garage next to the Beaumont club around 10pm.
Its a serious problem.
We're done with midtown. The police need to own up to all the trouble.
No I caught your point, John. "there is a conflation of energies--all negative--focused on Westport."
I just disagree with you, somewhat vehemently. Westport just doesn't seem all that more dangerous a place to hang out in than any other part of midtown/downtown. You can try to make it as scary sounding as you want...but it won't work on me. Sorry man! I still say that your friends likely invited the attack they got, and if they chose not to report it, as the police suggested (HA! Ok...), then that's on them. (I would report it if I was beaten to a bloody pulp, personally. Maybe I'm weird in that respect...)
It's been years since I've hung out at a bar past 11:30 p.m., so maybe I'm just putting myself into better situations where I won't ever have to deal with the dangers that Westport offer these days, or something. ::shrugs:: Must be that wisdom that comes along with being old and feeble.
I'm sorry to hear about your friends. I am certainly not in denial about shit going down in Westport--the unfortunate things that happen late at night there are DEFINITELY symptomatic of the entertainment district itself. I'm not giving Westport a pass by any means.
My points:
The shit that goes down in Westport absolutely goes down in other places (P&L, for instance) where combustible, typically inexperienced drinkers pound alcohol until 3am. In this sense, Westport's reputation is deserved as a place where trouble happens.
However, a 7am robbery which occurs at a breakfast restaurant which is several blocks away from the entertainment district strikes me as being a different matter--a non-Westport-specific matter.
you are not only old. you are
feeble. by the way. you miss the point completely.
Wow...way to overreact there, John! ::clappity:: You give up eating pork as of two weeks ago, too?
Westport doesn't scare me. I still consider it a place to frequently visit moreso than the P&L, because I like Blanc, Harry's and McCoy's. I'm old, so I don't hang out there late at night like I used to, but heading there for dinner and drinks any day of the week certainly isn't a frightening prospect to me. Sorry your friends got beaten up there...maybe it had something to do with their attitude. If they're anything like you, seems they might jump over that reactive hump a bit too zealously, eh?
so it seems random does it? what kind of profoundly deepseated Denial are you afflicted with? last summer four of my friends were beaten to a pulp in Westport. two of whom required emergency room attention. the police told my friends that since the culprits vanished it would be futile even to make a police report. they encouraged the victims to do nothing. how many times has that scenario been enacted in Westport? there is a conflation of energies--all negative--focused on Westport. it has become ground zero for a brugeoning business-as-usual criminality that this town has has heretofore not experienced. i've got a little secret to share with folks: PERCEPTION IS EVERYTHING. Westport's allure as any kind of destination is rapidly evaporating. it is becoming a place to avoid. if you are foolish enough to patronize the place be smart and wear a kevlar vest and have a will made before you enter the belly of the beast.
I am convinced Power & Light has some sort of PR arm to sweep all incidents not related to dress code under the rug, as did the Legends when people actually went there. The unfortunate part of entertainment districts is that there will always be people who can't hold their liquor.
However, getting a gun shoved in your face while you're enjoying an omelet a la Pulp Fiction is another ballgame entirely.
It's just that an incident like that seems random to me and not Westport-specific...which does nothing to quell the "perception is reality" that seems to be starting to plague the district again. It seems Westport goes through this about every 7 years, so I blame locusts.
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