You must of been one of those hug-dispensing, grope-scoring SNAGs. Sweet talkin’ the ladies about how down you were trying to fight the patriarchy, even though you it is was impossible in theory, but were still a Pro-feminist Guy. Maybe played a folk song before trying to get in their pants.

in that case, may I point out, non-judgementally, that you’re coming over as one hell of a sexist dickhead here.

You’re exactly right, from the point of view of any particular city, allowing night clubs just imports problems, so many don’t allow them. But from the social point of view, banning night clubs doesn’t eliminate problems, it just dumps them off on to someone else. The result is that kids are forced to travel long distances, the incidence of drunk driving is increased, and we get tragedies like this one.

Sprite, I’m well aware that there’s tons of transit in the NYC area. At the moment, I happen to be visiting friends and family in the NYC suburbs, so I’m also aware of how lousy commuter rail service is on nights and weekends. Moore’s commuter rail line (the Pascack Valley line on NJ Transit) has no service at all on weekends.

You people really need to get out more. Cause I live in NYC, consider myself reasonably well adjusted and enlightened, and look at every attractive woman willing to show a little leg, but I find this entire subculture gross beyond description. Yet y’all seem to want to defend it. That’s not my battle. But can someone at least explain to me what the benefits to a humane society it provides.

Before you answer that, perhaps you should check out this, or this (NB: links to the Cobra Snake and Last Night’s Party, sites which chronicle the goings on in clubland).

Ragout, there is tons of mass transit in the New York metropolitan area. The subway and city buses run all night. Granted, the commuter trains don’t, but one could get a cab to Grand Central or Penn Station and wait for the first train in a well-lit area patroled by police officers. Or use a cell phone to call a car service. Or get a hotel room. I’m not surprised many teens and college students don’t think of these things, but it’s not as if the options aren’t there.

It may be easier for some kids to go clubbing in New York because their local clubs enforce the drinking age, but I don’t see an easy solution. Should a club increase its liability by admitting underage locals? Seems like a big risk for them. Besides, the point of our ridiculously high drinking age is to cut down on drunk driving. In the long run, I think there would be more deaths and injuries if the cops winked at underage drinking in local clubs than we have among the smaller number of kids who come into the city. But I admit I have no statistics, so that’s just speculation.

Isn’t it possible, though, that analysis of the typical missteps the victims make (that is if they do typically make missteps – I don’t know) could be helpful in identifing some parts of this social/political solution?

Put yourself in the predator’s shoes for a minute- where would you go to hunt? Check, check, and double-check.

But frankly, I’m more scared of Wall Street than I am of the sexual predators of Manhattan. Wall Street depends on putting hundreds of millions of Americans into wage slavery, or worse, creating the environment in which social ills incubate.

It is no wonder to me that among respondents many odd opinions will be found. It is their way, probably mistaken, of saying they think they have bigger problems than the rape of a stranger.

FDL: Um, who specifically is blaming the victim? Pointing out that their behavior that night is nothing a young person should emulate is not blaming them for the events at the end of the evening. I didn’t see any causation. But it’s rare that you see such detailed coverage of how dangerous (counting only drunk driving and alcohol poisoning as possble outcomes) some of the behavior is when going to clubs. I’m still fine with them dressing slutty and dancing (boys and girls). If you have a list of rapists handy, send it over. I’ll take care of it.

Sure, some of the reasons you gave for towing a car are valid (when a car is actually blocking something), but others aren’t.

Anyway, thinking about it some more, my point is that the best policy response is to make it easier for young people to go out clubbing. Why were they driving into the City in the first place? Probably because there’s no mass transit, there’s no local clubs, the local clubs enforce the drinking age more strictly, and so on.

PS, thanks for the link. It seems the Daily News has better coverage of this story than the NY Times.