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In Borough Park, the Unusual Taste of Fear














For years, Orthodox Jews have come to Borough Park in Brooklyn to keep the temptations and immodesty of the modern world at bay.

Many families do not own televisions or attend movies. The children attend yeshivas instead of public schools. Adolescent girls do not leave the house without making certain that their knees and elbows are covered, and at weddings and funerals alike, women and men sit separately to avoid physical contact, as required by religious law.

But in the last month, the world outside has intruded sharply on this carefully tended enclave. Three times in April, young girls there have been approached by a man flashing a police badge or business card who tried to lure them into his vehicle. One of the girls, a 10-year-old, climbed into the man's car and was molested by him.

That attack and the other encounters have left many girls frightened and have increased the level of vigilance among the police and community leaders to a high pitch. "I think because we're such a sheltered community, we feel invaded," said Helen Muller, a principal at the United Talmudic Academy in Borough Park. "We've tried to shelter them from outside influences," she added. "But this whole situation brings the street into the community."

But the sense of danger is not limited to Borough Park. In Queens late last month, a man approached a 12-year-old girl, identified himself as an officer, and began to grope her. And on Sunday, a young Hasidic woman in Lakewood, N.J., was sexually assaulted by a man who kidnapped her from the parking lot of her gym, the police said. The New York police do not believe the Queens attack was related to the case in Borough Park, though they are exploring possible links to the assault in Lakewood.

But with no suspects yet in custody, Borough Park — an insular, publicity-shy community — has battened the hatches even tighter.

"I think things have changed dramatically," said Simcha Felder, a city councilman who represents the area. "There are cops all over the place. Shopkeepers are fixing their security cameras and making sure they have tape. Parents are spending a lot more time talking to their children. It's scary to most people, and everyone is on edge."

Along 16th Avenue yesterday, mothers pushing strollers traded gossip about the attacks in Lakewood, where many have relatives among the Orthodox community there. They spoke of keeping their children indoors at playtime, increased patrols by the Shomrim, the community's volunteer security force, and whether the assailant might have been specifically stalking Jewish girls. Most people interviewed would give only their first names, or no names at all.

"Everyone's attuned to what's going on," said Rose, 39, a Borough Park resident. But the Lakewood attack, she said, was "even scarier. Children can lose themselves, and not be cautious, but this was an adult."

At Dagan Pizza and Dairy, a kosher restaurant in Borough Park, Debbie, 32, and her mother, Sara, 50, ate pizza and commiserated about the attacks. Sara said she was keeping tighter reins on her three teenage daughters. "It gets dark, you stay inside," she said.

Two officials at the Bais Yaakov girls' school, who also refused to give their names, said parents were telling children to travel in groups and to come home earlier than usual.

"We're seeing more pickups and dropoffs," said one of the officials. "We announce on a daily basis how to respond, what to do and what not to do."

"This is not a neighborhood used to anything of this sort," she added. "We've sort of been protected."

Tensions ran just as high in Lakewood, where about one-third of residents are Orthodox. Trim Gym, whose parking lot was the site of the abduction there, has separate hours for women and men. On Sundays, the final session for women runs from 6 to 10 p.m. The police said the woman was abducted about 10, from the rear parking lot, where three of four lights were broken.

Yesterday, a sign was posted on the door advising patrons to walk in pairs and stay in well-lighted areas.

"I'm not changing my habits, I only go in the morning," said Judy Kaufman as she left the gym yesterday. But she added, "I heard people talking nonstop. One said she would not go out in the evening."

The police in Lakewood were furiously tracking down dozens of leads, and yesterday released a sketch of the assailant, describing him as white, in his mid-20's to mid-30's, thin, with short brown hair and a goatee. A police report released earlier this month described the Brooklyn attacker as a man, 20 to 25 years old, with a large frame and black hair.

Outside the Four Corners bagel shop on East County Line Road in Lakewood, Mike Taub said people there were disappointed that a vicious crime had invaded their otherwise placid town. Lakewood is "like family, everybody knows somebody who knows them."

He added, "This sort of thing never happens here."

http://www.nytimes.com/2006/05/10/nyregion/10abduct.html?_r=1&oref=login