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ARTICLE 2 - TABLE OF CONTENTS
  1. What you think you know about the
    case might not be true
  2. This much is certain
  3. There were two attacks not three
  4. The police were called after the first attack
  5. There were not 38 eye witnesses
  6. Only two eye witnesses are known to have seen Kitty attacked
  7. The witnesses saw Kitty leave and not come back
  8. The witnesses did not watch for half an hour
  9. Only one witness is known to have heard Kitty say she had been stabbed
  10. Kitty did not scream for half an hour
  11. Kitty might not have been saved by a phone call
  12. The problem was not apathy
  13. "We didn't want to get involved"
  14. Doubts
  15. Post Your content

FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS
  1. This is all too much to read. What's the short version?
  2. Are you saying the witnesses were blameless?
  3. How can you defend these people?
  4. What do you hope to accomplish?
  5. Is yours the last word on the subject?
  6. Are you a revisionist?
  7. Why should I believe you rather than the New York Times?
  8. Shouldn't Kew Gardens be ashamed of what happened?
  9. Have you made any money from these articles?

PICTURE ALBUMS
In the Beginning
The Long Island Rail Road Station
Maple Grove Cemetery and Vicinity
Kew Cards
Homes of Kew
Lefferts Boulevard and Vicinity
Queens Boulevard and Vicinity
Metropolitan Avenue and Vicinity
Kew Garden Apartments
Kew Gardens in the News
PS99 Photographs and More

VIEWER MESSAGES
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Post Message 		Guestbook Archives
Where Are They?

MISCELLANEOUS
Special Feature
Kitty Genovese 		Books
Maps
Kew Gardens Improvement Association
Links to Other Web Sites of Interest

Click image to enlarge
Catherine "Kitty" Genovese

Click on image to view original photograph, courtesy of the Genovese Family.

Biographical sketch of Kitty Genovese

The killer's parole status

Bibliography and list of sources

A critique of the 1964 Times article

The Kitty Genovese Message Board

Frequently Asked Questions

"Today, the specifics of the neighborhood's reaction to the murder are in dispute, and several residents who were alive at the time of the attack maintained yesterday that the screams were not that easy to hear and that in fact, some people did call for help or seek to find out what was going on."

[Quote from: Joe Sexton, "A Request Revives Passions in the Kitty Genovese Case", The New York Times, p. B4 (July 25, 1995).]
Disclaimer

Throughout this page, I will cite to various media accounts of the case.  I do so only for the factual statements they contain and not because the authors of those accounts agree with the opinions I express here.
In the Public Domain

My thoughts, comments and opinions about this case along with all images created by or for me are dedicated to the public domain.  They may be copied and used without credit or compensation to me.  I claim no rights in the trial transcript and briefs included here.
Go to Article 1  |  This is Article 2  |  Go to Message Board
[Page 1 of 15]
Kitty Genovese
What you think you know about the case
might not be true
by: Joseph De May
     [Member, Richmond Hill Historical Society]
According to the March 27, 1964 New York Times:
"For more than half an hour thirty-eight respectable, law-abiding citizens in Queens watched a killer stalk and stab a woman in three separate attacks in Kew Gardens.  Twice the sound of their voices and the sudden glow of their bedroom lights interrupted him and frightened him off.  Each time he returned, sought her out and stabbed her again.  Not one person telephoned the police during the assault; one witness called after the woman was dead."
The story became a cultural landmark, giving notoriety to the phrase "We didn't want to get involved." However, the undisputed evidence from the killer's trial and other sources shows that the Times account is mostly wrong.   [Cont'd on Next Page]

Table of Contents
  1. What you think you know about the case might not be true

  2. This much is certain

  3. There were two attacks not three

  4. The police were called after the first attack

  5. There were not 38 eye witnesses

  6. Only two eye witnesses are known to have seen Kitty attacked

  7. The witnesses saw Kitty leave and not come back

  8. The witnesses did not watch for half an hour

  9. Only one witness is known to have heard Kitty say she had been stabbed

  10. Kitty did not scream for half an hour

  11. Kitty might not have been saved by a phone call

  12. The problem was not apathy

  13. "We didn't want to get involved"

  14. Doubts

  15. Post Your Comments
Kitty Genovese Message Board



[Cont'd on Next Page]