My husband is a swell guy. He is from Danville, VA originally. He went to school in the 90's at VCU, which was sort of perilous at that time I gather. I know he felt like he was escaping when he moved to NYC in 2004. At that time NYC was in it's "hunky dory" post Giuliani phase. That did not stop him from getting jumped in the Bed Stuy projects, but after Richmond, he felt- no big whoop. We met that year and I visited RVA for the first time in 2005. I loved it immediately. It was quaint, historic, beautiful etc. What I loved most though, were the people I met here. Consistently, the folks I met here were of a high caliber. Creative, caring, enthusiastic, unpretentious..they did not live in Williamsburg Brooklyn, which was of course a major plus..
Jokes aside, I mean it when I say I fell for this town and it's inhabitants, hard. Fast forward 5 years.
We have now lived here 6 months. Marty's store that he runs with his partner Drew has been open exactly two months and three days. Things have been going well, except for today when two twenty somethings came in and robbed the store and Marty's personal belongings at gunpoint, at 630pm in the evening. People walked by the shop as it was happening. A busy gallery opening across the street was underway. The bus stop out front was as active as ever and yet two kids thought that this record shop with one clerk, a half hour before closing, before Broad St. gets sleepy and dark- was easy pickings for a hold up. They walked in and had him on the ground took all the money from the register and they were out in minutes. They took his cell phone and the store phone so he could not call for help. If it was not for a neighbor walking her dog, who noticed he was not behind the counter as usual and came in to investigate, he would not have been able to call the cops right away.
Here is the thing, yay to the neighbor for her instincts, but is it up to her to be on alert here?
Where is the interest in Broad St that I have seen every Friday of a new month? You would not even know it was the same strip when you compare it to a non First Friday evening. Why is it that when I meet Marty to pick him up from work during the week that area is totally desolate? Today it was busy, thank heavens for that as the the gunmen were speedy in getting the heck out of Dodge. But why should Broad not get the fine tooth comb on any day of the week as it gets on a Friday night when the streets are thick with college kids and West Enders? What about your everyday people? Running your businesses? Why did these kids think they could (AND DID) get away with this?
I have not been here long, but in my time here I am quickly learning how the city responds to the people who invest in it, despite all its negatives. They don't.
I want to believe in Richmond. I have believed in it.
I have tons of friends perplexed at us for leaving NYC for RVA and now for the first time, I feel like they may have a point. I knew we may end up facing this day down here, but I had no idea it could be this soon.
Heartbroken,
Nicole Lang Key
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Nicole,
Drew here, your brother in pimento cheese. Let me start by saying I am so sorry to here this and it is just flat out fucked up. I'd also like to tell you about Claud Robinson and Abe Schniper. You can see a picture of my grandfather Claud's "Famous Harlem" Shoe Shop in the Bham Civil Rights Museum. He was robbed there repeatedly. And in those days it was by African Americans that did not like white people. He was from a generation much harder than ours. They had to be. They didn't have our luxuries. So mostly he beat them when they robbed him. Badly. And in the archives of the civil rights news papers of the times my grandfather was labeled a racist that terrorized blacks. Abe was his good friend who owned a mercantile store across the street. His grandson is one of my best friends. Abe escaped Nazi Germany and had his number tatooed to his arm to prove it. Some hood that was living in the depravity of the times killed Abe for his cash drawer. I guess my point in this story is to tell you one that it's hard being a small business person and for someone to take advatage of your husband the way they did is irreproachable. The second thing is that this stuff happens everywhere and all the time. Look at Abe. He escaped the furnace only to be shot by a hood. Don't turn your back on a place you love because of a few people. The majority of good folks always has the hardest time trying to figure out how to confront the bad stuff. But the good folks are everywhere.
Can't wait for the pimento cheese film.
Regards,
Drew
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