Crime hot-spots in the capital

[Crema Americana]

How safe you are depends more on whose around you than your current location. Sometimes it takes a while to get to know the faces and looks of possible trouble. Using a phone on a colectivo is not forbidden, but there's certain neighborhoods I wouldn't do it and certain people I'd be careful around. Little old ladies in their Sunday best don't usually pose a problem. As unpopular as profiling is... be careful of the wachiturros.

Buenos Aires being so pedestrian friendly is both a blessing and a curse since the people in "bad" areas don't always stay there and in fact seek out more well off locations to take advantage of tourists and the unaware. Anyone in BA should be careful everywhere. I have to say though, a lot of Palermo and Recoleta aren't nearly as sketchy as parts of Miami, Atlanta, Detroit, or LA. The difference is you can usually avoid those areas and be okay... here the borders between good neighborhoods and bad aren't so well defined since it only takes one chorro to ruin your night.

 

[CarverFan]

Sorry to report a gun-point mugging at my friend's apartment block in Palermo last Tuesday. His neighbour was just trying to enter the building after work when a guy held a gun to his head and asked for his car!!! He had obviously been watching him park it. The neighbour had to hand over his keys and the thief drove off!! For added inconvenience, the key-ring had all of his keys on it. This was on Soler and Bulnes.

 

[YanquiGallego]

i think the end of the month makes criminals or even POTENTIAL criminals who are cash-strapped do crazy, desperate things.

I had 2 rings stolen yesterday, however the joke is on the thief when he finds out that they were totally TRUCHO.

I learned my lesson when I had my (authentic) Cartier watch stolen out of a locked Megatlon gym locker when I first moved to BA and since then have been hitting up all the fabulous fakes.

It still makes me shake my head in astonishment.

I have lived in ¨dangerous¨ cities like Chicago, NYC, and Madrid, and have never seen as much apparent, desperate hunger for crime as in BA.

Un KILOMBO CHÉ.

 

[CarverFan]

How were the rings taken, Yanqui? Were you threatened? I'm seriously thinking of getting out of here. With 2 kids under 4, I don't want to take any more chances (my 3-year old has already been held with me at gunpoint once, the one year old was also present, although still in the womb)

 

[Davidglen77]

Last night I was at a friends apartment in Recoleta on Juncal & Uruguay. I left around 9:30PM and since it was nice out I decided to walk home to Congreso. I walked along Libertad until Paraguay and saw 2 shady looking guys talking, they looked at me and then separated, one walked across the street and the other behind me. It felt weird so I stopped to talk on my cell phone in front of a kiosko on Paraguay & Talcahuano. They stopped but were making hand signals to each other from accross the street. I started walking along Talcahuano towards Av Córdoba and they did too. I stopped again and waited in front of the door of a building where there were a bunch of people talking. I started walking again and looked back and they were together and yelled some insults at me, to which I responded to in kind. I kept walking towards Av. Córdoba, then to Callao, and Callao to Congreso where I live. What really got my attention were a few things - First, there was not a single police officer in all of the 20 blocks I walked until I got to Callao and Corrientes, second, I was amazed at how deserted Recoleta is at night and most of the businesses were already closed at 9:30PM but I guess now I know why. And all along Av Córdoba from Talcahuano to Callao, it was so dark not well lit at all and this is a major Avenue with lots of people waiting for collectivos, most with really spooked looks on their faces. The only businesses open along Av. Córdoba were kioskos that all had the gates closed and tended customers through the security bars. I've never lived in Recoleta and the times I've been there it's been daytime, but is this what the supposedly "best" neighborhood in the city has been reduced to?

 

[YanquiGallego]

@Carver, no held up at gun point story behind the rings, thank God, just plainly stolen. The gun point thing has not happened to me and I hope it never does.. I can´t believe some jerk had the nerve to do that with your child with you.

@DavidGlenn I live in Recoleta and this is where it happened. This is also where my watch was stolen from a locked gym locker.
Recoleta is historically a more affluent area, but it´s just that--history. I see so many people thrown on the streets, women with babies in front of McDonalds begging for food, and hear of crimes happening all the time here.
I think when Puerto Madero became the new ¨rich¨ hot spot in BA Recoleta got neglected and became just like any other neighborhood in the city.

I love BA, and would like to think that the reason people do this is out of desperation. If prices are making even ex pats who are earning in dollars and euros feel cash strapped, I can only imagine what a breadwinner earning a small wage in pesos must think.
That smartphone you just waved around in the colectivo might mean 3 months´worth of food on the table for him. Not trying to excuse anyone holding up anyone else at gunpoint however.

 

[steveinbsas]

..,I started walking again and looked back and they were together and yelled some insults at me, to which I responded to in kind.

So they knew you were aware of and avoiding them

What did they actually say (yell)...and what was your response?

 

[sesamosinsal]

Last night I was at a friends apartment in Recoleta on Juncal & Uruguay. I left around 9:30PM and since it was nice out I decided to walk home to Congreso. I walked along Libertad until Paraguay and saw 2 shady looking guys talking, they looked at me and then separated, one walked across the street and the other behind me. It felt weird so I stopped to talk on my cell phone in front of a kiosko on Paraguay & Talcahuano. They stopped but were making hand signals to each other from accross the street. I started walking along Talcahuano towards Av Córdoba and they did too. I stopped again and waited in front of the door of a building where there were a bunch of people talking. I started walking again and looked back and they were together and yelled some insults at me, to which I responded to in kind. I kept walking towards Av. Córdoba, then to Callao, and Callao to Congreso where I live. What really got my attention were a few things - First, there was not a single police officer in all of the 20 blocks I walked until I got to Callao and Corrientes, second, I was amazed at how deserted Recoleta is at night and most of the businesses were already closed at 9:30PM but I guess now I know why. And all along Av Córdoba from Talcahuano to Callao, it was so dark not well lit at all and this is a major Avenue with lots of people waiting for collectivos, most with really spooked looks on their faces. The only businesses open along Av. Córdoba were kioskos that all had the gates closed and tended customers through the security bars. I've never lived in Recoleta and the times I've been there it's been daytime, but is this what the supposedly "best" neighborhood in the city has been reduced to?

I guess technically you were in Recoleta... Recoleta, in my mind, ends east of Callao, south of Santa Fe, west of Coronel Diaz, and north of Libertador. I know the real estate folks like to stretch the limits, though. The closer you get to 9 de Julio, the shadier it gets. The same thing happened to me at Pellegrini and Marcelo T., though. You just get a feeling in your gut that these guys are up to no good sometimes, and they didn't even come within 10 feet of me -- I walked away as quickly as I could.

 

[starlucia]

David, since you and I live in the same neighborhood, let me recount this fun episode: a few weeks ago (the night before the tourist was killed, actually), around 10pm, my partner got off the bus on Callao and Mitre to walk the few blocks home. Turning onto Rodriguez Pena, she was suddenly surrounded by 4 young thugs who had her pushed up against the wall, with a weapon pressing into her belly. After several minutes of begging and pleading, she apparently convinced them that she didn't have anything worth stealing and they let her go, but through the entire episode, she didn't see a single passerby. And, thanks to the totally unlit streets, she didn't even see the thieves until they were literally body-blocking her on all sides.

I'm not in Buenos Aires anymore, but right before I left, it was getting to the point that I HATED walking around that neighborhood at night. Taxis aren't really an option anymore, so what are you supposed to do if you can't even walk the 3 blocks home from the bus stop in peace? Stay home and knit?

 

[Davidglen77]

So they knew you were aware of and avoiding them. What did they actually say (yell)...and what was your response?

One yelled "hijo de ****, andáte a la co**a de tu madre" and I said "andáte a la co**a de tu hermana". I guess I shouldn't have done that, but they just didn't seem that threatening at that point there being about 10 people around me. But in retrospect I probably should have just kept walking.