Crime-plagued and fearful, New Yorkers need easy access to mace

Creator Rikki Schlott was stalked by a stranger in Manhattan who aggressively pursued her, however she was saved by a can of pepper spray. Now she's calling for the top of a state regulation stopping mace from being shipped to NY addresses.
Stephen Yang for NY Put up

In early December, I got here head to head with a predator on the streets of New York. And the pepper spray hanging from my bedazzled pink keychain turned out to be my saving grace.

Round 5 p.m. on a Wednesday, I used to be strolling house from the gymnasium on a busy avenue close to Union Sq. when a person lewdly catcalled me. I ignored it, stored my head down, and picked up the tempo. However, regardless of how briskly I booked it, his voice stored getting nearer. His sexual feedback turned violent, as he pursued me for 4 blocks.

I desperately looked for cops, however I didn’t see a single officer. That’s after I made the choice to run right into a crowded pharmacy, hoping to lose him and discover security in numbers. However the man adopted me inside.

He blocked the one exit and spewed derogatory names at me whereas yelling, “You understand, I may rape you!” To my shock, the 2 dozen or so individuals within the pharmacy — patrons, workers, and even a uniformed safety guard — all averted their eyes.

As he started to strategy me, I remembered the mace in my pocket. I clicked open the canister, and he hesitated, giving me a break up second to sprint for the door.

Using a rush of adrenaline, I ran all the best way house, locked my residence door behind me, and broke down crying.

If I hadn’t had the specter of mace, I do not know how that encounter would have ended. However I do know for certain that my pepper spray received me out of a harmful state of affairs.

Now, I by no means depart the home with out it. As a younger lady going through down a criminal offense wave in New York Metropolis, pepper spray is the one technique of self-defense at my disposal.

Subway violence has now change into an virtually each day prevalence in New York Metropolis, which is house to 1.5 million single ladies and over 1 million aged residents.

Christopher Sadowski

However a ridiculous regulation stands in the best way of New Yorkers gaining access to this most simple type of self-defense. Whereas anybody can order mace on-line by way of Amazon, a state regulation prohibits the product from being shipped to New York addresses.

There are solely a handful of in-person places that promote pepper spray within the metropolis, a lot of which have shuttered for the reason that pandemic. On-line message boards are flooded with determined New Yorkers buying and selling notes on the place to seek out it (like this Reddit thread, which factors out you should buy an ax at Goal however not pepper spray).

In April, a gaggle handing out pepper spray to ladies and the aged in Chinatown attracted a line spanning blocks alongside Mulberry Avenue. A complete of 550 canisters have been snapped up in simply half-hour.

CBS

And but, regardless of a mounting want for self-defense, the regulation stands. General crime is up 60 p.c since final 12 months, and the town has been rocked by a slew of hate crimes, subway shovings, and heinous murders in latest months.

In the meantime, New Yorkers determined to defend themselves are being compelled to leap by way of hoops to purchase mace. In April, a gaggle handing out pepper spray to ladies and the aged in Chinatown attracted a line spanning blocks alongside Mulberry Avenue. A complete of 550 canisters have been snapped up in simply half-hour. When the barista at my native espresso store requested me the place I received my mace keychain, she was disillusioned to listen to it required a Jersey ZIP code.

The mace dangling on the writer’s keychain was delivered to a New Jersey ZIP code; state regulation prohibits mace from being shipped to addresses in New York state.

Stephen Yang for NY Put up

I’ve even change into a de facto distributor myself. A number of NYC pals involved for his or her security have requested if they will ship their pepper spray to my household’s tackle in New Jersey so I can direct ship it to them.

The underside line: The ban on delivery pepper spray is ludicrous. Susceptible New Yorkers shouldn’t be ready on strains, contacting out-of-state pals, or scouring Reddit threads to seek out it. And, with greater than 1.5 million single ladies and 1 million aged residents within the metropolis, there’s no place the place easy accessibility to fundamental, non-lethal self-defense is extra essential.

Each Mayor Eric Adams and Gov. Kathy Hochul have to overturn the ban on mace shipments to New York addresses, as NYC crime has skyrocketed by 60% up to now 12 months.

Now that we lastly have a realistic, tough-on-crime mayor in workplace, it’s time this regulation modifications. I name on Gov. Kathy Hochul and Mayor Eric Adams to assist overturn this prohibition, to cease penalizing susceptible New Yorkers, and to return our elementary freedom to guard ourselves.

On behalf of your self or a susceptible individual , contact the governor’s workplace, the mayor’s workplace, or your native consultant to vary this regulation and guarantee extra New Yorkers like me get house secure.

Rikki Schlott is a 21-year-old scholar, journalist and activist.