Stealing a City

◆ Vandalism, rampant in New York city, is simply another word for stealing. Says New Times magazine: “This city​—the undisputed world’s capital of larceny—​is being stolen. Physically stolen right out from under its residents. . . . Parks, plazas and botanical gardens are being stripped as if they were abandoned autos. Public monuments are being heisted. Statues are being mugged. All with increasing frequency and ever greater audacity.” Why does the problem grow? Joseph Bresnan, Parks Department director of monuments, says: “No one takes vandalism seriously.” Police say that they are busy trying to take care of people.

Crimes in Churches

◆ Washington, D.C., area churches are locking their doors and installing security systems in an effort to combat vandals who no longer consider them ‘sacred ground.’ In the year ending June 30, 1973, there were 209 crimes involving churches; the following year this rose to 306. But in just four recent months there were 209 crimes. “Suburban Maryland and Virginia churches,” says the Washington Post, “also report glue sniffing, dope smoking and beer drinking parties in their churches at night.”