What I deal with every day in Manhattan

This town used to be a haven for artists and other sort of left types from around the world. There was always the conservative element, but you didn't have to look to hard. Or maybe it was always this way, I don't know. I don't remember being harassed daily, or witnessing harassment literally every second, back when I was a teenager like I do now. It just feels worse, unbearable. It's all frat boys on the street, or the black and Hispanic counterparts (I don't mean this in a biased way, it's just how it is), walking into women, literally, on the street, hovering over us/them, leering, pretending not to hear us (like when I ordered coffee today; call me paranoid, but I stated what I wanted clearly....), making comments, or just shouting us down whenever we make a point.....it goes on and on....no it feels worse than ever. Sorry, but it doesn't change from one class group to another. It's harder and harder to find any kind of genuine or interesting people here....it's all frat boys and models. Dare I say I hate it here, and this is the neighborhood I grew up in, that I used to love, that I was so happy to move to. I want to write something positive, but after getting badly screwed over this week by a number of guys, and.....the thing is, so many of these women seem or are completely oblivious to what is actually going on. Denial? That doesn't even begin to describe it. Is it a survival tactic? Are they blocking it out? But that just makes it feel even more defeating. In the West Village, where I grew up, I deal with this daily. Combine that with the stories of mass rape by soldiers in Iraq, by women from there.....and I was nearly assaulted, again, on the subway platform, last week. To their credit, the cops took this guy away. But I need to get out of here. This was the only town I wanted to live in and now I can't wait to leave.