Latest on Genovese Murder Film

Deadline Hollywood has a lot more detail about the film being shot on Austin Street about the Kew Gardens Kitty Genovese murder all those years ago, and, I'm sorry to say, it doesn't sound good. Especially for the residents of Kew Gardens. If the plot they detail in the article is indeed the plot of the movie, this will be rehashing a story that forever stained the reputation of the residents of Kew Gardens, and Queens, and all of New York City for that matter—and has since been revealed to be untrue, a gross exaggeration of what actually took place when this young woman was murdered. See my coverage about the case here if you haven't been following the latest revelations about the Kitty Genovese murder case.

From Deadline Hollywood:
Samira Wiley & Michael Potts Head Ensemble Cast For ’37’, Drama Inspired By Kitty Genovese Murder

37 examines the lives of a group of families living in the Kew Gardens area of Queens, New York in the 1960s who witness the murder of 28-year-old Genovese (Brucato) and do not intervene. 37 is an expansion on the short film by Tisch alum Puk Grasten, which premiered at the 2013 Slamdance Film Festival.

Why stain the reputation of our neighborhoods here in Queens? If you're a filmmaker, wouldn't you want to portray the truth about what really happened? I was hoping this film was going to be a documentary of some kind revealing that truth, not rehashing the sensationalistic erroneous news reports that forever tarnished the city's reputation.

Film shoot update: Some Cool Cars

A friend of mine shot these cool period cars at the ongoing Kitty Genovese film shoot on Austin and 75t Road.

Film About Murder of Kitty Genovese Filming in Forest Hills Tonight

I'm told the movie being filmed on Austin Street tonight is an independent film about the murder of Kitty Genovese, the landmark case that happened in Kew Gardens the night of March 13, 1964. The crime was made famous by news reports that some 38 people heard Kitty's cries for help, but did nothing, information that has since been shown to be erroneous and based on sensationalistic coverage created by a New York Times editor at the time. In actuality, according to the most recent information, several residents of Kew Gardens came to Kitty's help when hearing her screams.

I've heard this movie's title is "37 Witnesses," but I haven't been able to confirm that. The only confirmed information I have is what I've written above.

Here are some pics from tonight's shoot on Austin:

NPR's Coverage of the Kitty Genovese Story

Picking up on my previous post....

This report focuses on how the crime helped create the 911 emergency system and also discusses how the multiple inaccuracies in The NY Times articles about the murder led to a widely believed account that was extremely different from what really happened. The Times coverage wrongly described the neighbors as apathetic to a horrific murder taking place right outside their doors, when, in fact, many of these neighbors did respond to the victim's pleas for help and did what they could to help her.

An Iconic Murder Helped Create the 911 System

What Really Happened to Kitty Genovese That Night In Kew Gardens

I have been wanting to post about the recent story in The New Yorker, A Call for Help, for quite some time. I remember learning about the "Kitty Genovese story" as a kid growing up in suburbia and it had a great impact on me—it really colored my view for quite some time about what it is like to live in the "Big City," where people don't care about each other, where they even turn a deaf ear to the pleas for help from their neighbors in the dark of night when they are fighting for their lives.

Except, it was all a lie. The New York Times got the story completely wrong. According to new accounts of what happened that night, as detailed in The New Yorker article:

The Times story was inaccurate in a number of significant ways. There were two attacks, not three. Only a handful of people saw the first clearly and only one saw the second, because it took place indoors, within the vestibule. The reason there were two attacks was that Robert Mozer, far from being a “silent witness,” yelled at Moseley when he heard Genovese’s screams and drove him away. Two people called the police. When the ambulance arrived at the scene—precisely because neighbors had called for help—Genovese, still alive, lay in the arms of a neighbor named Sophia Farrar, who had courageously left her apartment to go to the crime scene, even though she had no way of knowing that the murderer had fled.

And the story goes on and on. Excellent reading and by God a long time in coming. What a travesty to disparage the reputation of an entire neighborhood—our neighbor to the east, Kew Gardens—and our entire City, and just because of the incompetence of one newspaper editor.