16th
At approximately 12:30 a.m., I exit the subway station and begin the five block walk to my apartment. Two blocks in, I hear a loud honk from the adjacent road. Since the road hosts traffic, I assume [hope] that the honk was intended for other motorists. It isn’t. A hasidic Jew pulls over next to the sidewalk, just ahead of me. He says something unintelligible to me. I panic and begin to walk backwards, shouting a hurried “no.” He repeats himself and I assume that all humans are decent, and that perhaps he is lost and needs help. I walk forward. He is leaning forward with his hand on the steering wheel. After a couple repeats of his initial question, I finally hear him, sort of: “Borough Park.” I assume he is asking for directions. I tell him I don’t know the location. He exaggerates his entire upper body and rolls his eyes, saying, “I know where it is, I want to know if you want to go there.” Finally I realize the nature of this situation. I scream no and hurriedly walk away.
Seconds later a trucker whistles loudly at me. His first attempt was unsatisfactory to him, so he whistles again — two, maybe three whistles in all.
