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As a safety precaution, if your apartment, window faces the street, you may want to keep a light on in that room all the time. That way, if people are casing your building from across the street, and you come home after dark, it's not as though they'll see a room light go on a few minutes after you enter your building. Because in seeing a light go on, they might think, "Hmm, blonde in her 20's goes into 906 East 74th at 3am, and lives on the 3rd floor, on the front, east side of the building." Not that anything bad can come of one knowing this, but it's worth paying the Utility Company those extra pennies per month to keep a 40 watt bulb on and curious eyes from learning more info than you'd care for them to know. Sometimes areas aren't brightly lit and I think it's good to carry a flashlight. Sometimes strangers are loitering on my building's stoop after midnight, and when I shine a flashlight on them to get a better look at their faces, they generally move. If the front door to your building is not locked, it pays to peer inside before stepping into it. If there are strangers in there, you can tell them to leave the area., but step back as they do. Stay several feet away from them and instruct them to walk up the street, or you'll call the police. Do not attempt to enter your building with a stranger on your stoop or in the vestibule. If need be, make use of the bouncer at the local bar or a building attendant nearby and have him watch as you go to your building if a stranger is hanging out on your stoop. Be safe! |
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