Gowanus Lounge: F Train Muggings?

My nanny was mugged tonight around 6:30/6:45 on the F train just before the train left the 7th avenue station by a group of 6 teenage boys (she thinks about 15) . She recognized one of the boys and saw him at the Greenwood Playground today and had seen him other times before. She said the group got on the train at the 15th St station and then walked into her car (there were only 2 other elderly women in the car) and as the train doors were about to close the surrounded her, grabbed her music player and bag and then punched her.

Has this been happening frequently? That it happens at all is unacceptable, but is it a growing problem? My sense, at least at the Carroll Gardens stations, has been no.

Anybody have an experience like the ones reported on G.L. at 7th Ave and Smith & Ninth?

I am looking forward to the security cameras in subway cars, both for the deterrent effect and for catching perps after a crime has been committed. I used to be concerned about the impact on privacy . . . but I think the nature of the subway commute is such that cameras do not impact privacy at all. And that's from a longtime ACLU member.