Dec. 8, 2016 By Hannah Wulkan
Queens residents will have the chance to learn self defense at a free class hosted by Councilman Jimmy Van Bramer next week.
Though not an expert himself, Van Bramer has enlisted several community groups to host a self-defense and anti-bullying class next Wednesday at 6 p.m. at Sunnyside Community Services, located at 43-31 39th Street.
Representatives from the Women’s Initiative of Self Empowerment (WISE), a group founded to help Muslim women protect themselves from attacks, and the Center for Anti-Violence Education will lead the session.
The class is the third in a series of post-election events Van Bramer is hosting to bring the community together and to make those who feel targeted feel safer. It comes after a Community Speak Out and a #QueensValues march across the Queensboro Bridge to Trump Tower in the weeks following the election.
“Hate crimes and bigotry are on the rise. Just this weekend, three drunk men harrassed and attacked a Muslim woman on a train platform, while onlookers did nothing,” Van Bramer posted on Facebook. “That’s why our third #QueensResponds mass action is a self-defense, anti-bullying, upstander and de-escalation training, so we all know how to respond in hateful situations.”
According to the organizers, the event will teach self-defense and de-escalation, as well as “upstander tactics,” or how to act when one witnesses wrongdoing.
The idea for the training rose out of Van Bramer’s Community Speak Out, the first post-election event that he hosted, when a community member said that they did not feel safe after the election, and suggested self-defense training.
The workshop comes as hate crimes are on the rise. According to police, hate crimes are up more than 30 percent in New York City this year compared to 2015, which the Police Commissioner attributed to the hateful rhetoric surrounding the election.
The class is free and open to the public. To reserve a spot, call 718-383-9566 or email eehrenberg@council.nyc.gov
Featured Events
56 Comments
I would strongly recommend an ongoing self defense/anti bullying class in ALL schools instead of sex education classes. I think we need more kids who could defend themselves in many ways instead of producing illegitimate kids all over this land.
Van Bramer would love that.
he sure would!
Muslim student made up attack. Gee I’m shocked.
http://www.nydailynews.com/new-york/muslim-woman-reported-trump-supporter-attack-made-story-article-1.2910944
Trump should slap him right in the mouth
I signed up for the course immediately. Primarily I want to learn techniques that can de-escalate the kind of insanely hateful discourse taking place on this website. Sometimes when it happens live bystanders can intervene to breakup a bad situation before people hurt each other too much.
This is pretty cool! Always nice to see a politician reaching out to the community and trying to make the world safer. Definitely posting this on Yobored.com letting some locals know about it.
where was he before when alot of other things were happening in the neighborhood – nowhere — this only started because Trump won and he can’t stand the thought that he did — he should be listening more to his constitutents about all the homeless shelters in the neighborhood that he knows about and is not doing a darn thing about — and what these people have been doing —
He should also look into the awful ACS which has lost children who have them been murdered by the mother’s “boyfriend”. But no, Jimmy would rather lead idiotic protests over the bridge and offer silly “self defense” classses.
Im going to have to agree with you on that one PC
While I hope this does not happen, one of the biggest problems with “classes” like this is that they teach inexperienced people just enough to get themselves seriously hurt.
and only the other day there i was walking down skilman in me kilt and those damn construction workers starting whistling at me. damn, if i only had known karate from jimmy’s class
will JVB be attending these classes also – and will he be there too –
What a nut this jvb is . Its similar to yelling fire in a crowded movie theater. Talk about paranoia . I could never vote for this guy again. Hes lost his mind. This isnt rational
For those who experience street harassment on a regular basis, young women, trans people, etc. this can be helpful even just from a psychological point of view. If you have only been harassed once because you wore a particular hat, you don’t really get it.
How about a course on how to stop a hijacker from taking over the plane you’re on and flying it into a skyscraper?
How about a course in, if you are gay and traveling to most Moslem countries, you don’t manage to get yourself thrown off a roof. Does Jimmy know what certain countries to do his ilk or does he protest only when it is nice and safe for him and he can have coco afterwards.
Tim my fellow shareholder , can you please tell me what I said that was so full of hate and bigotry – just asking ! Thanks
I appreciate your civil tone Celticparker. Perhaps I shouldn’t have singled you out, so I apologize for that. What I found objectionable was your signing off on, and agreeing with what Mr. Martel wrote (others did as well.) I found his comments to be bigoted as he painted with a pretty broad brush regarding Muslims and equating the majority of them with terrorism, rape, etc.
Learning self defense is always a great idea. Cory, Pearl cream lucky7 Rocky and Johnny sign up it would do those losers good.
A very bad idea. Will JVB next be offering target practice for gun owners?
I hope so:-) I always thought we should have a Target Range in Sunnyside, Calverton, L.I. is such a long ride, the site of the old Center Theater would be perfect.
Didn’t realize there were ANY white guys left in Sunnyside/Woodside!
Didn’t realize there were so many scared white guys in Sunnyside/Woodside! Regardless, no one should be harassed and threatened in public whether you’re wearing a hijab or a MAGA hat. Mr. Martel however may want to look at some credible news sources instead of the white supremacist online rag Breitbart, whose headlines he’s espousing. And to Celticparker, judging by your name and comment, I’m ashamed to be a shareholder in the same complex as you if you too are so full of hate and bigotry.
Tim don’t be so fast to jump to conclusions. No such thing as anonymity. Tread lightly my friend.
Oh, a threat?
So, are you saying there have been no islamic terror attacks since 9-11? There is no such thing as “honor killings” in the muslim world? 9-11 didn’t really happen?
Good idea, need to prepare for those crazy trump supporters protesting, looting, destroying and … oh wait…
Fear mongering is finally here.
Jimmy you are a sick and delusional person. You are obsessed with this and it’s a month old already. You are not normal and get paid to do a political job so start to do it already and cut the crap.
There is so much going on in this neighborhood and your wasting tax payer money bashing the president elect. So intelligent and such a way to conduct yourself.
You need to grow up and get a life and start to do your job.
JVB at his best — he is looking for another job pretty soon –
Well said Charles , you are 100% spot on with your posts. The only one spreading fear here is JVB .
Funny thing is that you could probably walk down the street with an ISIS flag and if you were the say anything the first amendment rights would be shoved down your throat but you get harassed for wearing a damn hat.
this is surely needed, everytime I wear my TRUMP hat out in public I get threats and I am harrassed by really angry, hateful people. I should be allowed to wear a hat in this country without feeling that I will get killed. Thanks for offering this protection for us republicans who, on a daily basis, deal with this extreme hatred.
See you at the class Mr Van Bramer
PS
If anyone needs a self-defense class, it’s European women who are being raped by the thousands across Germany, Sweden and Denmark primarily, by Muslim Syrian “refugees.”
Provide some facts and support or your statement is the rant of an uniformed, easily swayed simpleton. And I mean real facts, not the ones trump supporters use. . .
The website Muslim Statistics cites government data suggesting 77.6% of rapes in Sweden are committed by the 2% Muslim male segment of the population. Just Google it…. There are countless articles describing Sweden as the “rape capital of the west” now.
From the Independent.co.uk (Jan. 2016 article):
Last year, the Gatestone Institute named Sweden the “rape capital of the west”, based on data collected in 2010, which put it only behind Lesotho in southern Africa in terms of occurrence of rape.
According to the Institute, the fact that “in 1975 the Swedish parliament unanimously decided to change the former homogenous Sweden into a multicultural county” was of relevance when discussing why the number of rapes had increased.
It said: “Over the past 10 to 15 years, immigrants have mainly come [into Sweden] from Muslim countries such as Iraq, Syria and Somalia. Might this influx explain Sweden’s rape explosion?
“It is difficult to give a precise answer, because Swedish law forbids registration based on people’s ancestry or religion.
“One possible explanation is that, on average, people from the Middle East have a vastly different view of women and sex than Scandinavians have.
“And despite the attempts by the Swedish establishment to convince that everyone setting foot on Swedish soil becomes exactly like those who have lived here for dozens of generations, facts point in an altogether different direction.”
Let me help you with numbers, in case math class in grade school wasn’t enough. Thousands is not the same as 77%. And I’d suggest you put those percentages in context. But I know that might not fit your narrative, so that’s why you left it out.
Malmo in Sweden has been overrun by angry Moslem immigrants and the Jewish community there is under siege. Let Jimmy deny it.
Maybe your name doesnt quite suit you, but what do I know…
I second your post google
You know more than Common Sense sweetness.
I can’t wait till you share those absurd facts, bird brain.
JVB has a severe case of Trump Derangement Syndrome with complications of narcissism, paranoia and craven political demagoguery.
.
After 9-11, the government and media instructed us that despite 3000 New Yorkers being slaughtered in one day by 19 Muslims, we should not fear Muslims, that Islam was a religion of peace followed by a few choruses of Kumbaya. Despite that, since 9-11 there have been hundreds of Muslim terror attacks across the globe, (I’d list them but I don’t have the whole night to spare) AND YET we are expected to believe that it is Muslims who are the perpetual victims.
.
Now, a man is democratically elected to the presidency and cynical, publicity-craving, fear-mongers like Van Bramer want to make us believe that masses of Trump supporters are on the rampage and the ones to be feared. Sadly, there are a lot of feeble-minded lemmings that will fall for Van Bramer’s politically correct, delusional version of reality.
.
Politicians should be more worried about the next ISIS, Islamic-motivated attack like the mass slaughters in France and Orlando (where gay people were deliberately targeted BTW, Mr. Councilman).
.
In any event, these self-defense classes might come in handy for Muslim women who might need to fight off a male relative looking to carry out an “honor killing” if they decide to wear jeans or date a non-Muslim boy.
.
Trump won, Hillary lost. Get over yourselves you spoiled rotten crybabies. Sour grapes make for bitter whine.
You are way out of touch dude.
JT please enlightened us.
What do you think we should do with the millions of completely innocent Muslim people in this country? How far are you willing to go to feel safe? Are we talking internment camps? Is there freedom of religion in this country or does it only apply to Christians? Please explain.
I will say good medieval history reference, battle of tours, the hammer, very clever.
Dear trumpland –
You are cordially invited to join reality.
.
However, this invitation requires you disengage from the misinformation stream you are connected to and abandon the fantasy land you currently inhabit. We have trained counselors at your disposal to aid in the transition, if needed.
.
It’s your choice.
Sincerely –
Common Sense
You call Van Bramer a “cynical, publicity-craving, fear-monger” and how good sir, would you describe the monster you helped to elect ? I think you summed Trump up pretty well.
I can’t wait to hear what tune you’re you middle-aged emasculated middle to low income earning high school diploma (at best) white dudes are humming next year. I guarantee you, it’s going to be a sad sad song. Best regards.
I guarantee charles martel hasn’t left his mothers basement in over a year but just to open the door to the constant stream of cheap delivery food. feeling a bit invigorated these days charles? enjoy it won’t last. you don’t know what’s coming down the pike.
I’M SCAAAAAAARED. Everybody who voted for Trump in this ‘hood will need a black belt to protect themselves from Jimmy and his angry supporters who are, at heart, anti democratic and totalitarian. Scratch a lib and a totalitarian comes out.
-Pearl cream Go back and read your right ring rags that constantly reinforce your superiority over your left of center advisaris. They’re just telling you what you want to hear you weak minded imbecile.
Ohh dear God! If you are going to use my handle put a space before the 7, and I would never use the word imbecile..ewww
Turned out story of hijab being ripped off girl was made up
Fake hate crime
One class? It took me 2 years to get my black belt.
well, the naive will believe anything. but that photo…those men should be training harder! self defense is great and all, but it takes a ton of practice, and is worthless against a perp holding a gun.