2,387 words

Urban myths are insidious enough when they are false. But when they assume universality in the broader culture — while reflecting negatively on that culture — then they can cause people to lose faith in themselves. This is one way in which civilizations begin to decline.

For the last 60 years, one such myth is that of Kitty Genovese.

Thanks to the New York Times reporting of her grisly 1964 murder in the Kew Gardens neighborhood of Queens — during which 38 people supposedly watched and did nothing while she was stabbed to death — her name has become synonymous with bystander apathy.