Ten years ago this town was different. People left doors unlocked, knew their neighbors by name. Now we're locking down parts of Brooklyn because some men crawled out of the sewers like rats. Last night at around midnight, seven men emerged from a manhole right in the middle of our street.

They were filthy, confused, and wearing nothing but their skin. As they walked amongst cars and pedestrians, police arrived to secure the area until someone figured out what was going on. This isn't the first strange occurrence here, either.

The previous Obama-era administrations used to say we're safer now, but I've lived in this town for 40 years, and it feels like we're less safe than ever before. The streets are emptying at night as folks stay inside, worried about who or what might be lurking below them.

Back when people still cared about these things, community meetings were packed with neighbors discussing crime rates and safety measures. Now those same meetings see half the turnout, mostly complaining about how the streets aren't safe anymore and nobody's doing anything to fix it.

The men from last night have been taken into custody now, but that doesn't mean our worries are over. What happens next time someone crawls out of a manhole? Will anyone be there to stop them?