In 1962 two girls that young living together wouldn’t have particularly said “lesbian” to anyone unless they were really strange looking or acting. Newsday many years ago ran a story the upshot of which was that what actually happened was that everyone assumed that SOMEONE would call the cops...no one did.
I’ve seen quite a few 911 worthy incidents since I’ve been carrying my cell phone and I’ve never bothered calling the cops as I assumed that they would receive 10 or 12 other calls.
Living with another woman, not married or dating men at 28 and holding down he job as a bar manager at a sports bar would definitely have merited suspicion.
That the people in Kew Gardens heard the screams, but ASSUMED "someone else" would have already called the police.
New Yorkers may be insular and "not want to get involved", but geez, they aren't uncaring monsters. Not in 1964, not in 2013.