Reader Comment Of The Week

June 16, 2009 by
Filed under: Greenpoint Magic 

heroinYes I know it’s only Tuesday but I seriously doubt (hope? pray?) Ihave to moderate a comment of this caliber for the next five days. After all, It’s not every day you:

  • ask the police what you can do about drug activity in your apartment building only to be told it is “a tenant landlord matter”
  • have a friend of your landlady’s son, an alleged drug dealer, die in the basement of your apartment building…
  • and there his body remained for over 12 hours

Then again this is the 94th Precinct we’re talking about. Nothing— no matter how crass— surprises me anymore. Even so, I have to confess this is one very special story. Rebecca11222 writes (in regards to this post):

Hi, Laura – My 2 cents as to who to also contact at this point: The NYC Parks Department.  In McCarren and McGolrick Parks there is a Manager on site.  I can say that the fellow at McCarren is very helpful.

I guess the question to have answered is: do they have a Manager on site at the new park?  Find out the name & what his/her hours are.  My bet is that weekend availability is patchwork. Report the incident and ask what they advise if you are in that situation again.

My concern is the threats of violence (albeit alcohol-fueled) with which you & your family were met.  I’m sorry that happened and when calling the 94th, I’ve found to place the emphasis on behavior that they can either get arrests out of or at least big $.  Like “driving while intoxicated” or ” behaving violently around children”  You’d think that a nice steep fine for littering would be incentive; but I guess not.

Personally, I live in a building w/ a junkie/ low-level drug-dealer in the basement.  He is the landlady’s son.  People who fall asleep standing up around the nabe are his only friends.  I see deals going down around my apt building  (Calyer at Eckford) frequently.  All my neighbors (some of whom have lived in Greenpoint for over 50 years) have seen him make deals around the blocks and in front of the house.  Yet she is in denial about his habit and he manipulates her.  When we first moved in, we found used syringes an glass vials in the fireplace ashes.  The son had been living in our apt before we moved in. When we brought this to her attention, our landlady said “this is a drug-free house.”

My husband & I asked some 94th officers what we could do b/c people who do heroin or crack tend to steal or fall asleep w/ lit cigarettes (or become violent in the case of crack).  They said it was a landlord tenant dispute until “something” happened.

Well, early this Friday morning, one of the son’s “friends” died in the basement.  The landlady told me, “my son wanted to move the body & dump it somewhere else, but I said he couldn’t.” She attributed his desire to move said body to a desire to protect her rather than, oh, say, hide some evidence.  The body stayed there until about 8pm Friday & there was a cop posted outside the building.  I wonder if this will be enough of a “something” to warrant further police investigation or action.  Or maybe someone else has to die.

Btw: if anyone wants 2 awesome, quiet, responsible tenants, my husband & I are looking for a new place.

So there have you.

Miss Heather

Comments

3 Comments on Reader Comment Of The Week

  1. aperfectbag on Tue, 16th Jun 2009 10:20 pm
  2. i can’t really help with a dead junkie in someone’s basement, sorry rebecca11222

    however i do know parks…and can offer this information on dealing with problems in our park:

    always call 311 because the both parks department and the mayor’s office receives reports on the calls. parks need to make corrections and report back to the mayor on what has been done for especially when they get multiple calls on something. so call more than once, have others call.

    if it is an ongoing problem or there is a pattern, call park enforcement at 646 613 1386

    and if don’t get satisfaction from those sources, call your city council person or other elected officials including public advocate

    hope that helps, laura, and that is the end of my civic’s lesson for today.

  3. jetgrrly on Wed, 17th Jun 2009 1:45 am
  4. I have gotten nothing but lackluster responses from the 94th as well. When I have visited the station for simple matters, it seems they are trained to see if they can make you wait long enough until you get fed up and leave, and that’s before they even let you explain why you are there.

    On one occasion my vehicle went “missing” in the precinct and they kept trying to put off filing a stolen vehicle report. First telling me to call all the tow pounds, then telling me to call all the tow pounds again since it was Sunday and may take time, then driving me around for an hour trolling for the vehicle (since I may have forgotten where I parked it) while the officers just joked with their co-workers back at the precinct. A few days after making a report, I noticed on the DOF site the car was getting parking tickets in the area! They said there’s noting they can do about it since the traffic cops’ computers don’t register if a vehicle has been reported stolen. (WTF NYPD?!?) The broken window, missing registration sticker and missing ignition with screwdrivers on the dash should be an indication, no? Nevermind the idiot that stole the car and stayed in the neighborhood, but I found the vehicle MYSELF by looking in the areas where it was getting ticketed.

    I live in the 90th precinct(works in 94th) and have only had pleasant experiences with their officers. They are prompt and seem to be pretty happy in general. They are even busier according to the nypd crime stats (http://www.nyc.gov/html/nypd/html/crime_prevention/crime_statistics.shtml). Or maybe the 94th is just busier trying NOT to report them.

  5. Rebecca11222 on Wed, 17th Jun 2009 9:17 am
  6. OH! I forgot the kicker detail which has made my case gallows humor worse. As I was leaving my apt to go to work on Friday morning, several neighbors were gathered on the corner. The former marine (yes, I know: once a marine, always a marine) 60-something neighbor said in pure dry, over-it, Brooklyn: “so?.. what? .. did he (meaning the son) hang himself?” Me: “ummmmmm…..no. not him. one of his junkie friends. died in his sleep.”

    I now sing the Law & Order theme song as I approach my building. It helps, somehow. DUM-DUM!!!

    Re: the 90th vs. the 94th…I heard (and I don’t know if this is true) that when a homicide happens in the 94th, they automatically call in the 90th because the 90th has a forensics investigator on staff. So the crime is included in the stats of the 90th; not the 94th.

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