Greenpoint
Lorven Pharmacy
Culture on the Cheap
Crime Prevention Tips From The NYPD
Filed under: 11211, 11222, Criminal Activity, Greenpoint, Greenpoint Brooklyn, Greenpoint Magic, Williamsburg, Williamsburg Brooklyn
Yesterday I attended a hastily convened meeting at the 94th Precinct regarding crime trends here in Williamspoint. Apparently there was a spike in robberies last week— and this obviously being a source of concern— local neighborhood groups were invited to discuss the matter. Most of the meeting can be summarized by the annotation on the flier to the left: don’t be an idiot. Nonetheless, I will outline the more salient points in this post.
Exercise Vigilance
70% of all crimes in the 94th last year were grand larceny/property crimes. These range anywhere from losing unattended property to smash and grabs; burglary and robbery. All more or less have two thing in common: they’re crimes of opportunity and appear to be perpetrated by a handful of serial offenders. D.I. Fulton cited one such example of this: a group of men who managed to rob three people in a single evening.
Although this is common sense I am going to list a few tips:
1. Watch your property
2. Do NOT leave valuables in your car
3. Refrain from talking on your cell phone and/or texting when walking our streets. Not only does negotiating around such people (who tend to weave around) piss yours truly off in a big, big way, but it makes you an easy target for robbery
4. When going out at night go in groups and refrain from being intoxicated. Public drunkenness makes one a sterling target for robberies and, as D.I. Fulton noted, one should not be impaired when negotiating the marginally secured construction sites hereabouts.
5. LOCK YOUR DOORS AND WINDOWS. This too is common sense, but Mr. Fulton recounted to us a robbery where the woman’s apartment was accessed via a window on her fire escape. If you think you’re not an easy target because you reside on a higher floor, think again.
6. If you see suspicious activity, call the police.
Arrests
Although D.I. Fulton pointed out crime was down 6.7% last year (there were a total of 1,651 arrests last year lest you are wondering), he did list a few areas where more arrests and/or citations are being made:
1. Robberies (as I have already mentioned)
2. Graffiti
3. Truck traffic summonses are up for a third year in a row.
It was also noted that they are also cracking down on derelict bicycles. Which brings me to what is probably the most useful piece of information I gleaned from this meeting: the 94th Precinct is registering bicycles. This service is totally free and anyone interested should contact Elizabeth Moulterie at (718) 383-3879. The 94th’s Community Liaison, Carlos Ortiz gave me a compelling, if darkly amusing, example why bicycle owners should register their rides. He was once contacted by a gentleman whose bike was stolen… and turned up locked to a gate a few doors down on his block! How’s that for chutzpah? Despite his protestations that the vehicle in question was in fact his, since he had not seen the thief take it and there was no serial number engraved on it there was nothing they could do about it.
In closing, I’d feel remiss if I didn’t mention a little chicanery I encountered on the way to this meeting. On Manhattan Avenue between Java and Kent streets a 20-something woman hocked up a loogie— and noticing that she got my attention— tried to sell me a can of Folgers coffee for $5.00. Hot coffee. I was also equally impressed (if that is the most appropriate word to use) to learn at this meeting that apparently some of our local drug dealers are cutting their “product” with sheet rock excavated from the walls of their apartment building. The entrepreneurial moxie of the more criminally-inclined people in this neighborhood never ceases to amaze me.
Miss Heather
P.S.: I have recorded most— but not all— of the proceedings. Given the sensitive matter of some of the material discussed, I did not film the people present. I simply pointed my camera at the ceiling (so as to capture the audio and preserve the attendee’s anonymity). The sound quality is less than spectacular, but here it is.
1. General introduction, Crime rundown
2. Crime rundown, tips for crime prevention, Q & A
3. Q & A, continued. NOTE: last week’s “suspicious death” and Violeete Kryzak are touched upon at the very end. I advise you to give this a listen.
4. More Q & A: concerns about narcotics activity are aired (Speaking for myself, I have observed increasing evidence of heroin use along Manhattan Avenue north of Greenpoint Avenue.)
5. Concluding remarks
New York Shitty Day Starter: Phyllis
Last night I attended the 94th Precinct’s final community council meeting of the year. The coffee was copious and in keeping with the season pumpkin cake was in the offering. I took a piece and it was very tasty. Attendance was sparse and the attendees present were, for the most part, EDGY. Overall it was pretty dull, except for the following segment where Phyllis, a Bedford Avenue institution (and very nice lady) gave a scathing, Mr. Blackwell-esque assessment of New York’s Finest’s female officers. NOTE/CAVEAT: for some reason the sound on this is very, VERY low in some parts. Why, honestly I do not know. But trust me when I write this: it’s worth a listen and blowing your eardrums when people laugh.
Synopsis/Analysis: Police officers are not allowed to chew gum on the job.
Who knew?
Miss Heather
P.S.: Phyllis, you rock! People like you make life worth living in north Brooklyn.
Follow-up to The Greenpoint “Hate Sticker” Post
Filed under: 11222, Criminal Activity, Greenpoint, Greenpoint Brooklyn, Greenpoint Magic
I wrote a post on Sunday about an anti-Semitic sticker I found affixed to a Greenpoint pay phone (which can be seen at left). Well, it has been brought to my attention by three commenters that a number of such items (dis)grace the Garden Spot. To cite an example, bob writes:
hi, miss heather. i checked your blog this morning and saw this entry. later, i was walking up manhattan from driggs to the produce store. on the way, i saw a sticker from the same folks (or, “volk” i suppose), only this one substituted “fags” for “jews” as a gay jew living in greenpoint, my morning sure got off to a great start. it was on the window of the laundromat directly across the street from dunkin’ (the one with the red awning). before getting shooed away, i managed to rip the “fags” part off. the rest is still there, or it was when i left anyway. alas, the camera was at home.
This morning I went for a walk and documented all the stickers my commenters noted. In so doing I (unfortunately) found a hitherto undiscovered one. I made sure to note the address and/or intersection where each sticker was located. When I got home I printed out my findings, annotated them and took them tonight’s 94th Precinct Community Council Meeting. In said meeting I brought them to D.I. Fulton’s attention. My grievance was taken seriously— if not by some attendees present (a few of whom sighed, groaned and rolled their eyes). Here’s the deal:
I have been advised that moving forward I am to bring these stickers (when I find them) to the police department’s attention, be it by calling them or forwarding images (with location) to an officer who will henceforth be my “point person”. This same gentleman guaranteed there will be an investigation. In addition, D.I. Fulton told me that ripping these stickers down is perfectly legal. So there have you. All I asked in return was that he have these stickers removed stat. Mister Fulton assured me this will happen.
In other words if you, dear readers, find such stickers/hate speech on your block the NYPD has your ear. Call ’em.
Miss Heather
UPDATE, November 17, 2009: This has been referred to the NYPD Hate Crime Task Force.
What’s Up At The Place Known Formerly As The Greenpoint Hotel
Filed under: 11222, Criminal Activity, Greenpoint, Greenpoint Brooklyn, Greenpoint Magic, Vinyl Siding
As I mentioned previously, the weather was such that I had to find alternative means of entertaining myself and/or news gathering. First on my agenda (after working) was visiting Emi at Dog Habitat. I quickly rushed home, took a shower and ran off to my next engagement: Community Board 1’s Human Services (Shelter, Social Services, Aging, Disability Concerns, Health) Committee meeting.
This might not seem like the typical person’s idea of how to spend a Thursday night. Given the dismal turn-out— only two committee members were present— I’d say this is a fair assessment. But then again, I am not typical. I’m a weirdo (hence why I live in Greenpoint: I feel at home). What’s more, my mission had a purpose: the new owner of the Greenpoint Hotel was slated to speak. And speak he did. I was all ears (and some mouth).
Follows a general outline of the proceedings (NOTE: some of the following content is redundant to what I have posted already. By omitting it the natural “flow” of the discussion would be lost— so I kept it) :
INTRODUCTION
First Mr. Deutchman introduced himself, made mention that he owns and operates a number of SROs in the city and gave a background as to how he acquired the property:
- He bought the property from the bank (foreclosure or seizure?) at the U.S. Attorney’s Office and D.E.A.’s discretion.
- He was the fifth bidder. The previous four bidders were rejected.
- He paid $3.5 million dollars for the property.
- This includes the laundromat next door (which can be seen above).
INITIAL FINDINGS/CHANGES
- This facility (I can honestly find no other word to describe this hodgepodge of buildings) sports 200 rooms. Just rooms. All plumbing (READ: bathrooms, sinks, etc.) is communal.
- The parcel in its entirety is 55,000 square feet.
- Although Mr. Deutchman was promised there would be 75 residents at signing. There were, in fact, 120 occupied rooms. This number has since been brought down to 80. (I will go into how later.)
- At the time of purchase this building had 300 open violations, this has since been brought down to 8.
- All structural remedies have been made, what is lacking is a “Certificate of Fitness”.
- A fire consultant has been hired to help this complex become fire code complaint.
- The exterior has been given a total overhaul. Including a healthy dose of Greenpoint’s personal panache/panacea of choice: aluminum siding!
Inasmuch as some of you might find what I am about to write hard to believe, it is the truth: this is a big improvement. But back to the subject.
OTHER CHANGES/DEVELOPMENTS
- The only entrance to this building is on Manhattan Avenue. The fire exits are now self-closing and have alarms (so as to preclude people from using them in cases other than an emergency).
- Visitors are required to present valid ID to visit.
- The party being visited must meet the person in the lobby and take him (or her) back to his room.
- Fire safety directors have been hired.
- A web-based security system has been installed. It should be entirely “up and running” soon.
- The laundromat will stay. Mr. Deutchman is interested in expanding it to a full-service facility that will offer dry-cleaning.
TENANTS (Current)
As you can imagine, questions and concerns arose as to how current tenants are being handled. Here’s his answer:
- Upon taking possession of the property Mr. Deutchman posted notices stating he was tendering the rent roll over the the NYPD to review for unregistered sex offenders and parole-skippers.
- Some have been “bought out” through negotiation between his layer and MFY, a legal service.
- Some will be evicted for non-payment of rent. Apparently a number of tenants having (and understandably) grown tired of the squalid conditions in this building decided to quit paying rent and this was upheld in housing court. Now that the repairs have been made (which is what Mr. Deutchman purports), collecting rent from some of them has proved to be problematic.
- Mr. Deutchman has reached out to various social service agencies (the Veterans Administration among them) to help rehouse them.
- Mr. Deutchman faces paying $500,000 in rental over-charge payments to current tenants because (hang with me here, this gets interesting)…
- Any tenant who lives in a SRO more than 28 days becomes a rent-stabilized tenant, e.g.; someone who moves in paying $215 a month after 28 days will continue paying $215 a month until the rent can be legally raised. Per the rules and regulations as established by the DHCR. Division of Housing Renewal & Control.
- Per Mr. Deutchman a number of the previous owners violated the law and charged rents that were above the allowable legal limit.
And, I suspect, Mr. Deutchman’s predecessors did other things to circumvent the law. Some of the old(ish) timers reading this might remember Sammy. He was a local celebrity of sorts. If my memory serves me correctly he was once featured in the Village Voice— or was it the NYPress? I forget which. In any case, the article in question made light of Sammy’s Solomon-like wisdom when dealing with a dispute over an objet d’art (READ: cheap piece of ceramic crap) at the Salvation Army (where he worked). Two women argued vociferously over who had found the item in question first. After hearing their arguments Sammy rendered his verdict: he dropped said object onto the floor, thus rendering it into numerous pieces the two women could split amongst themselves. Problem solved.
Despite what the previous anecdote might suggest Sammy had a big heart. We were friends and it broke my heart when I heard he died (of a heart attack— he was only 51 years old). Sammy was a resident of the Greenpoint Hotel. One of the things he mentioned (mind you, this was back in 2001 or 2002) was their modus operandi of having the tenants stay there for three weeks (21 days), then stay somewhere else for one, only to return for another three weeks (repeat cycle). As crazy as Sammy’s story sounded at the time given what Mr. Deutchman said it makes sense. Sammy hated living there— as have others I know. Some food for thought— now back to my “minutes”.
TENANTS (Future)
The question was raised by the chair as to why Mr. Deutchman didn’t want to operate a proper hotel. I for one found this query amusing given the number of nondos which have been employed for such a purpose. Albeit, illegally. Mr. Deutchman made it known:
- He does not want to run a hotel.
- He wants to operate a SRO…
- along the lines of an “assisted living facility” or “supported housing”:, e.g.; an adult home…
- with the cooperation/oversight of an organization (such as the Veterans Administration, to use an example)
- to this end he has filed RFPs (request for proposals).
- As he reiterated will be the landlord, and they will administrate day-to-day stuff.
- In the meantime he wants to vacate the building entirely of tenants and start anew. When asked by the committee chair how long this might take Mr. Deutchman said three years.
THE FUTURE OF 1109-1113 MANHATTAN AVENUE
The committee chair asked the $64,000 question: given you have purchased such a large parcel of property, why not develop it?
Mr. Deutchman replied that at some point he would like to build “market-rate” housing on the site. “16 units” (which I would deduce to be 16 floors, I haven’t done the “math” but a footprint that big could plausibly be employed). In any case the chair, did and offered (as a fellow landlord) advise he go higher. Yup.
New York Shitty analysis:
- Mr. Deutchman has a contingency plan.
- He will develop this property. This is a given.
- He will employ it as an SRO in the interim— or given the time line he provided— skip this step and go to point #2.
- I am not against an SRO on this property provided it is well managed and maintained. I take a much broader view of “affordable housing” than many in my community do. In my world view an allocation of X units to be sold to families earning $45,000 or less in a tower does not constitute affordable housing. What I want to see (and what the market here really needs) are affordable RENTAL units, be they two bedrooms, one bedrooms, studio apartments or SROs. If the tenants of this hypothetical SRO are long-term residents, as opposed to transients (which seems to have been the prevailing trend at the “Greenpoint Hotel”) and/or a co-educational college dormitory (which is pretty much what the Northside of Williamsburg has become and what the Marzili Hostel was) methinks they’ll become part of the community and be (for the most part) good neighbors.
- Sooner or later we’re going to see something big at the corner of Clay Street and Manhattan Avenue.
My feelings are mixed. On the one hand, I hate towers. On the other, I do have to acknowledge that Mr. Deutchman has made numerous improvements to the place formerly known as the Greenpoint Hotel. Inside and out. The lobby is painted in cheerful (a term I never thought I would attribute to this establishment) hues of bright green and orange. It needs to be seen in person to truly be believed. The regular visitations by the police and fire department have abated— or at least subsided substantially.* Which brings me back to one thing Mr. Deutchman mentioned repeatedly: a desire for the NYPD canvass the area and the building proper.
On that note, the next and last 94th Precinct Community Council Meeting for the year will be this upcoming Monday, November 16. Given the wife of a good friend of mine was almost mugged on Roebling and North 8 Street earlier this week (at 7:00 p.m.) I am certain it will be interesting.**
Miss Heather
P.S.: This post is dedicated to the Human Services Committee Member who asked how my raccoon problem was going. I assured him it has stopped. THANK GOD. I’m genuinely sorry your friend in Little Neck got bit and had to go through a series of rabies shots. All nine of them. That sucks. Big time.
*If you care to dispute this please tender your observations via comments or email them via my “tips” page.
**Here’s his account:
Last night was parent teacher night at my two son’s school. Since my wife is a teacher she like to go to meet his teachers since I pick up my kids and drop them off everyday. As she was heading out she told me that her girlfriend who I believed she would be walking with had an earlier appointment and she would be going alone.
I got a bad felling and I actually asked her to take the car the seven blocks we normally walk. I did not want her walking under the BQE alone, even though it was only a little before seven pm. She said no and reminded me how hard it is to park by the school. She assured me she would be careful. The phone rang a little after eight and I answered the phone. It was my wife. She was screaming for me to run down the block because two men had just attempted to rob her. I ran out of my house to see my wife coming up our block crying and screaming. I got her inside and she explained that she had decided to walk up North 8th street instead of north 7th because it was closer to the church and better lit. As she walked up North 8th toward Roebling she was on her old, not fancy cell phone talking to her mother. Two men walked by her. Something told her to look back a few seconds later and she saw the two men closing in on her. They told her to give them everything she had. She started to scream at the top of her lungs. Police, I am being robbed, Police over and over. The two men ran away and my wife then called me and ran the block and a half to our home. We immediately called 911 and then the 94th to report what happened. A car came about a half hour later. The officers took a description of the two but did not fill out any paperwork and left. Although my wife was lucky no physical harm occurred and nothing was taken, I fear that this violation of trust that she now fears walking in our community at night is going to be difficult to overcome. I also am angry that these men are lurking in our community and probably found someone else to rob and will do it again. I also thought about my wife’s mother who is in her seventies and had to hear her daughter screaming over a cell phone not being able to help her. I have been complaining for the last two years that things are not so swell in Williamsburg. I should have went with my gut last night. I will have to live with that decision but I am happy my wife is physically safe. Be careful out there.
Reader Question Of The Week
Filed under: Greenpoint Magic
The following email was intended to be private correspondence but I feel compelled to post it here as a number of readers might find it of interest.
Anonymous writes:
Hi Miss Heather!
1) I love your blog. I still don’t know how the hell you have the time to update it so often- but I likes.
2) Did you hear that Papacitos was robbed yesterday? Somebody stole a 200lb safe from the back room.
3) I see that there are community board meetings. How do I find out about when they take place? I’m getting a little piffed about what’s been happening in the neighborhood lately.
Thanks for your help! Keep up the great work!
First and foremost thanks for the kind words, Anonymous. They are greatly appreciated. To answer your second question: yes, I am aware that Papasitos was burglarized. From what I have heard (so take this as hearsay) no broken locks were found and the police have hypothesized the bandits made their getaway by climbing up a stack of chairs and toting that 200 pound safe across several rooftops.
As for your third question my advice is as follows:
Although you can voice your concerns to our local Community Board (and I am NOT discouraging you from doing just this) the fact of the matter is this is not the most appropriate forum. This is a police matter and as such your time would be better spent attending the next 94th Precinct Community Council meeting. For those of you who are not in the know these meetings run as follows:
- A general review of the minutes from the previous meeting and miscellaneous announcements
- D. I. Fulton gives a rundown of the crime statistics for the last 28 day period
- A Q & A session with D. I. Fulton
Point #3 constitutes the bulk of these meetings and questions are not limited to incidents which have come to pass (such as the Papasitos robbery). You can also (to use real examples) air concerns about any suspicious activity you have witnessed, tip him off to illegal truck traffic (this is a biggie), complain about honking school buses, etc. You get the idea.
It is my understanding that the next 94th Precinct Community Council meeting will be in September. The same goes for Community Board One.* (Hey, they need a summer vacation just like the rest of us!) You can find the meeting schedules for each by clicking here and here.
I hope this is helpful.
Miss Heather
*See the Ms Nomer’s comment regarding this. There WILL be a meeting in July possibly August as well.
Reader Comment Of The Week
Filed under: Greenpoint Magic
Yes 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
An Ugly Incident At Greenpoint’s New Park
Filed under: Greenpoint Magic
Some of you no doubt recall how long it took this park (which is located at the end of Manhattan Avenue) to happen: just shy of two years. After an inexcusable series of delays it is open now, much to the pleasure of Greenpointers new, old, or simply passing through.
Like these EMT workers taking a much needed break on a Sunday afternoon.
Unfortunately where are others who not only are treating this sorely needed bit of open space as their own beer garden, but when confronted they became belligerent.
Laura writes:
Mike & I have been going to the new park at Manhattan Ave, practically every day. It’s beautiful. Sunday evening, we were there with some family members. There was a group of young Slavic guys & gals drinking beer and tossing the beer bottles onto the lawn and in the high grass. My son sensed that I was upset and went over to pick up any visible bottles. He said to the group, “There’s a garbage over there, you know.” One of the guys responded with a few sarcastic comments and the group continued to drink and litter there. I was looking at the group, hoping they would feel uncomfortable and leave, but that didn’t happen. I proceeded to call the police. Then the same sarcastic guy hollered over “Are you calling the F%#@@ Police on us, you bitch?”. I replied, “Yes”.
With that, the same guy started to approach us with threatening motions. He was clearly trying to start a physical confrontation with my family. ( My granddaughter was there. ) My son, of course stood up ready to defend us. I didn’t want a fight to break out so I stood between the guy & my son & continued to call 911. The guy started to make threatening motions toward my son. He threatened to hit my son & Mike ( cane & all! ). I pulled out my camera. And he moved away. Mike took the phone to complete the call. The others began to scatter. I started to take photos of their vehicle & license plates. One of the guys tried to block the photo. With that, they scurried out of the park ( still holding the beer bottles)…
while I continued to take pictures. One of the guys and one of the girls, came walking back.
The girl was cursing and coming toward me until she realized that I had two daughter in laws with me. They left. There’s a witness… She gave me her name & phone number…
As previously stated Laura called the police— and guess what? After taking an hour to show up they didn’t seem to care!
The police got there over an hour later. The PO ( Ferguson ) said that we couldn’t make out a report. He did however give me the precinct phone number (after some push from me) so I could call in the license plate number when I enlarged the photo. I enlarged it and did leave that message… I don’t believe that I couldn’t fill out a police report just because the offenders left. I feel that I was denied a police report. Technically, there’s nothing on record at the 94th about this incident. And that’s how the precinct likes it. I called 911, so it’s in their system… I’m really tired of not getting help from the 94th Precinct. These youths know my family’s faces. And they are evidently a nasty group. The last thing we need is a nasty group of drinkers at that park. The lack of police interest makes me feel like we’re in the position to defend ourselves…
Welcome to life in the 94th Precinct.
Miss Heather
More Notes From The 94th Precinct Community Council Meeting
Filed under: Greenpoint Magic
My colleague Graham T. Beck of Streetsblog has published his account of this week’s Community Council Meeting. I strongly recommend that anyone interested in the details surrounding the car chase which resulted in Violetta Kryrzak’s death give it a read. Those of you who have not done so already can read my take (and watch video footage of the proceedings) by clicking here.
Miss Heather
Notes From The 94th Precinct Community Council Meeting
Last night’s meeting of the 94th Precinct Community Council was, curiously enough, not very well attended. This certainly came as a surprise to yours truly as I thought a woman being struck and killed by a stolen car would elicit more interest in our community. Go figure.
Regardless of turnout there were plenty items of interest brought up at this forum as you will see in the following video footage. For the sake of brevity (hey, I like a break from ye olde keyboard as much— probably more— than anyone reading this) I have embedded my You Tube footage below along with a synopsis for each segment. Before we get to them here are some facts/observations from this meeting which merit mention:
1. Per D.I. Fulton although crime is (still) “down” overall compared to last year grand larceny auto, burglaries (13) and robberies (7) are up. The car of choice for auto thieves here seems to be the good ol’ reliable Honda Civic. On the burglary front, the police recently made two separate arrests of four suspected thieves.
2. Per D.I. Fulton traffic accidents are— believe it or not— down (47).
3. Now that the weather is getting warmer we were admonished to exercise caution when wearing jewelry in public, watch our personal belongings (especially hand bags, credit cards and i-Pods) and be hyper vigilant about destroying any and all financial records before placing them in the trash for pick-up.
4. On the subject of Violetta Kryrzak’s death:
- Although he expressed his condolences to her family numerous times during the course of the discussion the overall perception of people present was that D.I. Fulton’s recitation of the events leading up to Violetta Kryrzak’s death did not “jibe” with other accounts from those who had witnessed the event. For example:
- D.I. Fulton claimed there was “no pursuit”. Rather, two officers on patrol noticed the minivan driving erratically at Frost Street and Graham Avenue. It was ascertained the vehicle was stolen and the man took off. The police followed him.
- For those of you who are wondering, the distance between where this man was allegedly spotted and where Mrs. Kryrzak was hit is 1.2 miles.
- When queried about whether or not there was any “back and forth” between the squad car and police headquarters P.I. Fulton said there was. Apparently a number of higher-ups were aware of the situation.
- D.I. Fulton made it clear the police did not follow the stolen vehicle all the way up to Dupont Street. One person present contested this although the accounts I have heard bear Fulton out: the police stopped following the car once Mrs. Kryrzak was hit.
5. On the subject of the Abundant Life Assembly incident D.I. Fulton professed no knowledge.
6. I found two Williamsburger’s firsthand accounts of drug overdoses (in one case finding a man with a needle stuck in his arm in the bathroom of the pizzeria across the street from Oasis) and squatting in the Northside particularly troubling.
7. On a lighter note: You wanna know what really pisses one Greenpoint citizen off? No, it ain’t Mister Softee— it’s honking school buses! I strongly advise each and every person reading this to watch this touching and piquant testament to democracy in action. Sure, our system may be obtuse. Some would go so far as to even say it’s downright dysfunctional. But that doesn’t mean it cannot be fun on occasion!
Without further ado here are the videos!
PART I: In this segment D.I. Fulton gives a general run down of the crime stats for the last 28 days and a discussion ensues about honking school buses (Be sure to watch this one to the end kids, you will not be disappointed!)
Well. Who can argue with that?
Yeah, I posted this before. I really like the movie Blazing Saddles. Is this a crime? What’s more what we beheld at last night’s meeting was genuine Greenpoint gibberish.
PART II: After D.I. Fulton (and everyone present) took a moment to absorb the previous rant about honking buses a discussion about the circumstances leading up to Violetta Kryrzak’s death commenced. First we get Fulton’s take.
PART III: A continuation of the discussion about the circumstances leading up to Violetta Kryrzak’s death and truck traffic.
PART IV: Junkies and Squatters at North 7th and Bedford.
PART V: Bikes attached to street signs, car services honking their horns at 3:00 a.m.
All things said and done I suspect I speak for many present when I say I came away from this meeting with more questions than answers. You can (and should) read Graham T. Beck’s take on this meeting over at Streetsblog.
Miss Heather
Attention All Urban Photographers & Street Art Enthusiasts
If you happen to be on River Street do not take a picture of this.
And sure as hell don’t shutterbug this.
Why, you ask? Because if you do it might result in you (and your husband) being questioned by New York’s Finest as to what you are doing. This is what happened to the Mister and I this evening.
Hello there, we see you’re taking photographs— why?
Miss Heather: I think the shadows and diagonals are visually pleasing.
We saw you take photographs of graffiti back there.
Miss Heather: Yeah, someone spray-painted the word “meat” on the wall and I found it interesting.
Because it’s sort of “beefy”?
Miss Heather: Exactly. I happen to be a vegetarian.
Seeing where this conversation was headed (nowhere good— and soon) the Mister jumped in and after some more “dialoging”, they left us to go about our business. Inasmuch as interfacing with the NYPD can be amicable it was: tense, but polite. Still the experience left me wondering:
Why?
Perhaps these chaps have been instructed to watch photographers— especially those who happen to document “graffiti”? The only logic at work here I can think of is the presumption that when people (such as myself) document this stuff it is going to somehow encourage the people responsible for it to continue their nefarious work (and, in so doing, lower everyone’s “quality of life”). I suppose this is possible. BUT…
it’s been my experience that derelict buildings (of which north Brooklyn has many— such as the one above example which is located around the corner) do more than their fair share of lowering my quality of life.
Nice, eh?
The above can be found on the front door of this Kent Street deadiface. Call me subversive, but I don’t really see how this could possibly be construed as making this building an eyesore. It has achieved that very readily on its own. Rather smashingly, I will add. One piece of street art graffiti isn’t going to make any difference; if anything the above bit of mischief adds some sorely needed “value” to this turd. It certainly makes me smile, anyway.
Speaking of which, a building doesn’t have to be old and decrepit to elicit social commentary, oh, I mean graffiti.
CASE IN POINT: Northside Piers.
Miss Heather
NYS Flickr Pool
You must be logged in to post a comment.