From The New York Shitty Inbox: A Dispatch From Frost Street

gothamistscI am certain a number of folks reading this tome are familiar with the item Gothamist posted recently about an attorney having what can be best described as an alcohol-fueled melt-down in Williamsburg. Those of you who are not in the know can become so by clicking here.

In any case, I found the incident downright uncanny as something very similar happened— also in Williamsburg— twenty four hours later. A doppelganger, if you will. I’m guessing the 94th had a very busy weekend— but I digress. My tipster writes on Sunday, June 2nd:

It isn’t Even hot yet and people are nuts. Whackjob… flipped out cross the street last night. 30’s white dude with braided bracelets was kicking and punch the shit out of somebody elses car. Then lays down on the sidewalk crying. Hell-o 94th! Sad, nobody loves him and he is mad about it. Really nice young Polish cop came. I liked seeing a cop in his own hood.

As it was explained to me by another witness this fellow managed to inflict several thousand dollars worth of damage to this defenseless motor vehicle before passing out on the sidewalk.  And passed out on the sidewalk he conveniently remained until our Finest arrived. Upon being awakened next to his “handiwork”— I want to make this perfectly clear— this chap apparently had enough wits about him to deny any wrong-doing.

Yup. Methinks we’re in for an interesting summer north Brooklyn. On a related note, this evening the monthly meeting of the 94th Precinct Community Council will come to pass at the Church of Ascension’s Parish Hall. NOTE: this will be the last meeting until September.

94th Precinct Community Council Meeting
June 5, 2013 starting at 7:00 p.m.
Church of the Ascension’s Auditorium
122 Java Street
Brooklyn, New York 11222

Cheers!

 

Urban Artifact: 13 Days & Counting…

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It’s almost two weeks now and as of this morning (11:42 a.m.) the McCarren Park Hypodermic Tree is still in effect. My dedication to documenting this caught the attention of a passerby. He too took a moment to capture this curiosity with his camera.

takingaphoto

 

After asking me how long this had been there (I told him “about two weeks”) he noted it had been used and added:

Kids could get their hands on this. That’s not good.

Precisely.

From The New York Shitty Inbox, Part II: Bomb Scare At Enterprise High School?

Per an anonymous tipster:

There’s a bomb scare happening near Bushwick and Grand.

Yikes! If anyone has the 411 on what is going on, pelase share via comments or email at: missheather (at) thatgreenpointblog (dot) come. Your identity will remain anonymous if you so desire. Thanks!

UPDATE: Here’s the 411 per DNA.info. Long story made very short and sweet, it would appear someone called the police regarding an abandoned suitcase on the premises.

BREAKING: Attempted Suicide On The G?

Those of you who have been wondering what all the activity is about at the Greenpoint and India Street entrances of the Crosstown Local— or are unaware that this is even coming to pass: I am very saddened to report that apparently someone jumped in front of an oncoming train. This is all I know presently. Those of you who are headed off for your evening commute and have to rely upon the G, the B43 or 62 buses should expect serious crowding and delays.

UPDATE, 6:30 p.m.: Here’s Gothamist’s take on what happened.

UPDATE, 7:05 p.m.: Here’s “Fox New’s” take.

The Word On The Street, Part III: Stop & Frisk

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Amen!

Live From The 94th Precinct Community Council Meeting

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(Or: Special full-sized flag edition!*)

Part I: Roll Call, Meeting Minutes, Etc.

Part II: C.O. Ryan Gives The Rundown & the Question and Answer Session Commences

  • C.O Ryan gives the low-down.
  • Interesting/noteworthy: felony assaults for the last month were ten, which is (to use Mr. Ryan’s own words) “up from four”.
  • C.O. Ryan outlines a city-wide grand larceny scam.** 
  • Graffiti is a serious problem.

Part III: More Q & A

  • I ask C.O. Ryan a couple of questions. He confirmed that an armed robbery came to pass at Continental Auto Parts on Ash Street within the last month.
  • Soundbite of the evening “What kind of a jerk puts a sign behind a pole?”
  • A Maspeth Avenue resident asks questions about a recent mugging on her block, how concerned citizens can start a neighborhood watch group and exactly what is the “protocol” when when a crime happens between two jurisdictions. In her case: the 90th and 94th Precinct.

Part IV: The Conclusion 

  • The matter of vandalism/graffiti at 268 Norman Avenue is brought to the table. The medium was glass “etching” fluid. The cost to this business (Broadway Stages) was $8,000.

And so it goes for what is (in yours truly’s recollection) the shortest— and least punctual— 94th Precinct Community Council meeting in years.

*Props go out to Elizabeth Hulson for this!

**As outlined per the NYPD per an anonymous tipster:

The New York City Police Department is asking for the public’s assistance with locating and apprehending the following 3 suspects wanted in connection with 12 grand larcenies that occurred within Queens.  Details are as follows.

In each incident, the victim is approached by one of the suspects who distracts the victim usually by informing them that their vehicle has a flat tire.  When the victim goes to inspect the damage, the other suspect(s) removes property from the interior of the vehicle.

Incident# 1 (109 Precinct) On Thursday, August 9, 2012 at approximately 1500 hours, the victim exited a Bank of America, located at Parsons and Northern Blvd, as he drove away, he was stopped by one of the suspects who informs him of a flat tire. As he inspected the damaged tire, in front of 35-10 College Point Blvd., a second suspect removed property from his vehicle.

Incident# 2 (111 Precinct)  On Saturday, December 15, 2012 at approximately 1500 hours, the victim exited a TD Bank and headed to his vehicle when he was he was approached by one of the suspects who informed him of a flat tire.  As he inspected the damaged tire, a second suspect removed property from the sun visor of his vehicle.

Incident# 3 (106 Precinct) On Wednesday, January 16, 2013 at approximately 1435 hours the victim noticed she had a flat tire and pulled her vehicle over at Crossbay Blvd and 163 Ave to inspect the damage.  One of the suspects approached the victim and offered to assist. As she returned to her vehicle, she realized her  property had been removed.

Incident# 4 (109 Precinct) On Saturday, January 19, 2013 at approximately 1240 hours, the victim was exiting the Chase parking lot, located at 33-45 154 Street, when she was approached by one of the suspects who informed her of a flat tire.  When she pulled her vehicle over a short distance later to inspect the damage, the suspect removed property from her vehicle and jumped into an awaiting car.

Incident# 5 (109 Precinct) On Tuesday, January 22, 2013 at approximately 1033 hours, the victim noticed he had a flat tire and pulled the vehicle over in front of 150-02 Northern Blvd to change the tire.  The victim was approached by two male suspects who offered to assist.  As one of the suspects assisted, the other removed property from his vehicle.

Incident# 6 (104 Precinct) On Friday, February 1, 2013 at approximately 1340 hours, the victim was approached by one of the suspects who informed  her that she had a flat tire and offered to help.  As they worked on the tire, an second suspect removed property from the passenger side of her vehicle.

Incident# 7 (109 Precinct) On Saturday, February 2, 2013 at approximately 1508 hours, as the victim approached his vehicle, parked inside a supermarket parking lot located at 144-50 Northern Blvd, he noticed his car tire had been slashed.  After changing the tire, he noticed property missing from inside his vehicle.

Incident# 8 (106 Precinct) On Tuesday, February 5, 2013 at approximately 1230 hours, the victim was informed, by one of the suspects, that she had a flat tire and offered to help.  Upon changing the tire, the victim realized property missing from her vehicle.

Incident# 9 (105 Precinct)  On Friday, February 15, 2013 at approximately 1330 hours, as the victim approached her car, parked in the vicinity of 216-03 Jamaica Ave, two of the suspects waved a parking ticket claiming that she was ticketed. Additionally, the victim stated that she believed one of the suspects sprayed shaving cream on the back of her jacket and began to wipe it off.  When she returned home, she discovered that property had been removed from her jacket.

Incident# 10 (102 Precinct) On Friday, February 15, 2013 at approximately 1520 hours, as the victim was driving, he noticed that he had a flat tire and pulled his vehicle over at 94-24 131 St. to inspect the damage.  One of the suspects approached the victim wearing an orange vest and offered to assist.  Upon changing the tire, he noticed property had been removed from his vehicle.

Incident# 11 (108 Precinct) (That’s Long Island City, gentle readers— Ed. Note) On Thursday, February 21, 2013 at approximately 1600 hours, three suspects approached the victim at 38-20 Review Ave to inform the victim that she had a flat tire and offered to help.  The victim declined and drove to a tire repair shop, located at 38-18 Queens Blvd, to have the tire changed,  The suspects followed the victim to that location and offered to help again while another suspect removed property from her vehicle.

Incident# 12 (109 Precinct) On Thursday, February 28, 2013 at approximately 1557 hours, as victim pulled into a parking lot along Northern Blvd, one of the suspects approached the to informed him that he had a flat tire, while another suspect sprayed an unknown substance onto his jacket.  The first suspect convinced the victim to remove his jacket and placed it in the car.  While the victim was distracted, the second suspect removed his jacket and fled the location.

Video attached from incident# 12.

Anyone with information is asked to call Crime Stoppers at (800) 577-TIPS (8477). The public can also submit their tips by logging onto Crime Stoppers’ website at www.nypdcrimestoppers.com or by texting their tips to CRIMES (274637), then enter TIP577.

All calls are strictly confidential.

**** UPDATE DUFFY 4/01/13 ****

 The following incidents have been added to the above listed citywide grand larceny pattern: 

Incident #13 (61 Precinct) On Friday, 22, 2013 at approximately 1500 hours, when the victim pulled her car over near East 2 Street and Avenue T to check on a noise coming from a tire, one of the suspects approached, wearing an orange construction vest and holding a white bucket. The suspect stated he had a can of Fix-A-Flat and offered to assist her. While the suspect helped the victim, the second suspect went into the victim’s vehicle and removed cash. 

Incident #14 (19 Precinct) On Monday, March 11, 2013 at approximately 1010 hours, the victim was sitting in her vehicle near 1st  Avenue and East 82 Street when she was approached by a suspect who said that one of her rear tires was flat. The suspect offered her a can of Fix-a-Flat and told her to hold it against the tire. After the suspect walked away, the victim realized her handbag missing from inside the vehicle. 

Incident #15 (102 Precinct) On Saturday, March 23, 2013 at approximately 1240 hours, the victim was parking her car near 101 Avenue and 121 Street when she was approached by a male wearing a construction vest who told her the air in her rear tires was low, and offered to help. While the suspect distracted the victim, a second suspect opened the victim’s vehicle and removed her purse. 

Incident #16 (94 Precinct) On Wednesday, March 27, 2013 at approximately 1235 hours, the victim parked his car near Withers Street and Union Avenue and was approached by a suspect who told him the back of his jacket was dirty. The victim took the jacket off and placed it in his vehicle, before driving a short distance away. After parking, the second suspect approached the victim and told him the air was low in a rear tire. The suspect offered the help change the tire or to use a can of Fix-a-Flat. As the victim bent down to inspect the tire, the first suspect entered the victim’s car and removed cash from the victim’s jacket.

New York Shitty Day Ender: Live From The 94th Precinct Community Council Meeting

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(Or: Welcome to the 94th, Commanding Officer Ryan!)

Given all the recent hoopla regarding the respite shelter at the Greenpoint Reformed Church* and a murder at Cooper Parks Houses, tonight’s meeting was, well, quite calm. Nonetheless we got to meet our new commanding officer and he got to meet us. More specifically: he got to meet a stalwart attendee of these convocations. I write of no one other than Phyllis. So help me, but I suspect she likes him— but you can draw your own conclusions, gentle readers. Without further ado, here we go!

  • He likes Greenooint and North Williamsburg. Love it!

  • Some more information about the stabbing/homicide at the Cooper Park Houses.
  • Phyllis speaks!

  • Rolfe Carle inquires about a woman who was hit by a car on Milton Street (skip to 1:48) January 24th. C.O. Ryan, promised to follow up on this
  • A citizen complains about graffiti.

Otherwise, here’s some (more) news you can use:

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1. The calendar for the 94th Precinct Community Council meetings for (the rest of) 2013.

ASP rules large

2. The alternate side parking “suspension” calendar for (the rest of 2013).

And that’s all she wrote!

*Which will be relocated to the Church of the Ascension’s Hall on Java Street. This is where tonight’s meeting came to pass. Follows is an announcement from the Church of the Ascension’s website:

CofA

For those of you who are not in the know, this was the original location for this facility. Reverend Merz is a very caring, sensitive fellow and I have no doubt he will run it well. Regardless of the “controversy” surrounding this issue (and believe you me, there was a lot), I am simply happy to know ten of our “local” homeless will be provided a safe, warm place to sleep. They are our neighbors.

From The New York Shitty Inbox: And Now A Word From The 94th Precinct

hursonandtheladies

On Wednesday, January 30, 2013, Captain James Ryan was assigned as the new Commanding Officer of the 94th Precinct. Deputy Inspector Terence Hurson has been reassigned to Staten Island as the Commanding Officer of the new 121 Precinct, which is scheduled to open this spring. Should you have any questions contact 94th Precinct Community Affairs at (718) 383-5298..     

Speaking as a resident of the 94th, I feel compelled to state that Mr. Hurson (as seen above at left) was by far the best Commanding Officer this precinct has had in the 13 years I have lived here. Deputy Inspector Hurson’s sincere interest in community feedback and astonishing diligence responding to a manifold number of inquiries from yours truly (even while he was on vacation, I’ll note) during his tenure in our fair burgh was greatly appreciated and will not be forgotten.
Goodbye and good luck in your new precinct, Mr. Hurson. You will be missed!

Live From The 94th Precinct Community Council Meeting

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elizabethgetsprops

LR

It was all smiles at last night’s first Community Council meeting of the New Year. This is not to suggest that there were not serious topics discussed, however. There most certainly were! Among them:

  1. A general synopsis of crime statistics for 2012 (NOTE: a more detailed presentation will be given next month, so mark your calendars!). Yours truly found the rape statistics particularly sobering (12 versus 3 in 2011).
  2. A discussion of the homeless situation in Greenpoint. The good news: the ten bed respite center for our local homeless is up and running at the Greenpoint Reformed Church. The bad news: neighbors of this facility have already commenced complaining.
  3. The graffiti yours truly happened upon recently at Java Street Pop-Up Park. I’ll go into more detail on that in bit. Without further ado, here we go!

General Introduction/Preliminary Business

D.I. Hurson Gives The Rundown

  • Mr. Hurson recognizes two “Cops of The Month” who caught a sexual assault in progress.
  • Overall crime was up 14% over 2011. Foremost among them: burglary. D.I. Hurson cites new development as attracting burglars. There were 12 rapes versus three in 2011. There were three shootings.
  • A presentation of 2012 statistics will come to pass at next month’s meeting.
  • New Year’s Eve was lively. The foremost complaint, unsurprisingly, was noise.

Detective Komar Gives The Traffic Report/Question & Answer Session Commences

  • Pedestrian accidents were down: 55 in 2012 versus 75 in 2011.
  • Bicyclist accidents were up: 78 in 2012 versus 67 in 2011.
  • Truck accidents are down: 385 in 2012 versus 441 in 2011.
  • A concern about confusion arising as a result of the Nassau Avenue construction is raised by a member of the Community Council. Lincoln Restler promises to follow up with the MTA.
  • Public Safety Chair Tom Burrows queries D.I. Hurson about all-night party permits (there were 8 issued New Year’s Eve in the 94th) and advocated that the Community Board be notified moving forward.

On The Subject Of The “Swastika” Graffiti

  • It is posited by the 94th that the graffiti might be the handiwork of youths who frequented the waterfront a couple of years ago and therefore may be old.
  • Nonetheless, they have brought it to the attention of the Hate Crimes Unit and are attempting to contact the owner of the property so as to get all the graffiti removed.

POST-SCRIPT: While I readily conceded to Mr. Komar (and in fact, HOPED) they were correct that in their assessment this graffiti was a few years old and I simply missed it on previous forays this is not the case. After the meeting I remembered that I had documented the conditions at the India Street Pier and the surrounding environs back on August 29th, 2012. While I did not have any photographs of the section of wall in question, I did capture it on video. Follows is what I found:

videoscreencapNYS

As of August 29, 2012 it was not there.

swastikaANNO

Thus this graffiti is, at the very most, just shy of four months old. But don’t take my word for it: watch the footage for yourself.

I have since brought this to the 94th’s attention.

  • A question is raised about 400 McGuinness. More specifically: does it address Greenpoint’s homeless population.

Elizabeth Hulson, Community Council Headmistress Extraordinaire, Gets Well Deserved Props!

Councilman Levin Speaks

  • Mr. Levin gives a rundown about the new ten bed respite center for our local homeless. This is located at the Greenpoint Reformed Church and administered by Common Ground.
  • He clarifies 400 McGuinness is an assessment center. Upon entering an intake center men are sent to this facility, assessed and then sent to more permanent housing.
  • A question is raised by a citizen about panhandling. Mr. Levin posits that the men of which this lady speaks may be residents of either the Greenpoint Hotel (which is located at 1109 Manhattan Avenue, not 1155 as Mr. Levin states) or the 3/4 house located around the corner: 66-68 Clay Street. He outlines the history and deplorable conditions of these facilities. Those of you who have wondered what is going on thereabouts, please give this a listen.
  • Anyone in the Greenpoint community who experienced flooding as a result of Sandy is encouraged to apply for grants via FEMA.

And that’s all she wrote!

From The New York Shitty Inbox: 2013 94th Precinct Community Council Meeting Calendar

For those of you who follow such stuff (and you should), here it is!

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