Around 8 a.m., three police officers were on East Ninth Street ... at the scene of last night's fire between Avenue B and Avenue C that likely wiped out three cars... We overheard an officer asking the security guard on duty at the former P.S. 64 about the plywood outside the building ...
...later, via a reader...
... and EVG reader Galwegian, who noted the street cleaning is Monday on this side of the street...
More to come... At this point, we're not sure of the cause of the fire...
Updated noon:
After the planned meeting outside Ben Shaoul's Magnum Real Estate office last evening, John Penley headed here around 9 ... where he was joined by a handful of other people protesting the proposed dorm development of P.S. 64.
Via Facebook, Penley said that he "was tired and feeling sick and left about midnight." As for the other people in the group? "Later I was told cops had threatened to arrest people. I didn't hear about what happened until this morning."
The resident who took the top photo on this post said that he heard the protestors earlier, but didn't see anyone at the scene when the fire started around 1:20 a.m.
18 comments:
Word on the block is that it was started (accidentally, I assume) by the protesters that were camping out there (John Penley, etc.). I don't think anyone saw it start, but the timing is pretty damning. Everyone heard them singing and playing music in that EXACT spot, then, boom, car fire. Has anyone heard from the protesters about this?
Lady Gaga in Blaze of Glory!
Reminds me of the old days, when stolen cars were abandoned on 2nd Ave between Houston and East 4th, and then torched... Those blocks were littered with burned out cars, sometimes for months at a time...
I left the block long before this happened. I was tired and feeling sick and then heard that cops had run everyone off and told people they would be arrested if they came back. I decided that I had had enough for the day and slept at a friend's house. There is probably video of what happened but I have no idea what ? I didn't find out about what happened until this morning.
Just spoke to a guy who lives right there and he said some kids were setting off firecrackers earlier in the evening, which set off all the car alarms and sent them running off. Then around 1, they came back and threw some more and one rolled under the middle car and the engine caught on fire.
My car was parked two away from these unfortunates. Feeling lucky...
It was caused from a trash can set on fire. I saw 2 people running away right as it started
You are all dying to snitch on someone huh new les dwellers? And what if it was protestors? Yall are always complaining about getting ripped off by slumlords, but one whiff of possible resistance and yall turn into mgruff the crime . Stop snitching...
Oh, those were slumlord's cars that were burned up? Right on then.
I hate when people post anonymously. It kind of takes away from their argument. I use a "nom de plume", but it's always the same, so people can call me out when I'm full of sh*t. Just sayin'.
NOT ONE of those people deserved to have their vehicles fucked within any way.
I've heard a lot of different things about what went down, but what is consistent is that there was a demo that was more a gathering outside of Charas, from 9pm until after midnight, at which time cops chased away the handful of people remaining. (At that point, John Penley had already left the scene.)
The fire appears to have started in the front of the middle vehicle, from where it spread. It's not clear whether the vehicle fire was due to a fire being started on the sidewalk or by M80s thrown under the vehicle by persons unknown.
From talking with several people on the block, I don't see that the fire could be blamed on the demonstrators/gatherers who were no longer present when the fire broke out.
I've never been called a slumlord before! I feel more bonded to my community now though...so many people told me their Sandy loss stories today while I waited for the tow truck.
I don't really care.. I'm a student and I've done a lot of protesting myself and I have no interest in pressing charges but you all are idiots for having a fire on a sidewalk next to my car. And you owe me $2000. I do think its a good cause though... I don't want to live next to a bunch of nyu kids.
Look, the bottom line on this and I personally am extremely upset about this if the cars had belonged to real estate developers I would have been happy about it but these cars were owned not by by Real Estate Terrorists thy were owned by regular people including Father Pat Maloney who I like and respect so this pisses me off. I think that had this not happened I would have gotten a lot of people at Charas over the weekend so I have to wonder who was behind it ? One thing for sure it was not good for us the protesters but it was very good for Greg Singer and Ben Shaoul and other real estate developers.I am not saying they were behind it but generally when these things happen you have to look at possible benefactors from it. Also. I have been told by people that setting a car on fire is not easy unless someone sets the gas tank on fire and this is dangerous and again not easy unless you have experience and believe me the people at the protese did not and were there to make music and eat and sleep on the street together. If cops who ran people off from Charas had not kicked people in the head in their sleeping bags and brutally ran them off THIS WOULD NEVER HAVE HAPPENED AS I WOULD NOT HAVE ALLOWED IT ! Also where were the cops and Greg Singer's 2 all night security guards when this was going on and why did FDNY take so long to respond. I totally believe this was a set up and if you thnk about it and if you seriously ask who benefited by it you have to wonder too.
Wow. Seems like a TOTAL set up. Unbelievable.
Ok how are the cops beating peaceful protestors? Once again the NYPD breaks its own law against people who are doing everything legally.
Where are the watchdogs we so desperately need?
What is the NYPD doing these days other than protecting the interests of the rich and powerful?
I posted the first comment. I really wasn't trying to point the finger, just pointing out the obvious and reporting what people on the block were thinking and saying on Saturday morning. I think it was clear that I wasn't casting blame and was ready to listen to what others had to say. I was glad to hear from John Penley directly and take him at his word.
It's really disappointing that, like so many things, this has to be made into us vs. them, new vs. old, good vs. evil. There is so much willful ignorance on both sides of that nonsense. And the typical "bitch slap" comments that result from it are so tedious and unproductive.
I'm sorry if I unintentionally fed into that, but it always surprises me what people are willing to latch onto in order to service their own preconceived notions. It'd be nice if the discussion here could proceed as it does on the street—like it did around the burnt-out cars—as conversations between real people and neighbors.
I look forward to hearing more from John Penley and others about their plans to protest the development.
First of all, it was MY car - the middle one - that was torched. I have lived in the neighborhood for years and contributed to help landmark the building to prevent excessive development. But to say there is blame on both sides is irresponsible and stupid. Whoever lit a fire that destroyed my car that night is totally responsible...not Singer, not the cops! Wake the fuck up! It was the protesters that lit a fire that night which is itself retarded and then no one saw to fully extinguish it before leaving...doubly retarded. Grow up and admit that the protest was conducted in a sloppy manner. It was dangerous and quite frankly, the whole neighborhood - not just my car - could have gone up in flames.
I was at the protest and none of us set a fire. I walked down in the morning to see if anyone was out there yet still protesting and saw the cars. I went and found John to ask what happened and no one knows. The cops kicked us all out and everyone was shocked by what happened. For you to just openly blame us because you don't have anyone else to blame is immature. If you would like to speak to me personally I live a block away as do most of the other people and none of us would destroy our neighborhood like that. We want our community center back. Not to destroy the community.
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