[Click on image for a better read]
Someone has posted these flyers… asking residents to call the 9th Precinct and politely insist that the NYPD "remove the ridiculous and unnecessary guard tower from the center of Tompkins Square Park" ...
Per the flyer's author:
When I spoke with Sgt. Wahlig on 07.22.15 at 11:33 AM, he could not answer. Instead, he bumblingly referred to the recent NY Post and Observer articles as evidence that the guard tower and patrol are needed. He also told me that since I am a parent, I should be glad that the guard tower is there, and that I should feel safer!! HA HA HA HA!!
The tower arrived in the Park on Tuesday. There is already an online petition asking Mayor de Blasio to remove the Skywatch tower.
Meanwhile, in other tower-related activities… concertgoers yesterday reported seeing a drone nearby …
[Photo via EVG correspondent Steven]
There was a report of a food delivery on Friday afternoon…
[Photo via an EVG reader]
… and EVG reader George Cohen tells us that a patrol tower has been parked at Avenue D and East Eight Street for the past month or so…
Previously on EV Grieve:
NYPD installs patrol tower in the middle of Tompkins Square Park (149 comments)
The Post reports Tompkins Square Park 'has become a homeless haven' (113 comments)
Observer editors write, 'it's time to take back Tompkins Square Park' (49 comments)
Petition asks Mayor de Blasio to remove the Skywatch tower from Tompkins Square Park
Parts of Avenue C and D now with a SkyWatch tower, additional NYPD lights
[Updated] NYPD patrol tower arrives on Avenue D
What's infuriating about this is that the concerns of longtime local residents are not addressed by the police, but the second a newspaper owned by a wealthy real estate developer with property in the area runs an article complaining about homeless people and drug addicts in the park, the police descend upon the Tompkins and erect a tower. They aren't doing this to protect the community. They are doing this to make those who can afford to pay the high rents Jared Kushner charges feel better.
ReplyDeleteBeautiful Sunday morning strolling through the park and I'm confronted with a patrol car idling, spewing exhaust, (isn't that a traffic violation?), with the AC on, of course, even though it is a Sunday cool morning, next to this hideous futuristic, mechanical Panopticon, as if the patrol car, and the inert bodies inside, are its spawn. Can we have a Sunday morning without this eyesore? And why is a police presence even needed on a Sunday morning?
ReplyDeleteHey Bratton get this boys walking the beat! Remember, there is a community out here, not a police state that needs towers.
Why did the police put up the tower? Part of the reason is PRl Mayor DeBlasio blinked in response to the scary homeless people stories in the NY Post and Jared Kushner's Observer scare. The other part is to have a psychological deterrent on the population.
ReplyDeleteAccording to ICX, the tower's manufacturer, a big part of why police use the SkyWatch tower is to have a psychological effect on the population. Part of the tower’s success comes from its implied surveillance. The SkyWatch tower is designed with darkened windows so those below cannot tell if an officer is present, so whether or not the police have the ability to man it, they say the deterrence still works.
Because the tower is so visible and creepy, criminals supposedly get scared away because they can't tell if they are being watched or not. It's like a big totem pole designed to scare the natives. The problem is that 99% of the population are not criminals and they are also being creeped out and watched by this thing.
The SkyWatch Tower also has thermal imaging capability, so they can watch you at night and also scan under your clothes for weapons. The towers are being used in Afghanistan and Iraq in the fight against terrorists like al Queda and Isis. Now they are being used in Tompkins Square Park because of a few homeless people who scared the NY Post.
Look, the fact is that these towers are effective at stopping crime. You can tell this is true, because ever since the tower was placed at D/8 there has been absolutely no crime in the area and if there had been any crime, the police would have immediately caught the perpetrators.
ReplyDeleteHaha. Just kidding.
The police need to get out of their towers and their cars and start walking the neighborhood. Driving through Tomkins Square Park? Really, guys... It's a park. Get out, walk around, sit on a bench, talk to someone.
I've been grabbed and harassed many times. I welcome the tower.
ReplyDeleteThis tower is a joke. People are flying drones by it, mocking it on Twitter, taking selfies with it. The sooner the 9th precinct takes it down the sooner they may keep some dignity.
ReplyDeleteHow DARE any of you comment on this before Fashion by He has had a chance to weigh in! SHAME! SHAME! SHAME!
ReplyDeleteObserve the cognitive dissonance in action:
ReplyDelete"Politely ... Politely ... Politely ... " vs. "He also told me that since I am a parent, I should be glad that the guard tower is there, and that I should feel safer!"
So, you already got your answer, you should just feel safer. You should feel safer, regardless of whether you do or not. Let us check your bags, lets us irradiate you at the airport, let us collect every bit of information about you -- regardless of that fact that none of these measures have ever stopped any "terrorists" -- because we tell you to.
Giovanni is right. He also wisely points out that this tech was used in Afghanistan and Iraq, and now, surprise, surprise, it's come around to be used on us. Same with drones. Same with the all of the crowd control non-lethal weapons they've yet to roll out. And that's because the people of Iraq and Afghanistan weren't the only targets in these wars; all of you out there are also targets.
Just ask yourself, what other regimes use collective punishment?
It's security theater and the "protestors" are just playing their role. This too shall pass. I have noticed less smoking of K2 the nasty synthetic marijuana lately but that's probably, sadly, just temporary and also neighborhood wide, not just the park.
ReplyDeleteNote that the tower did have to endure some standard mediocre semi-metal all day yesterday. Given the quality of the music it deserves a purple heart for that at least.
@Giovanni
ReplyDeleteWow, so the manufacturer markets it as a panopticon. That is all kinds of messed up.
@1:06 haha how true. That music sucked. And yeah, it will all pass. It's a long summer and what is a summer in the EV w/o protesting SOMETHING....
ReplyDeleteThat flyer is good, and I called (public advocate), though also: write to Mayor de Blasio, too:
ReplyDeletehttp://www.nyc.gov/html/static/pages/officeofthemayor/contact.shtml
Has anyone noticed that there are now more people sprawled out on the sidewalks than normal? The number tripled on my little block.
ReplyDeleteLike, did they really think that a tower would make everybody get a haircut and a job? They've just moved from the park to the streets. Duh.
Do you think a single resident of this area looks at that thing and says "Hooray!"? It's like you guys haven't got a clue about why you're unpopular with the populace.
Hint: It has absolutely nothing to do with De Blasio.
For the record:
I really don't mind people sleeping in plain sight around here. It kind of comes with the territory. Bigger crimes are being committed by landlords (trying to oust rent-controlled tenants and/or raising commercial rents so high we gave to deal with revolving-door tenants until some huge corporation shows up) - please harass them for us instead. They are ruining the neighborhood we love much faster than the homeless can.
Everyone should petition the Government to take away all of our civil rights. Write to state and national legislators; write to the President; write to the justice of the Supreme Court: "TAKE AWAY ALL OUR RIGHTS, MOTHERFUCKERS!" Then we'll win. They never do anything that We, the People demand of them; they often do the opposite of what we want.
ReplyDeleteMy neighbor just told me detective hernandez from the ninth precinct community affairs is in charge of yielding all complaints in regards to the tower in the park. I urge all who have a complaint or a question to call him 212-477-7805 or go to the precinct and ask to speak to him. He's very helpful and trying to help the community
ReplyDeletethat drone is NOT the famous Upgrayedd! ;)
ReplyDeleteThey're looking to see who protests so they can find out who the natural leaders are and chop off their heads. By using stingrays to illegally monitor their cellphones and movements. Remember, every uber ride is a federally sanctioned (and monitored) event.
ReplyDeleteIn consideration of the recent anti-homeless smears spewing from the blood-stained pages of "news"papers Com-Post and Observer (owned by real estate scum speculator and Trump son-in-law Jared Kushner), resulting in an overkill response by the NYPD in erecting a SpyTower in the center of Tompkins Square Park, we feel that an appropriate response would be for those attending the TSP Riot Reunion shows in the park on August 8 + 9 (1pm - 7pm) to bring FOOD for the homeless in and around the park. (We recommend canned goods or other packaged items.) We will have a receptacle at the SHADOW table to the right of the stage.
ReplyDeleteAll food items collected will be donated to Food Not Bombs, a dedicated group of Anarchists that feeds the homeless and other folks (no one charged or turned away) in Tompkins Square Park on Sunday afternoons.
OUR FUCKING PARK!!!!
I think that sign is too long. People don't want to stand and read tha much. You drive away supporters when you're too long-winded.
ReplyDeleteI love how you all blame the cops....all the time.
ReplyDeleteI hope you never need one! But no worries, if you do, they will be there to help. And I'm sure you will still complain.