[Photo via EVG reader Ryan]
The NYPD continues to expand its presence in Tompkins Square Park following the Post and the Observer's recent reports citing anecdotal evidence that there's an influx of homeless people and drug users in the park.
This afternoon, the NYPD brought in a patrol tower (SkyWatch) to sit right in the middle of the park.
[Photo by Tullah from 7th Street]
[Photo by @urbanmyths]
Thoughts?
Previously on EV Grieve:
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)
148 comments:
Give me a BREAK! The drunk bros that infiltrate and trash this neighborhood on the weekend are the real enemy to our community. Get a police tower for the 13th Step and the other trash bars on 2nd Avenue. Fight the real enemy!
You have got to be kidding. I'm done with this fucking city. I have no words.
This is a joke. In recent years we have been inundated with white college kids who think the neighborhood is their playground and you don't see the police doing shit to shut down their rooftop ragers. But there are homeless people and addicts in the park like there always have been, and the police begin a campaign to get them out? They don't bother me. I would rather the police patrol at night to arrest the drunk enough frat kids.
2 policeman on horses or bicycles would work, a bit overkill, but something must be done about these losers
It fits right into the anti deBlasio campaign. The Post and the Pigs will lie, cheat, and steal (well, more than they already do) to hang Bloomberg's defunding of homeless outreach on deBlasio. I'm saddened that no media outlets are speaking the truth to this nonsense.
But the big question is, will the tower turn its back on deBlasio it he comes into the part?
Ridiculous!
The tail wagging the dog? Ya think?
One day at lunch at the Four Seasons Rupert Murdoch stumbles into Jared Kushner spilling all three of their Martini's on their assistants. They go on to commiserate on the state of the city under Comrade incompetent. He's making it hard to build more architectural middle finger's too the masses. Jared tells Rupert that he's been told that he has a portfolio of buildings in a place called the East Village and that he's receiving a nice ROI except that his broker's think it would be better if there were less questionable people to oogle or even be seen by the bathing suit clad boys and girls who like to use the park. Maybe your paper should investigate that. Then I'll show that story too my editor and he'll do an editorial backing up and referencing the story. Then Comrade Incompetent and Commisioner Bragalot will have to show some force and just maybe those people will move to, oh I don't know ? Newburgh?
I was literally in shock when I saw them putting this thing up this morning. What is this Avenue D? Didn't they notice before that there are homeless people sitting in the park? It looks like DeBlasio fell for the New York Post and the Observers trick.
Agreed. The park is fine, but the brobags and pukettes (weekend or otherwise) are the real cancer killing the East Village.
Excuse me, what?!
.... here's the influx into the park - first the media then the cops
moronic.
It's too obvious to say that this is Orwellian, right?
Just kick the homeless out to some sanatorium outside the city. I don't want to live in the police state and I don't want to be confronted by junkies and homeless either.
To quote the Giant in Twin Peaks: "It Is Happening Again."
I'm with Anon at 2:04.
Jezus Keriiiist onna hockey puck!!
Get that thing over to Ave A and 3rd, the 13th Step or in front of Kazuza or whatever that hooka bar is next to Miss Lily's takeover of 7A.
I literally watched a crazy man throw fire all over the park last night.
This absolutely makes sense.
Are you people blind? The other day I saw about 15 kids circle booting one of the homeless... Another throw a brick... A few days earlier two homeless attacking each other with bats. Open your eyes!
this is pretty funny. wouldnt the trees block the view across the park? I mean in order to see the whole park you'd have to be 3 times as high. is there a porta-john built in?
I don't understand...do all of you have some kind of attachment to the addicts in the park? What do you love about them? Because I really don't enjoy them when I bring my kids to play in the park. Sorry if this is bourgeois but I don't love having them menaced by the poor dogs the addicts keep with them, or having to walk the gauntlet of addicts on the benches on the path to the playground. They don't add any charm to the neighborhood, in my opinion. It's not like they are creating art or bringing anything positive to life in the east village. Like it or not, there are a lot of families with young children here now.
GOOD. There was a man running around the park last night with bunch of newspapers on fire trying to set the playground on fire. It could have been a huge public safety issue, but fortunately he was apprehended after witnesses called the city.
THAK GOODNESS! Two nights ago, I saw some men selling M-16 rifles, Humvees, M-1 tanks and F-16 jet fighters by the handball courts. Something must be done!
I know I love our park. I also know I've gotten immune to what gors on in there. However this morning alone there were a half dozen 911 calls to TSP before Noon -- including an attempted stabbing. Who didn't see this coming?
Yeah, destruction and crack binges are good for the neighborhood. Gimme a break.
I'm sad to see what the park is (re)becoming AND to see the NYPD putting up that stupid tower. Something needs to be done, for sure, but that's not it. #NYPDfail
@eastvillagemom have you ever heard of overkill? all the police need to do is have two patrolmen walk through the park ever 15-30 minutes -- not install a town in the middle of the park. and if you're a mom terrified of "junkies in the east village" why did you move here?
Last weekend, a drunk beefy college-age kid repeatedly threw things at my apartment window at 3 a.m. Far more repellant that anything I've seen or anyone I've encountered in Tompkins Square Park. I'm tired of these transplants whose mommies and daddies subsidize their lifestyles and thus have no appreciation for where they live and no respect for their neighbors. Who should we really fear??
I don't know if "welcome" is the right word, but I don't have the dismissive attitude that many commentators have to a police presence. I remember, as I am sure many EVG readers and commentators do, the days when the park was out of bounds because of the failure of city politicos to recognize the need for services for the homeless and for addicts and others. When the realization came that the park no longer served its function as an open space for "all" of the community (and don't give me the retort--Yuppie scum who occupied the people's buildings, etc etc), the city moved to rehabilitate the park. Anyone in the neighborhood knows that in the past year or so the park has been slipping back to a situation that no wants to see--when people who live in the neighborhood are fearful of using the park and bringing their children into the park. The knee-jerk reaction on this blog is blame it (everything) on NYU students and their ilk. What's happening is beyond those simplistic responses. So, I welcome an increased police presence.
THANK GOD! Last night I saw homeless men flying drones over the park before getting into an 8-story Mechagodzilla which destroyed all of 7th Street!!!
@Anon 3:36 I like how you put junkies in quotations like they're non-existent mythical creatures.
are they sleeping in the trees, and dealing drugs up there too? thank god we live in a city where we have the tax dollars to afford such sophisticated equipment.. !!Hopefully they will bring in some radio controlled drones with mace and other tactical weapons.
Policing on foot on a regular basis is just sooooo Passse for NEW YORKS FINNEST
3:16, 3:21, 3:42
Tres drole (eye roll)
Gotta love the bros...
I agree with many of the commenters. The homeless aren't the problem. The entitled, trust fund babies, frat brothers and sorority sisters who believe this is their territory are what need getting rid of....
The NYPD is out of their mind for encouraging this.
I second that! A police tower on the stretch of 13th Step, Kingston Hall, The Copper Still, and Thirsty Scholar. Target those drunks!!!!!
Every spring you see young college people working in the parks as volunteers painting benches,raking leaves, spreading top soil and planting. Now on the other hand the junkies well they nod or sit with a bullshit sign asking for money leaving their trash were they just squatted for hours. Every time they overdose in the Park an ambulance and trip to the hospital at taxpayer expense. I once needed an ambulance for heat stroke a few years back off Ave A. The city sent me a bill for 700 dollars. Junkies are the scourge of society few rehabilitate I think the Police Tower is a waste stoned out junkies probably think its a alien spaceship delivering free dope and needles.
Arm chair policing. Welcome to your future- from now on no cops are the street walking a beat, from now on you're identified on camera the robo cop/ drone comes to pick you up place you in indefinite detention or kills you.
The new future of warfare and living in what was thought to be a free country, it's funny how perception/ deception can play tricks on the mind. Cheers to the new world order
Thanks to the scum at the NY "Observer' and the NY COM-Post that pretend to be journalists (and who can't even spell TOMPKINS correctly) for embarrassing the NYPD into engaging in this FUTILE exercise in OVERKILL so that they are appearing to "do something' about a sensationalized "problem".
Did the NYPD spy tower stop shootings along Ave B? Did it enable the NYPD to catch anyone involved in those shootings? NO and NO.
The NYPD ought to know better than to be used this way....
SOme of these comments are ridiculous. But I will say that I have been harassed more times this summer outside Poco during brunch hours (3x) than I have walking in TSP (0x) this summer.
The NYPD could put the tower on the 3rd and B to quell the awful brunch drunks. Poco is the worst!
Calling Councilwoman Rosie Mendez -- what is your take on this?
As 2:21 p.m. said: How about a normal human police presence in the park, if it is needed?
A scary tower like this makes the park less welcoming to US ALL - in fact probably MORE unwelcoming to normal folks than to troublemakers.
Getting the sense that this provocation could spark something...
This is ludicrous. They put this up in the bandshell area? The NYPD didn't even put the tower up in the right place if they really want to address the homeless issues on the West side at 7th and A or the gus on the benches near the bathrooms. But you don't need a tower to see what's going on in any of these areas, you just need to walk over there. Instead they set up this watchtower (with a generator running 24x7 to power the cameras and lights) in the bandshell area, right where many bands set up, kids come to play, and where the big screen goes on movie nights. Guess they will be watching us while we sit there watching movies and bands. Ridiculous.
Well obviously this is an ill-measured and a poorly thought out response to the issues in the park but a low key police presence would not be unwelcome to keep a lid on all anti-social behavior in the park whether it's coming from the bros or the homeless or junkies. No one wants to see bros vomiting or violence from the homeless crowd or dealers openly dealing. The park should be a safe place for everyone. This ridiculous NYPD tower is provocative on many levels and may not help the situation. Low key foot patrols- yes, tower of intimidation-no.
Seems like the park these days has become a stage for political posturing.
I get that cops hate walking around, so how about some bicycles? Instead of this eye in the sky bullshit.
LOVE IT!
Foot patrols? The city council wants to decriminalize public drinking, urinating, staying in parks after hours etc. This is the progressive agenda at work. Why complain? Isnt this what people wanted? The 'good old days?' Oh you just wanted the cheaper rent ? Too bad. This is just the beginning of the changes. Dont like it? Oh well. This is a summer NYPD detail. It wont last. The changes in the park - and city- will last. Dont expect much enforcement on the bros or junkies. The liberal city council wants to end stop and frisk and have the cops make fewer arrests. Once again- people screamed about Bloombergs NYC. Well we are getting away from that. Doesnt bother me. Just make sure you wear sneakers in and around the park and watch out for needles and urine and feces.
This is asinine.
Hmmmm Di Blasio may have fallen into a trap here. If I'm concocting a plan to oust the mayor on the basis that the city is going to hell in a hand basket under his rule then ...maybe I use right wing media to create the impression that TSP is a frontier of lawlessness. I'm hoping to provoke an over reaction by the major. I'm hoping he goes too far and over polices the park in an effort to show that he's not a soft-bellied lefty. I'm hoping that the park natives push back in some way in response to the over policing (gosh wouldn't another riot be awesome!) which then just goes to prove my point that the city is is falling to pieces under a democratic mayor....
What's the bet the Post has someone camped out hoping that the tower is abused in some way...
Maybe I'm paranoid or giving the Post too much credit for concocting such diabolical plan but just putting it out there....
In the past 4 years, I have had two physical confrontations with Bro/Hedge Fund Douche Bag types. Even with the nastiest Crusties, I have never had a physical confrontation. When SantaCon hits us again, let us see how the NYPD reacts to the parental funded, screaming, puking and pissing, entitled ones.
Oh Brother! x 2+ ~
Thumbs up!!
I recently moved out of one of the newer rental buildings in this neighborhood because it was full of party people. I would agree with some of the commenters who argue their behavior is the larger quality of life issue right now.
I was hoping for a measured response from de Blasio/NYPD to the Post/Observer articles. This is not it.
Tall Brother is watching you.
Well, put some bricks around the tower and, presto, you have a highrise! In the middle of Tompkins! What real estate!
What? You want police to walk ,. . . in Tompkins . . . in the East Village . . . It's bad enough they have to commute here.
So a tower it is, with real potential.
Makes a great nest for the fledgelings... to poop on.
There are not enough police in the entire NYPD to cover all the "get drunk fast" bars in the East Village. It's like trying to kill roaches; the fratties just go elsewhere for awhile, then come back.
The NYPD has also put up bright spotlights on Christopher Street. You know, the spots "urban kids" hang out, but now can't under the blinking spotlights. Sickening.
Put spotlights on the bros and ho's please. This NYPD fuckery needs to stop.
FLOOD THE NINTH PRECINCT WITH PHONE CALLS COMPLAINING:
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FLOOD THE NINTH PRECINCT WITH PHONE CALLS COMPLAINING:
(212) 477-7811
FLOOD THE NINTH PRECINCT WITH PHONE CALLS COMPLAINING:
(212) 477-7811
FLOOD THE NINTH PRECINCT WITH PHONE CALLS COMPLAINING:
(212) 477-7811
[SUGGESTION OF NYPD OFFICER ON PATROL EARLIER THIS EVENING]
Dear eastvillagemomJuly 21, 2015 at 3:16 PM
Maybe the police state you elect to support will someday arrest your kids for screaming in public!
THE HOMELESS ARE A BIG PROBLEM IN THE E.V. ...THE HOMLESS OCCUPY SIDE WALKS, PISS AND SLEEP ALL OVER THE PLACE. IF YOU COWARDS DONT SPEAK UP ABOUT IT THE PRESS WILL. I GUESS YOU PEOPLE LIKE TRIPPING OVER HOMELESS PEOPLE EVERYDAY. LET THE POLICE TAKE ACTION BECAUSE ITS GETTING OUT OF HAND. LETS TAKE THE NEIGHBORHOOD BACK.
i have lived on seventh street across from the park for over thirty years. i could have used a bit more police presence back in the day when my boyfriend had his throat slashed by a mugger, and my room mate was stabbed in the back three times by muggers, and i twice had knives pulled on me by attempted rapists, and...well, i could go on, but i won't.
but these days? the park is not a dangerous place. the drunks and junkies are over by the bathroom, but they never bother me when i walk by. and the homeless are over by seventh and A, and they never bother me either. and drunks, junkies and homeless people have to be *somewhere," and it is a public park. even when there were lots of crusties each summer, they never bothered me except to ask for change or a cigarette, and even their dogs were well behaved.
so WTF? why is this stupid thing there? oh wait -- there is that fancy new building going up on avenue A, along with all the other recent fancy buildings. and those folks don't want to even see drunks and junkies and homeless people, because they are not pleasant to look at. i get it.
IM MORE CONCERNED WITH THIS FRAT BOYS AND THE HUGE RATS
Agree
Starting to become like Germany
Sickening. Have some cops walk through now and then - enough. Stop the NYU/post-grad/DB/Bro scourge - it's got it all...drugs, alcoholism, public urination, disorderly conduct all with the BLAND flavor of entitlement - when are the cops going to take care of this real EV menace?
I am not a frat bro and I have lived near the park for the last 13 years and over those years there has always been a health mix of homeless, junkies and crusties in the park each just doing his or her own thing which was fine with me but over the last couple of years their number has grown and incidents like the fire-throwing homeless guy or the crusties kicking the shit out of some dude have become more frequent creating a public safety concern not to mention making the people who pay for the park's upkeep (us taxpaying residents of the EV) avoid the park more and more. I am glad the police tower went up and am happy that my tax dollars are paying for it.
Has any individual thought in any way whatsoever about the fact that the police dept, the elected officials and any other bureaucrat does work for YOU!! Contrary to the opinions of what some of them may think.
Don't attempt to flood the grossly underworked 9th with phone calls just to get the stupid answering machine you're paying for. Go March, march to the mayor's office, march up to Albany, march on Rosie Mendez get the city to get their birds in the air to follow you on your march. Amass in numbers stand up to these fuckers and don't take no for an answer.
You live in a free country stand up and make it free, let freedom reign. Someone watching every time I go to take a piss and telling me I'm not doing it right. Who died and made you boss? I was born in a free country and I'm going to die in a free country even if I have to return things to the way they were supposed to be.
I walked through the park this afternoon and again this evening and both times the officers were in their car looking at the cell phones...not up in the tower or out actually patrolling. What is the point of the tower? It is in the way and looks ugly and ominous. If there is a call about an incident in the park, won't the officers just drive or walk over there Esther than run up the stairs of the tower to try to see something through the trees? I tried calling the 9th Precomct to ask about it but got a message saying no one was available to take my call.... I have never felt unsafe for one moment in the park, except when a rat surprises me, it is nice to have officer nearby but this seems like a politically motivated stunt of some kind.
Maybe they'll just take over the park like they are doing with Astor Place. MAKING PUBLIC LAND PRIVATE!!! WTF!!! Get rid of the whiny stupid frat boys and girls who are tethered to their iPhones and their daddy's wallets and mommies tit. Go back to Florida, NJ, Ohio, etc. Wherever the fuck you came from and if you don;t move when my wife and I are walking down the street together I will run you over. Then you will TRY and kick me out of the neighborhood I've lived in for 30 yrs.
FUCK OFF!!!
Heaven forbid homeless people go outside in a park in the summer. I too have been assaulted here, but after 15 yrs, it only came from drunk Bros.... and Im a girl. Your children benefit from seeing homeless and junkies whether you yeah them compassion or hate is yours.
Bit of history for those who are recent to this area ---- the police commander OUTLAWED/BANNED police on horseback in the East Village. Why? Because and rightly so this is old school style (going back hundreds of years) as crowd control, intimidation and basicly treating people as less than humans cuz you may be loopy enough to take on a guy with a gun but it takes a special brand of kook to take on a guy with a gun on a HORSE!
LOL you are all jealous because you are no longer young or invited to the parties. When did you become the sad farts complaining about those young 'uns because you certainly were not here doing the same dance in the sixties, seventies or eighties. Come on we will sleep good when we take the everlasting dirt nap and in the meantime lighten up and get yourself invited to the party of life, or at least find your funny bone.
Is this the new Deblasio way? No more dangerous police patrols, stop and frisk that could be politically damaging? Instead we now have asinine towers with no community interaction?
What? No coverage in the Post about this new NYPD tower of terror? The newspaper that created and shaped this BS narrative suddenly goes quiet? Are they all at the Gawker funeral? On the plus side, at least the cops can't choke anyone from up there.
Amen, 12:55 a.m. -- if NYPD ever stop looking at their phones, and actually observing their patrol, I might respect them.
Now, no.
The police precincts never answer the phone -- call City Councilwoman Rosie Mendez, State Assemblyman Brian Kavanagh, and State Senator Brad Hoylman. Might as well call Manhattan Borough President Gale Brewer - not to mention Mayor Bill De Blasio. All #s are on the web. These are our elected representatives, people!
For those AnonymASS commenters who just DON'T GET IT, Tompkins Square Park is for EVERYONE.
That includes those who use the handball + basketball courts, those who practice Chi Kung in the center, those who swim in the pool, those who use the dog run, those who chill on Hippie Hill, those who hold political rallies + concerts and.....those who are HOMELESS.
The park is NOT just for monied transients who feel that, by virtue of their willingness to pay astronomical rents, they ought to have a neighborhood and park to THEIR liking by calling for the removal of those and that which PRECEDED them here.
A person with money (or who lives beyond his/her means with credit cards under the delusion that they are somehow affluent) has NO more of a right to sleep in the park (we see them on Hippie Hill all the time)than does a homeless person.
Aside from creating a PROVOCATIVE police presence in our park, WHAT is the NYPD spy tower supposed to accomplish? Spotting the homeless in the park? (The EV Grieve shot shows a homeless person with his cart walking past the spy tower!) And, having found homeless persons in the park, THEN WHAT? Do they arrest them? Remove them? KILL them????
REAL COPS don't want any part of this. REAL COPS want to fight CRIME, not participate in POSTURING. Just as the park is for everyone, REAL COPS understand that they work for EVERYONE, and that includes the homeless!!
Sorry but what's the logic in calling people cowards when you're here using big capital letters under "Anonymous"
Do we know for certain this is a homeless issue? Or is everybody assuming? Apparently there has been reports of crime in the park. Just like the increase in robberies in Central Park has garnered a larger police presence.
An arrogant but lame attempt to intimidate by overarching authoritarian display. If NYPD were really serious about actively, and interactively, patrolling the park, it would have either beat cops stationed there or deploy little drones with GoPros attached. The reality of the "threat" being addressed is as real as its "solution" is efficacious.
Having witnessed this fiasco being installed, this was clearly a political or PR move that came straight from the top There were actually 3-4 police cruisers parked to the side plus the pickup truck that brought the tower in. There were about 10 cops, a few in suits, observing the raising of the watchtower. One guy could do this job on his own, but the city sent 10. After it wet up they were smiling and taking pictures of the tower like it was the Empire State Building. Or maybe the flag at Iwo Jima.
Just as the tower was being raised, that homeless guy with the shopping cart walked by looking up at it. The scene was kind of hilarious, and at the same time sad, which is why I snapped that picture. This homeless guy was looking up at the apparatus that was erected here in direct response to complaints about people just like him.
Guess what? The cops ignored him, and they ignored all the other homeless people sitting on the benches. Why? Because nobody was doing anything illegal.
SPOILER ALERT: its not illegal to be homeless in NYC. At least not yet,
That tower looks like a sweet place to hang out. Great view, tinted windows. Kick back with a cool drink, surf the net, check out some honeys walking through the park. Best of all no boss looking over your shoulder. Whichever cop gets that tower gig is pretty lucky.
The Tower of Text
I was in the park last night and overhead a conversation between a woman who was asking about the tower and the police. They were talking about how the main reason for the increased police presence was the increased incidences of dealers selling drugs like crack and meth and increased reports of crime including assaults. Just what I heard.
When I was growing up in the neighborhood, we didn't get drunk and high like these milleniels. We weren't obnoxious and stupid and young. We didn't throw parties and start barrel fires.
Actually, we did. We did all of that. Now I've outgrown that lifestyle, but I miss it.
Two cops on bikes riding around the neighborhood, talking to people and going through TSP every 30 minutes seems like a pretty sensible idea. Too bad it won't ever be implemented. I guess 35,000 cops isn't a sufficient number.
OMG! SO HOT UP HERE! PLS SEND DD ICE COFFEE UP 4 OFFICER SUPERSIZE. THX!
FLOOD NINTH PRECINCT WITH PHONE CALLS / COMPLAINTS:
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Speak with Sgt. Wahlig (or any other Sgt. on duty).
I grew up in brooklyn so forgive me for trespassing, but in all my life time spent in Tompkins square park, I am not exaggerating when I say I never once had a problem with homeless people who hang out there. Are there bad incidents? Sure. Do they merit this level of alarm: NO. It’s sad to see what people get so worked up about now in nyc. Of all the myriad of problems developing in nyc, this is not one of them. There has never been a time of perfect streets devoid of law-breakers or the unwanted.
Simple Reactionarism, i.e. homeless=bad, must disappear can be kept to texas or some other place please.
T GOD SGT BROUGHT US STADIUM PALS. NO MORE PEEING IN SNAPPLE BTTLZ.
WE DONT SEE HOMELESS IN PARK BUT WE SEE LOTS OF U ON TINDER.
DO THEZE HAWKS BITE?
WERE HAVIBG A HARD TIME TELLNG THE DIFF BTWN HIPSTERS AND HOMELESS FROM WAY UP HERE.
APPOLOGIES TO JAMES FRANCO. PLZ CONTINUE ENJOYING YOUR BAGGED LUNCH.
It's amazing how everybody has an opinion, but no one here knows the crime statistics.
I asked two sets of officers if there had been any spike in crime in the park and they both said "no". The ones guarding the tower last night cryptically blamed a 19 year old girl for the tower. I said what 19 year old girl? The one in the article? They said "the one that called in the incident". What incident? I've only scene those towers appear where shootings have occurred or where they expect a riot. And if there is real danger in the park they should be broadcasting that fact and tell us why.
DONT TEXT 311 TO 311. THEY HAVE NO SENSE OF HUMOR.
CAN ANYONE BRING US AN IPHONE CHARGER?
IPHONE ABOUT 2 DIE. TIME 2 CHECK THE TREE TOPS 4 ROT! LATERZ!
To July 21, 2015 at 10:18 PM:
Back in the day, the police cared even less. You weren't valuable enough, Not saying anyone is valuable to the NYPD. Since it's all about the pay check and pension. Nothing else.
But whatever ever happened to Bratton's community-policing rationale that was pitched to de Blasio for hiring more recruits? A tower is definitely not it.
Chris Flash: I think the goal is to turn Tompkins into a gated park like Gramercy, or hypermanaged like the High Line. These Plutocrats get what they want.
As the father of a 12-year old girl, I think it is great. The homeless situation is out of control in this city, and particularly in Tompkins. In the last 24 hours, I've had to step over a homeless person purposefully blocking the entrance to the subway, another physically accosted me in the grocery store asking for money, and another took up half a row while sleeping through a kids film at the theater. I'm all for services for the homeless. I'm happy for my tax dollars to go to shelters and the like. But you don't have the right to beg people for money, to act belligerent and threatening, to leer. I know a lot of people here find it appropriate for the East Village to be dirty and violent. Sorry, I'm more of a fan of civilization.
So 2:19, are you suggesting that the NYPD puts watch towers everywhere in the city where there might be homeless people? (That will be tough in a movie theater!)
And how long have you worked at the Post?
But don't you see? Those college bros spend money here and they don't like all those homeless folks asking for money and killing their vibe.
WERE BACK! BRATTY BROUGHT US A GENNY.
SHOUTOUT TO BLOOM62 WERE HOSTING A SKYBOX RAGER TONIGHT. TEXT US FOR DEETS.
CITIBIKE: DOCK ON 10TH NEEDS REBALANCING. NO BIKES.
ANOTHER FALSE ALARM. THAT WAS NOT A HOMELESS WOMAN EATING FROM A GARBAGE BAG. APPOLOGIES TO SJP. PLZ CONTINUE EATING ROTISSERIE CHICKEN FROM YOUR PURSE.
TEXT US FOR SUPERIORITY BURGER LINE UPDATES.
WTF HAWKS?! DO WE LOOK LIKE TIPPI HENDREN? BACK OFF OR U GET THE PEPPER.
SHOUTOUT TO DOC HOLIDAYS. THX 4 THE TWISTED TEAS!
DONT BE SHY! COME TAKE A PIC WITH US! BLAZ BROUGHT US A SELFIE STICK.
REMEMBER TO TELL THE POST HOW CLEAN AND VAGRANT FREE THE PARK IS SO WE CAN GO HOME SOON.
DONT 4GET 2 VISIT THE GREENMARKET HERE AT TSP. NO HOMELESS AT THE $40 KALE BOOTH.
HOW DO YOU INSTAGRAM?
WHEN DID LIFE CAFE CLOSE?
MISS PLEASE STOP FLASHING US.
When you are living in Bombay on the Hudson, expect to see a few homeless people, but you don't have to dwell on them, just go back to staring at your iPhone and everything wlll be OK.
I'm sorry but are parents these days just extremely overprotective or just incredibly paranoid? My parents taught me to have empathy for the homeless, not to fear them. The Watchtower can't even see the big playground through the trees, so obviously the police dont think they are in the park protecting children from any homeless people. I never see homeless people bother any children. Leering at them? I don't think so, and anyway it's not a crime to leer. Lots on non-homeless people leer. Welcome to NY, ithe leering capital of the world. If anything it's the yourng children who are doing the staring at the homeless people. Maybe parents need to teach their kids its not polite to stare.
.
IS IT LEGAL FOR COLLEGE KIDS TO SLEEP IN THE PARK? OUR LAW KNOWLEDGE IS SHAKEY ON THIS ONE.
WHAT DO YOU KNOW! SEAMLESS DOES DELIVER UP HERE.
BEG TO DIFFER WITH THE POST. VERY HARD TO SCORE WEED IN THIS PARK.
I'm honestly wondering what action we can take to get this watchtower taken away. Any thoughts? Petition? Letter writing?
I was speaking with someone who was in a meeting yesterday (7/21) morning with Bratton. Bratton told the group that there is some truth to the notion that there has been an increase recently in the number of "EPDs" (Emotionally Distubed Persons) on the streets and in the parks. It is a side effect of the recent crackdown on subway crime (http://www.nydailynews.com/new-york/nyc-crime/cops-added-trains-fight-rise-subway-crime-article-1.2267492). Flushing the stations of EPDs has pushed more of them into visibility on the surface, according to Bratton. I'd say the heat might do that as well.
I moved here 15 years ago because I love the neighborhood. I support the local schools and the arts scene, and I don't go to drunk brunches or yell in the streets at night. I'm not "terrified" of the junkies, but I don't think they add anything to what is great about the east village. I don't understand why so many on this board think that they do.
VERY FUNNY YOU DOWN THERE. JAMMING CELL PHONES IS ILLEGAL. THAT ONE WE KNOW!
PLZ DO NOT THROW ROCKS AT THE NYPD TEXT TOWER. UNLESS THEY ATE MADE OF CRACK. BOOOOORING UP HERE.
ITS HOT AS BALLS UP HERE. COOKING IN THIS SUN.
PLZ SEND HELP. A BRO LET THE AIR OUT OF ONE OF OUR TIRES AND WERE LISTING. YOUR OFF THE SKYBOX RAGER LIST.
NO THIS ISNT A CARNIVAL RIDE! SHOW SOME RESPECT DICK FACE!
ANYONE HAVE A JACK?
THANKS TO OUR NEW HOMIE LIVING IN THE PUSHCART FOR THE JACK!
Might I suggest that once the NYPD has crushed this nascent scourge of meth-addled hobos beneath their hobnailed jackboots of justice that they turn their attention to the negative externalities imposed upon park-goers by these contemptible jackholes that bike around the park with boombox in tow, forcing everyone to listen to the tired throwback tunes of their pathetic yesteryears. Otherwise, you're going to have a vigilante on your hands. Mark. My. Words. (Mom is stitching up the cape right now, bitches.)
the fact remains THAT INTOLERABLE PRESENCE IS STILL THERE !!!!
THEY MUST BE EMBARESSED OUT OF THE IVORY TREEHOUSE
NYPD TXT TOWER made me LOL. Slooow day at work.
If anyone has ever been victimized by the homeless or the druggies or dealers, I'm sorry it happened to you. Evil and crime exist in this world, regardless whether you are in TSP or Greenwich CT.
I (female) was 12 yo when my family moved to EV. TSP was way worse back then. I would cross the park to get the MTA bus to and from school. I was never attacked by the homeless or the junkies or the deaplers. You have the occasional person -- junkie, homeless or otherwise -- asking for change or making a crude remark, but you get that everywhere you go. And if someone was harrassing me, there was always someone from the neighborhood to shoo them away and tell them to leave me alone, and ask if I was Ok or if I needed help in getting to school or home. Growing up in the kind of environment that the EV was in made me more aware of my surroundings: be on guard, rely on my instincts, be stronger, and use common sense, and be mire appreciative of the littke things. Nowadays, people are clueless and ignorant. If they see a 'colored' person walking towards them, they eye them with suspicion and either cross the and walk to the other side of street, or clutch their bags.
And EV today, it is the drunks (both the bros and the woogirls) who are in your face and harrassing me or anyone, but no one is thereto watch your back since almost everyone in the today is either staring at their smartphones or just don't give a flying fuck. I once saw a bro, part of a group coming out of a drunk brunch, accosted a preteen girl asking which ice cream flavor she likes to lick more, chocolate or vanilla? and then walked away while the woogirls that they were with was giggling and gaggling and saying, 'oooooh you're so bad Brad'.
As for the NYPD tower, it is prime example of and almost literal helicopter parenting, hovering above their precious children. They should worry more about what their children are seeing and encountering in the internet. They are more likely to be sexually accosted by someone who portrays themselves as being trustworthy or an authoritaive figure. And a Wall Street financier is more likely to steal more from you, like your lifesavings, compared to that TSP degenerate you do not want to see and be around. But fear not, you will get your wish and want.
Right on @5:39pm
This fascist-appearing tower and the recent TSP "cleanup" is about nothing but increasing the value and desirability of high-priced real estate developments now taking place along Avenue A in proximity to the park. And again, as others have said, ultimately it's about creating the opportunity and climate for more so-called public-private partnerships inside the park,including probably a Shake Shack-type development.
The way it's heading, soon enough the building that used to house Café Pick Me Up on 9th and A will be demo'd and another glass tower put up in its place. And many more will follow to capitalize on the new, improved TSP.
Anyone who thinks it's about the NYPD caring about their children and/or helping homeless drug addicts, sorry, but you are just gullible for a nice-sounding story. It's about nothing but serving the interests of Big Real Estate; in other words, about nothing but GREED, of the very kind that has all but decimated life as we used to know it in the USA.
NYPD, remove your tower! We don't want it and it doesn't belong there.
I don't think this has anything to do with homeless people in the park. That's just another example of EVGrive-commenter off-the-cuff hysteria.
I live a block away (16+ years) and use the park almost daily, if only to walk through to enjoy the shade. While I have heard of a recent increase in crime, assault, etc., the tower is a menacing and intimidating presence that does not represent good community policing. And I think it will likely do nothing to resolve anything other than to make all people feel uncomfortable and, frankly, violated. The park is supposed to be a place of respite for EVERYONE and THIS RESPONSE REEKS OF CLASSISM. I weep for what all of this wealth has wrought upon what was once an awesome neighborhood, full of COMMUNITY AND COMPASSION. Weekends were full of community events and arts-related events like the HOWL FEST. Now weekends are just an awful task of dodging drunk college kids and out-of-towners who have ZERO manners and no regard for others. And yet, this is the "civilization" that most willingly embrace. This is likely just the beginning of the announcement of another public private partnership to clean-up the park in order to have another Shake Shack concession stand and corp.-themed/run events. Just like it was "IMPORTANT" for 7-11 to have it's FACE BRANDED on AVENUE A even if nobody really ever takes it seriously or shops there. It doesn't have to make money, it's a giant ad. When all is said and done and the spirit of Tompkins is long dead, you can bet that some greedy corporations will muscle in to help with a branded/sponsored effort that leaves its dirty little capitalistic brand behind like a repetitive ugly stain. Gone will be the history. I just don't understand why the wealthy are so hellbent on making everything look the same; why so antiseptic? If we become afraid to talk directly to our own fucking neighbors NO MATTER THEIR STATUS OR WEALTH then what is the point in neighborhood at all? THE DISTANCING ASPECT IS VERY FASCIST. I agree; we should protest, write, call.
I never thought I'd say but . . . I miss LES Jewels. Maybe his ghost will return to TSP and piss on the base of the cop tower and them poop in the squad car taking him to the 9th. I'd cheer for that. LES Jewels was never my favorite neighbor but he'd be an almost even match for the cop tower and, for this stupidity, the NYPD deserves the ghost of LES Jewels.
" . . . EV today, it is the drunks (both the bros and the woogirls) who are in your face and harassing . . ."
Yup, I totally agree with that. Not only are the drunk bros and woo girls annoying, they are, at times genuinely dangerous and a quality of life issue. I've seen more fights, more drunken/drugged driving, and more harassment from drunk bros and woo girls than from, say, the homeless or junkies. It's not just that the streets smell like piss on weekend mornings . . . it's illegal, rowdy, parties, vandalism, and so on by bros and woo girls. Yeah, sure, some bars and quite a few landlords in the area make money off them, which they don't do with the homeless but, overall, down with bros and woo girls!
I don't even know anymore. I agree with most of the anti- tower posts. I am amused by the weak attempts to "throw shade"(a millennial slang)at old timers. But the truth is, even my old time EV friends plan to retire in the place from which they originally came. My super as well, heading back to the DR.
My question is where do people from here go back to when the whoo hoo ing gets too unsettling?
I don't even have a "country" home anymore.
Should I move to the burbs and bug the whoo hoo kids parents?
There is also a few official looking police vans set up on 3rd ave between 17 and 18. In front of a whoo-hoo bar.
Please book Leftover Crack for this year's 88 Riot reunion concert and bring plenty of donuts to hand out to the crowd.
Another history lesson, sorry for this BUT Cooper Union was NEVR public park. And btw Cooper Union also owns neighboring side street so no private takeover of public land. But as they say, a lie travels around the world while truth is still trying to get its pants on.
They had a tower just like this one in washington square park from about 1996 to 2000. It was for the constant drug trafficking in the park, particularly the southwest corner. I don't know if it actually worked.
The mayor stands head and shoulders above everyone else so this tower is just an extension of the mayor's view. Sort of the Mayor's office in the cloud. If I were being raped and murdered by a homeless junkie I would be comforted to know the mayor's doppelgänger is up there taking notes.
Yet another heavy-handed, tone deaf response by the militarized NYPD. Perhaps they should consider patrolling the park with drones.
Too bad the ED209 droid only exists in the world of Robocop.
"If you want a picture of the future, imagine a boot stamping on a human face--forever" George Orwell
This is just dumb. Even the police say so, and that there has been no rise in crime in the park. And let's just use basic logic, a metal tower is not a scarecrow that will make crime go away, or homeless people, or even people with substance abuse problems. Using the homeless and other people with problems as scapegoats to justify the tower is behavior that comes from a time when humans knew less. As long as we have the society we currently live in there will be some homeless people and others with problems in the park. If you fear them you are in the wrong place.
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