One member of the Parks Enforcement Patrol told EVG correspondent Steven that this section of the Park is "problematic."
An assortment of blankets, personal belongings, and at least one Citi Bike, remain inside the barricades.
The city has blocked off this area several times during the past two summers.
Last summer, residents complained about the activity around the chess tables, including drug use, stolen goods and knife fights.
25 comments:
TSP is disgusting these days, and it is everyone’s fault. The city gov’t is worthless, the people don’t clean up after themselves, and there’s the homeless issue. Sad.
I’ve thought about going there with lawn bags and a grabber tool, but what’s the point? It’ll be disgusting again in a matter of days.
“… Last summer, residents complained about the activity around the chess tables, including drug use, stolen goods and knife fights.”
Indeed. Too bad Adams and the NYPD refuse to do their jobs.
The street people appropriation of more and more Citibikes is very 2022.
And in case this gets side tracked into a EVGrieve comment thread pro/con bikes/citibikes flame war I have an annual account, and a personal bike, and find Citibiking far more affordable than losing two plus bikes a year to thieves.
why can't they just put some cops there to keep the hard drug/crazy stuff down or out of the area, while still giving people who are living on the streets access to this public space during park hours. we have to stop demonizing the unhoused,unwashed and essentially uncared for. the park is for all of us in the hood not just the high rent payers ( who also trash the park in their own way) that area of the park has been the domain of hobo's since i was a kid (gulp )60 years ago
I saw a kid shooting heroin into his f***ing jugular vain there the other day.
Once again, why can't we just have cops on the beat throughout the neighborhood!? We have approximately 1 billion cops so having them walking around would go a long way in preventing a lot of the crap out there.
Maybe the cardboard art installations could work better in that space rather than impinging on the temperance fountain and memorial paving stones artistic expression and messaging.
Closing off areas rather than doing anything to attempt management is just childish. Maybe it was okay during the height of the pandemic when all resources were stretched, but didn't we just shut down all swim instruction in the city pools so we could fund more cops? What are they all doing? I guess walking a beat is too much hard work, as is exercising good judgment.
Just rip it out and remodel it already. That section is structurally prone to bad actors. Put in a second dog run
What is the point of having cops on patrol if they are not permitted to do their jobs. No one gets prosecuted, everyone is out same day, thanks bail reform, and cops lost their immunity so why would they take the risk?
Another problem with TSP is the noise, including the obnoxious music. I used to go there to read, but now go to other parks, including some on the west side.
TSP is reverting to its bad old self. Bring back the glory days of the late 70s. It's time for a revolution.
Agree it should be remodeled, but I think I'd still rather it be a homeless enclave than another dog run.
IT IS A PUBLIC PARK not Gramercy Park where you need a key to use the park. Too bad people but be honest complainers complaining here don't want to go into this area of the Park anyway. Unless they are buying dope and leaving as soon as they cop.
Whos park our park going to be a hot summer once again
Lets just all get along folks, use the park if you want, don't use if you don;t. There are plenty areas to hang out in.
I saw a man presumably in his mid to late sixties shoot up in between his toes the other day as I walked by in this very area. He had quite the grin after it was complete, sat down, and leaned to the side. So sad to witness this, especially for someone older, and to also feel powerless as a resident whom can't help anyone when our city is in the grips with one crisis after crisis against the unfortunate helm of Mayor Adams. Hopefully, it will be just until 2026 that he is voted out. Many New Yorkers I know, including myself, whom are liberal democrats can't withstand his inept leadership and narcissism as he fails to address core issues facing residents such as ours. He boldly went on record last week and refused to allocate more funds into the NYPD to protect the public. Something such as "work with what you got." I wish he was more eloquent. I also wish he visited neighborhoods and saw what really needs to be done. Oh well.
Cops' "job" is not to decide what happens to people after they are arrested. They're not entitled to have anyone prosecuted, much less detained before trial. We have other, elected officials to do that.
They get paid a LOT and have better benefits than almost anyone else in the middle class, so if they don't feel like working--which includes taking safety approaches BEYOND just grabbing people up, which is what we need here--they can go get a job they do want to do.
"cops lost their immunity"
This is a straight-up lie. Aren't you embarrassed to be telling lies?
What should be done to address these issues?
Caught people shooting up in the vestibule of my building last week. It's not just happening in one area of the park, it's everywhere. Closing off the chess tables does what, exactly? Washington Square has also closed off an entire corner of the park, so no one can use it. The problems are still there, this resolves nothing and only makes the park smaller and less usable for everyone.
Tompkins Square is in it’s current state as a direct result of policy. The policy isn’t transparent but we should be aware of where it is coming from and who is directing it. Since the time of the Tompkins Square riot in the 1980s, both the Parks Dept and the Precinct kept a heavy thumb on the park. All that changed when Bill de Blasio took office and the community board saw a chance to get more involved in the operations of the park.
I’ve sat in meetings after meeting after meeting when Community Board Manager Susan Stetzer would declare that “plants & trees are not a priority for our neighborhood!” — and disparaged any attempt to build up the fledging park conservatory to supplement care for the park.
Currently Stetzer — along with Councilwoman Rivera and Assemblymen Epstein — are at odds with the Parks Department and want to use Tompkins Square as outreach for homeless & mental health services, as an annex for The Bowery Mission and as a sanctuary for the undocumented and unsettled. They don’t want the police or Park Enforcement touching or moving anyone who are living in the park. And they want the Parks Department’s role to be strictly janitorial.
I’m not here to say whether that’s a good or bad policy. But if it is a policy, Epstein & Rivera have to budget for it — and be honest with their constituents. It should also be pointed out, the Parks Department hate the situation they are in. Staff is quitting and the administration is never going to put one extra dime or ounce of effort into the future care of that park. In fact one administrator left saying words to the effect “let them destroy the park — maybe they’ll learn a lesson then.”
@Sarah The police union wouldn't have a issue at all with that
This is so fucking dumb. It just gives us less space. The junkies don't LEAVE they just spread out. So, give us more space. There is nowhere to sit at a table aside from this.
You have to be new to the area I have hung out there since 1995 , and that park always was dirty this isn't new.
how was it like in the 70s? ppl complain about homeless, junkies, etc but it’s been like that as long as i can remember
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