Anybody catch the little shootout on Park bet. washington...

em26

sterling2000 wrote: Here's the Kitty Genovese entry on Wikipedia...this famous case went down on a crowded block in Queens...

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kitty_Genovese

Oooouch , damn , thats a sad story.....I feel bad for anyone who gets stabbed to death...God , can you imagine that? I think thats one of the worst ways to be killed.

That crazy bastard is still alive?

I hope an idiot doesn't parole that whack job in 2008.

boriken

Subject: Gentrification

I am for safe streets, and a safer Brooklyn - but I resent that no one considers why these problems exist in the first place! I am sure that the gentrification of a traditionally caribbean neighborhood doesn't help any; I have many friends who are harrassed weekly by their land owners because they are paying a fraction of what a white person would be willing to pay for the same apartment.

Instead of calling the cops, why doesn't anyone sit down in the park and make friends with the local, ORIGINAL residents of Prospect Heights? Believe me they won't shoot you, expecially if your good at cards, dominoes, or know how to tell a joke.

I am sure if the park were filled with rowdy caucasians, skateboarding, or playing bluegrass no one here would have an issue.

I was born and raised in Park Slope, and I was gentrified from my neighborhood, so I moved to Washington and Park place, within a months time I was friends with all those "scary black guys" that hang out in the park, and on the stoops across the street. Not only did I meet some really interesting people, but they made me feel safer, and knowing they would be there at 3am put my mind at ease when my fiancee was getting home late.

My car was broken into 4 times when I lived in Park slope, and not once since I moved to Prospect heights... I think everyone here sounds racist, and won't even attempt to befriend these cool, interesting black people because of some ingrained white fright.

Furthermore, if any of those guys sell drugs it's POT, MARIJUANA, THE GOOD GREEN, which if my well educated caucasian friends are any indicator tend to typically smoke anyway!!!

Do any of you know what it is like to live somewhere where you just cannot afford to live? Does anyone know what it's like to be a black high school drop out looking for a decent paying job? Does anyone know what's it's like to be a black high school graduated looking for a good paying job? Do any of you know what it's like to be a highly motivated black person who just cannot afford to stop working (or selling drugs) to attend college because that small income helps to pay the rent and feed the family?

Get off your high horse and take a walk on the wild side, go into the park and tell them that Eric that Puerto Rican guy from the big building sent ya... I promise you will leave unscathed - and possibly with a different mind set.

One more thing to remember, most of these guys live in small apartments with too many family members, so they hang out outside because it is the only place to go... imagine inviting your friends over for dinner and drinks with your mother, cousin, sister, and grandmother living in your two bedroom apartment! I am sure you'd rather be outside too...

whyfi

Subject: Re: Gentrification

boriken wrote: ...harrassed weekly by their land owners because they are paying a fraction of what a white person would be willing to pay for the same apartment.

Strange - there are 15 people in my new-ish building, 7 are black, 7 are white and I'm a mutt. So much for whitey buying out the place...

doctorj

Em26 wrote:
Oooouch , damn , thats a sad story.....I feel bad for anyone who gets stabbed to death...God , can you imagine that? I think thats one of the worst ways to be killed.

I reckon stabbing would be ok on the scale of things. Cleaner than a gunshot. A bit of pain in one place, and loss of consciousness from blood loss reasonably quickly depending on where. I think a heart attack would be worse, as would drowning and getting burnt alive. Now on the other side, skydiving on crack without a parachute would have to be one of the least bad ways to go. If you had to make a choice.

doctorj

Subject: Re: Gentrification

boriken wrote: Instead of calling the cops, why doesn't anyone sit down in the park and make friends with the local, ORIGINAL residents of Prospect Heights?

I would, except they were basically wiped out by genocide, and I refuse to spend money on a native shaman to channel them.

king without a crown

Thats an excellent idea!!!! Lets all befriend the drug dealers and make the world a safer place. Tell em Eric sent ya and they'll welcome you with open arms.

jack krohn

This line of logic, which seems prevalent on these boards, always mystifies me: the decision of a thug to shoot/stab/beat someone is not the fault of the thug, but of the college-educated white people who had the gall to move into the neighborhood. Does this mean that if they had simply stayed away, the crime rate would be much lower? Or if they took a local kid out for ice cream, the latter would suddenly become non-violent? What a fine mind you have!

As for original residents of Prospect Heights, how far back to you want to go? The current demographic was not there in 1955, so why should they be considered original?

karl the druid

I blame the dutch