Junkies in Park Slope

daniel

This photo of two guys shooting up in a car was taken about 20 minutes ago in Park Slope, just off of 5th Ave. I'm surprised to see this sort of thing around here.

MOD NOTE: Image redacted. There's no indication that these people are engaged in illegal activity; numerous medications are administered via injection.

the yarn monkey

Wow, remeber when junkies used to look liked junkies? These guys look like lost frat boys. I don't get the driving gloves though, seems like it would make it hard to operate a syringe.

joanjettofarc

They appear to maybe be the same people from this website linked from the Brooklyn Photos forum

www.tupelo35.com

joanjettofarc

also, according to the post these were taken in the vicinity of Bartel-Pritchard square

cheflady

I'm sorry, but Park Slope is not removed from the rest of the world. To say that you're surprised to see something like this seems to me that people think that Park Slope is some heaven-like place. Sure, we live in a nice neighborhood, but we're in New York City - there are not walls or gates around Park Slope that keep the junkies out. People get addicted and they get it and do it where they can.

the drunken guest

Those photos are inconclusive at best.... real nice detective work.

You all are acting like drugs are a bad thing.

apollonia666

Um... do you know for sure it was heroin? I'd hate for this site to have a hand in to potentially defaming someone who might actually be taking insulin or something else legal. And even if it is something illegal, I'm not altogether comfortable with plastering their faces up on the site.

boogieknight

2 diabetics sitting in a car taking their insulin at the same time?....Maaybeee......

As to risks of defamation - well they're in a parked car in abroad daylight. so any expectation of privacy flies right out the window.

If they're not junkies, who cares what a bunch of people on some forum think? If they are junkies, well then, there you are.

Also agree with above poster that we do live in a big city and shouldn't be that shocked when we see weird stuff going on (not to mean that one shouldn't complain/bitch/report to authorities/etc. if so inclined or what situation calls for)

PS - Also, I think any passing cop would've been within their rights to ask those guys what exactly they were up to.

caaahyoko

cheflady wrote: I'm sorry, but Park Slope is not removed from the rest of the world. To say that you're surprised to see something like this seems to me that people think that Park Slope is some heaven-like place. Sure, we live in a nice neighborhood, but we're in New York City - there are not walls or gates around Park Slope that keep the junkies out. People get addicted and they get it and do it where they can.

Oh yeah. Plenty o' strung out dudes around.

erikka

I can't see the picture (blocked at work), but diabetics generally don't inject into a vein the way heroin is done, so I'm a little skeptical.

ahab

Crap, that looks like my car across the street with a ticket in the window. :?

sweet tea

BoogieKnight wrote:
If they're not junkies, who cares what a bunch of people on some forum think?

i think your logic is a bit shaky there. you'd care if i posted a picture of you and said you were a child molester, even if you weren't one, right?

willregistersoon

How do you know it's not herb?

laura

caaahyoko wrote: Oh yeah. Plenty o' strung out dudes around.

Yep ... I see a lot of guys doing the dazed swaying-towards-the-pavement thing.

boogieknight

sweet tea wrote: [quote=BoogieKnight]
If they're not junkies, who cares what a bunch of people on some forum think?

i think your logic is a bit shaky there. you'd care if i posted a picture of you and said you were a child molester, even if you weren't one, right?

Just a picture of me walking down the street? That would be uncool.

I know what you're getting at, but for your molester analogy to work in context of the original pix, it would have to be a picture of me in car-broad daylight, pantsless, with a young child in my lap (or similar).

Situation could be completely innocent (my kid puked on me, I'm trying to comfort her, while changing into a clean pair of slacks...). But it would look kind of shady to anyone passing by. And again, a passing cop would probably want to know what was going on.

(The picture for those who missed it were 2 guys in a station wagon, front seat, both had needles, bent forward like they were about to inject themselves w/ who knows what. One guy seemed to be pulling his plunger back w/ his teeth.)

charlesbklyn

Subject: Decades Old Issue

The problem with persons engaged in intravenous drug use in the park is decades old. The Methodist hospital operates a Methadone Clinic on 8th Ave, and therefore the neighborhood is a stopping off point for many people with addiction issues. There are also people living in the park during the summer ... which is really the problem. Men with nothing to lose living in the park is a dangerous situation.

Charlesbklyn

karl the druid

i recall the moderated photo

i noticed, there was arm no strap present nor spoon and lighter

they both look like they still had all their teeth

conclusion: the passenger is diabetic and driver was just holding a needle

and they were both stoned

seven24

I had people in my family who were "junkies" and they didn't fit the stereotype ( homeless looking, missing teeth, etc,) .

For the past month a junkie has moved across the street from my house
I know this man from the neighborhood for decades now. I remember what a good dad he was when he was sober, now he lives on the side of the armory and pees against the wall, poops in a bucket and shoots up all the time . I've gotta say atleast he has the decency to not do any of this when their are any children playing on the block and he keeps his "area" pretty clean. When he is high and has arguments with his ppl at night and I can't sleep I tend to get annoyed but for the most part I pity him.

daniel

Here's the description of the photos, given by the person who took them (from the original message board where I swiped this picture from):

I’m a little shaken… I was waiting for the cable guy to come fix my broadband, and was watching the door… and these two guys pulled up and parked in front of the hydrant. usually, this is the “mcdonalds drive thru eatin spot” where people throw their trash. it bothers me a lot to walk out to macdonalds trash. so when I started to go out and ask the guys to pick up their trash, they had thrown it on the ground in front of me, I saw they were shooting up. I grabbed my camera, took a pic, and then asked them to leave. they left, and even picked up their trash, but now I’m worried they’ll come back.

sunny park slope. gotta love new york.

daniel

Here's a link to the original photo, for those who want to make up their own minds:
Two gentlemen in a car with a syringe

charlesbklyn

Subject: Photo Interpretations - STOP REGULATING THIS FOURM!

The photo taken by this person is definitely indeterminant regarding the legality of their injections ... it could be many different things. I suppose the observed behavior would give more information to formulate a reaction, which obviously in this case created enough concern for this person to inquire "on the street."

Clearly, the person who took this photo, and subsequently asked the gentlemen to leave, took a chance that the men might have pulled over to inject common medically prescribed drugs. They also took a chance that publishing the photo would infringe on the privacy of these two people.

HOWEVER ...
I BELIEVE THIS FORUM IS TOO HEAVILY REGULATED. Let the cards fall where they may ,,, how would we know to respond without the photo? Defamation ... you know it when you see it, and the original person who took the photo didn't state they were doing drugs. Beside, free speech has its risks ... LET US TAKE THEM.

AND BESIDES ...
There is no need to worry about defamation, as for a defamation suit in New York State, you need to show actual malice, and from the letter it does not seem there was any. The observer had a good faith belief they were "shooting up."


As for them coming back ... I doubt it. If they picked up their trash, then they probably don't want to start any issues with anyone, as it would ultimately involve dealing with the police.

Charlesbklyn

caaahyoko

Your moment of Tao:

"Yi Erh Tzu went to visit Hsu Yu, who asked him, 'In what way has Yao been helpful to you?'
Yi Erh Tzu said, 'Yao said to me, "Practice benevolence and justice. Speak up for what is right and against what is wrong"'
Hsu Yu said, 'So why have you troubled yourself to visit me? Master Yao has already branded on you the practice of benevolence and justice and mutilated you with the distinction between right and wrong. So how can you now expect me to help you meander alone in freedom and aimlessness, enjoying things as they happen through the process of change?'"

livetotravel

Well, interesting thread and interesting photo. Since one person in the photo is just holding a syringe and the other is loading a syringe and neither is seen injecting who the hell knows what they're up to?

This thread and that photo would be an interesting academic exercise looking into societal and cultural preconceptions and perceptions.

quijibo

if i don't care enough to help
then i shouldn't care enough to judge
it's empty talk just for the sake of elevating my own ego

will to power

apollonia666

Subject: Re: Photo Interpretations - STOP REGULATING THIS FOURM!

charlesbklyn wrote: HOWEVER ...
I BELIEVE THIS FORUM IS TOO HEAVILY REGULATED. Let the cards fall where they may ,,, how would we know to respond without the photo? Defamation ... you know it when you see it, and the original person who took the photo didn't state they were doing drugs. Beside, free speech has its risks ... LET US TAKE THEM.

I'm sure that's very easy for you to say, since you as a poster on these are at far less risk than than the original poster and the moderators who manage it do. If you want to put that photo up on your OWN damn website, go for it. We weren't comfortable with having it here.

The moderators decided to err on the side of caution with this. I, for one, am fine with there being a link to another site hosting the photo. But I'm not at all comfortable with the photo being here.

If you're a lawyer who specializes in defamation and are offering to defend us pro bono should some sort of shit come down, please let us know and we'll consider taking your sage advice.

charlesbklyn

Subject: Clarifying a position

So much anger ... easy off the "pissed off" burn throttle.

People have a right to disseminate information on the web, including pictures of occurrences IN PUBLIC AREAS, which happens, bye the way, to be most places in America.

The initial post did not accuse the men of anything. The post just conveyed a story about what he saw and did when confronted with the situation in the photo.

I pose a question: Is it alright to disseminate video or photgraphic information about, lets say, a building collapsing next to your house? Would it be barred because the collapsed building, in someone's determination, was caused by gross negligence? No, the video or photo speaks for itself, and people make up their minds. It's only when someone, who knows that something is not true, states that it is, is it defamation. Other than that senario, the picture is kosher for public view.
In fact, the public has a right to see it.

Photo: Ward Building, April 26, 2007

Comment on photo above: Wow! Old buildings, I guess, eventually fall down due to age and lack of use ... Thank god no one was injuried, as if someone had been injured, the developer might have been sued for damages.

As for the title of the initial post, well ... reasonably, it was stated that way so we would all be having this civilized discussion in the first place.

You don't have to be a lawyer to know the bounds of our freedoms. I want to know and see things in my neighborhood. Leave the interpretation up to me, thank you very much.

Charlesbklyn

apollonia666

Subject: Re: Clarifying a position

charlesbklyn wrote: You don't have to be a lawyer to know the bounds of our freedoms. I want to know and see things in my neighborhood. Leave the interpretation up to me, thank you very much.

I beg to differ. While I'm not a lawyer myself, I have worked in the legal field for seven years now and know a little more than the average Joe about the law -- not enough to know for sure whether this picture was kosher, but enough to be sure that I would indeed want an opinion from an attorney who has experience in defamation lawsuits in New York state on something like this. Someone who knows not just the statutes but the case law. Case law can sometimes interpret the laws as they are on the books in really unexpected ways.

I also know there's a huge amount of difference between what you're liable for if you allow a link to something on your site versus what you're liable for if you host a file on your own site (witness how common it is for sites like YouTube to remove materials due to takedown notices), so as I said before I'm less nervous about having a link to it here than having the photo here on the site. By visiting this site you don't take on any legal liability for its content. Those of us who run it, however, do take on some legal liability. I'm sorry that it upsets you so much that the photo is gone, but it can't be THAT much of an inconvenience to you to follow the link.

8thandprez

I'm not a lawyer, but I am a moderator and didn't believe it was appropriate for that picture to be posted, especially with the allegation that the guys were junkies and shooting up. To be honest, I don't really care about the defamation question; it's just a matter of decency and understanding that the alleged behavior was based on assumption and therefore those pictured shouldn't have been called out publicly in such a way.

charlesbklyn

Subject: response to moderation

I disagree with some of the facts here, but fair enough. Your point is well made.

thanks
Charlesbklyn

the chipster

How dare you assume they're doing drugs! Just because they're white!!

raw

Subject: Re: Junkies in Park Slope

daniel wrote: This photo of two guys shooting up in a car was taken about 20 minutes ago in Park Slope, just off of 5th Ave. I'm surprised to see this sort of thing around here.

I'm surprised to see my diabetic friend and me online. I thought you had to be Steve Buscemi, Adrian Grenier, or the co-creator of the Office to be shot by a cell-phone paparazzo.