Police put skywatch on Washington and Sterling

whynot_31 wrote: I think the advantage is to the police: If I was a cop, I'd rather be above the street in a bullet proof, heated box, than standing on a corner.

P.S. Yup, over the weekend I saw the characters who used to hang at "Washington and Sterling" at "Franklin and Sterling". Its a cat and mouse game with the police.

Totally. Box comes *after* shooting on Washington. People dealing scurry to different corners. Box will leave after a month. People dealing scurry back to original spots.

Overall I feel little or no presence of NYPD on foot along Washington Avenue. The only place I see them on a regular basis is the deli on St. Marks getting sandwiches, The Post - to read while they're not patrolling and a coffee.

Ben Franklin wrote: They who can give up essential liberty to obtain a little temporary safety, deserve neither liberty nor safety.

I'm not sure having the police stake out a corner in a glorified cherry picker qualifies as giving up essential liberty though.

This is the second one I've seen, there is one near my office on the corner of 47th and 6th Ave in midtown.

You guys are so smart... how do you combat crime while facing one of the biggest budget deficits in the history of the city?

HURM.

Subject: big brother

Agree that the skywatch is ugly and creepy. Would rather see police on foot (or perhaps bikes?) like the people who live here and of course want to be sure that they only use their batons for good and not evil. The NYPD is criticized often fairly and necessarily, but shouldn't be vilified. Seems that most people are either pro-police or anti-pig and that is kind of lame. I don't think the SkyPatrol's work, but I don't have any real evidence to support that opinion and would be interested in stats about them.

Slappy McBluelips wrote: I'm sure someone at NYPD has considered the objections everyone has mentioned.

if so, that would be a first! :?

Wait... I did - can't wait for the movie!!

blazinh wrote:
Remember you are moving to our neighborhood. was born and raised in this neighborhood we built it up...

Oh you must be jewish!

King without a crown wrote: I find it quite interesting that people constantly bitch about Crime in the neighborhood, and when the Police respond to someone being shot on the corner by strategically placing a million dollar, hig tech piece of equiptment, manned by 2 Police Officers 24 hours a day, people still have something to say about it. Why don't the urban pioneers get together with the Police Dept. and formulate their own plan of action to deter Crime. How about forming a citizens patrol group like they have on the other side of Eastern Pkwy. Oh, I forgot, I guess some people would rather complain on an anoymous message board, rather than do something about the problem.

AMEN

poppy13 wrote: I expect Law & Order to use this thing in an episode.

side note: does this mean that Rorschach is in Brooklyn now? Sweet!

Rorschach Journal: June 17th, 1975

"Visited underworld bars and began hurting people. Put fourteen in hospital needlessly. Fifteenth gave me an address. Disused dressmaker's in Brooklyn."

Was in Brooklyn. Blaire Roche kidnapping case. Did not end well.

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King without a crown wrote: I find it quite interesting that people constantly bitch about Crime in the neighborhood, and when the Police respond to someone being shot on the corner by strategically placing a million dollar, hig tech piece of equiptment, manned by 2 Police Officers 24 hours a day, people still have something to say about it. Why don't the urban pioneers get together with the Police Dept. and formulate their own plan of action to deter Crime. How about forming a citizens patrol group like they have on the other side of Eastern Pkwy. Oh, I forgot, I guess some people would rather complain on an anoymous message board, rather than do something about the problem.

wow, you really assume a lot. as if it was a simple matter of the same people complaining about crime as well as the cops, or a knee-jerk issue of "if you can do better yourself, joe public, go for it!". in addition to people complaining "anonymously" online, i guarantee you that there are countless more out there in the real world fighting both to decrease crime and maintain personal liberties. this is another one of those strictly rhetorical arguments.

if youre ready to live in a police state where youre monitored from above by cops in a spy-tower 24/7 just to decrease the already statistically slim chance that you may or may not get jumped, go for it... but im not ready to take that plunge, myself. why not just go for broke and hire and off-duty cop to cuff you to his arm so you can be even more closely watched and protected from this cruel, cruel world?

no... as an alternative, i suggest learning some street-smarts or moving to a shitty neighborhood. everyone knows that all the crime in proho is because (as much as i hate to say it, we all know its true) the growing, dominant demographic attracts it from other neighborhoods. attackers make victims out of those whom have more than them. i mean, unless the perps live in one of the nicely renovated brownstones all over the neighborhood or perhaps in a nice glass-fronted luxury condo nearby? i got mugged in proho once. the attacker was sent upstate after he woke from his coma and had had a few weeks for his shattered knee to convalesce. no "skywatch" necessary to seal that deal.

this happened on park place between underhill and washington in 2007:



i bet this sort of thing happens a lot less often in neighborhoods that dont feature as many brand-new luxury SUVs... but maybe what proho really needs is watchtower sentries to guard its custom wheels...

Has anyone given thought that "Skywatch" might be operating only some of the time? Maybe it's there just as a deterrent. How can you tell if the thing is "ON" or "OFF".

Also, we already live in a "Police State" Cameras in banks. Cameras in
office buildings. Cameras in schools. Cameras at stop lights. Cameras in stores. Cameras in our bedrooms. 24/7 Big Brother is here. This is reality.

Sheep need a false sense of security that they are safe from the wolves that prey on them. When in reality, they really need protection from themselves.

The wolf is your neighbor. The wolf in living in your home. The wolf is in your bed. The wolf is in your mirror.

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Rorschach wrote: Also, we already live in a "Police State" Cameras in banks. Cameras in office buildings. Cameras in schools. Cameras at stop lights. Cameras in stores. Cameras in our bedrooms. 24/7 Big Brother is here. This is reality.

i note you didnt mention that we already have cameras on our streets. thats because we dont. er, or didnt, that is, until skywatch. and no, not storefront cameras facing the sidewalk. i mean dedicated human eyes surveiling live intersections with no notice. people who follow your reactionary logic are also the sorts that are quick to herald things like this in NYC as "improvements to quality of life" while calling reports of the exact same behavior reported from beijing this past summer as ""a travesty against human rights". lol.

Rorschach wrote: Sheep, wolves and bears, oh my :shock:

despite the fact that this is all starting to sound a bit like freshman year psychology class, ill bite... who are you to define whos a sheep and a wolf?

Rorschach wrote: need a false sense of security that they are safe from the wolves that prey on them. When in reality, they really need protection from themselves.

so... youre calling us all sheep? who need protection from ourselves? from security cameras?! WTF... speak for yourself, man, cauyse that sounds like one of the more stupid and wrotely offensive things ive heard today.

Rorschach wrote: The wolf is your neighbor. The wolf in living in your home. The wolf is in your bed. The wolf is in your mirror.

...OMG!!! THE WOLF IS...

Actually there are many cameras in place all over the City monitored by the NYPD. For instance Utica ave-Sterling Plc. Utica ave-Eastern Pkwy. Next time you're over there, look up and smile for the camera.