Sterling/Classon...what was going on last night?

bluedove · July 2005

Does anyone know why Sterling and Classon were blocked off with police cars and crimes scene tape last night? (Sterling between Classon and Franklin, and Classon between Sterling and St. John) I was coming home in a taxi from the airport around 11:30pm and we had to drive around the neighborhood three times to get to my block on Park. I also saw some EXTREMELY suspicious behavior from another car in the area around the same time, so...just curious, I guess, but it creeped me out.

(By the way, in searching around for this news, I was quite happy to come across this message board...hello, neighbors! It's a little scary to hear about all the crime, though...I have been living right by the Park Place S stop for two years now, but I guess I've been in a bit of a bubble. Not that I thought we lived in a kindergarten or anything, but I hadn't heard many specific stories or had anything unduly sketchy happen myself, so...makes me a little nervous that I've been more-or-less-blithely running to the deli alone at all hours, though!)

rah · July 2005

Let me state upfront that this is hearsay.

My sister called me last night to tell me as I was coming back to my apartment that the area had been taped off and there were a bunch of police. She asked someone on the street what was going on and he said a robbery and a shooting. Is that really the case? I have no idea.

On another note, I moved into the neighborhood (St. Johns/Classon -- I know, I know, not Prospect Heights which is why I generally refrain from posting since I don't really live in the neighborhood) in March and have yet to have a bad incident. My neighbors have been really friendly (much more so then they ever were in Washington Heights) and I was admittedly nervous at first as I felt like I had a big scarlet "G" (gentrifier) on my chest. But the board (as much as I love it for all the local information) can really freak me out. I don't know, is it better to know about all the happenings in a neighborhood and be super informed, or to live blissfully unaware? Probably somewhere in between. I do now avoid St. Johns between Washington and Underhill after reading about "crazy lane" but before that would go there all the time and never had a problem (sorry don't mean to start up that conversation again). Anyway, it just concerns me that I've seen a couple posts lately where people looking to find more about the neighborhood seem only to take away the bad things.

Anyway, I'm sure this post will have jinxed me, but that's my two cents from Crown Heights.

bluedove · July 2005

Well yes, I am in Crown Heights too, but I noticed that several people on here seemed to be, so I felt pretty comfortable about posting...especially considering that the Prospect Heights area is the part of the neighborhood I actually use (I have never gone past Franklin) And cabbies often refer to our part of Crown Heights as Prospect Heights, so...it's sort of the border zone, I figure. And with the rate of gentrification I've witnessed, the two will be indistinguishable in about two years anyway. (Seriously...when I moved there in November 2003, my now-husband and I were literally the only caucasians on our block. Now there are at LEAST forty...including every single person in our building other than the landlords. I am not quite sure how I feel about that...everybody so far seems pretty cool, but on the other hand I LIKE my 'hood, sketchy as it can be at times, I feel a little protective of it, I guess, having sort of felt like a pioneer there in the beginning. New businesses and people to frequent them are good, but I don't want it to turn into another Williamsburg or anything (*retch*))

Oh, and thanks for the info!

whyfi · July 2005

I'm in Crown Heights, too... well, in a couple days...

Geez, WE should have a message board instead of PS... i think that i saw a tumbleweed roll through their message board last week...

alex · July 2005

nybt wrote: I'm in Crown Heights, too... well, in a couple days...

Geez, WE should have a message board instead of PS... i think that i saw a tumbleweed roll through their message board last week...

I am in CH also. Can we get a message board here?

daveb · July 2005

Alex wrote: [quote=nybt]I'm in Crown Heights, too... well, in a couple days...

Geez, WE should have a message board instead of PS... i think that i saw a tumbleweed roll through their message board last week...

I am in CH also. Can we get a message board here?

Sure you can. Start your own website, PHPBB is free.

dailyheights · July 2005

Crown Heights message board:

http://dailyheights.com/forums/viewforum.php?f=4

You asked for it. Now go forth and populate the board!

t-fal · July 2005

hip hop hooray!
oh!
hay! .....oh!

uh...sorry.

thanks for our very own board!

joshb · July 2005

Hey, bluedove: Looks like we're on the same block. Park Place b/w Classon and Franklin. You didn't move into 600 Park, by chance? I have several friends in that building. It's like gentrification in a bottle.

bluedove · July 2005

Haha no, we're at 593, but that one's gentrification in a bottle too. When we moved in it was a completely different place...Single mom with four-year-old across the hall, sketchy guy half-squatting above us...now it's all white twenty-something couples. Luckily, everyone seems pretty cool and definitely all about the neighborhood.

joshb · July 2005

Yeah, I'm down at 562. When we moved in, the entire building was pretty much vacant. Friends and friends of friends moved in, and after three months the three apartments were all people we knew. Voila! Instant gentrification. Or something like that.

jose · July 2005

Bluedove, is that next to the Doric, the building undergoing renovation? I'm one of JoshB's friends living in 600.

bluedove · July 2005

It's directly across the street from the Doric. Let me tell you, that's fun at 6:00am

(I'm glad it's getting fixed up, though. Wonder what the rents will be!)

jose · July 2005

That's funny. I usually walk my dog at that hour, and I don't hear any commotion.

Anyway, when I moved into 600, my roommates and I were they only non-black residents. Then, poof. Most of the units were vacated. I learned later that the management compay bought everyone out for $10,000 a pop. Hello, Operation Snowflake!

t-fal · July 2005

that's funny you mention that block of park place...it used to be so sketchy when i first moved in 4 years ago. pit bulls, flophouses... they must have done some major renovations!

bluedove · July 2005

It was still sketchy when we moved in two years ago, but no longer! Well, it's still relatively sketchy, I guess, but not so bad that it keeps me from running to the deli at all hours.

Anyone else run into GINA?

(By the way, I may be exaggerating a tiny bit about the construction noise, but they have definitely woken me up well before my alarm on more than one occasion. Not really complaining, just sayin'!)

joshb · July 2005

Is Gina the rail-thin, perpertually surly and drunk woman who mimics a one-woman sanitation squad, picking up trash off the street like her life depended on it?

t-fal · July 2005

shit, my block of park place has our own version of that, except its a he. his name is lenny. my boyfriend calls him gollum, i call him the hardest working crackhead in america. rail thin, and works like a mutherfocker. he tidys up all the garbage, seperates the recyclables, does sidewalk cleaning and odd jobs for the businesses along nostrand. he's dodgy as hell, but is nonetheless "honest" and will warn you about the people who are far more dodgy than he is.

bluedove · July 2005

That sounds like her! I've had more than one "event" with Gina (all amusing), but the best was when we moved in. She stumbled along, smelling strongly of liquor, jumped in the truck, and grabbed a box. She started walking up the stairs, completely ignoring our protests, saying over and over "Which apartment? Which one? No, don't worry, welcome to the neighborhood! We help each other out around here!" What could we do? She proceeded to carry seriously at least a quarter to a third of our stuff up for us. When the last box had been unloaded, I was the one upstairs alone with her. She put the box down, wiped her hands, and said "Got any pot?" I said "Um, no..." and started back down the stairs. She followed me, stopped the truck door from closing, and said "You gonna give me some money?" (Welcome to the neighborhood indeed!) We said "Well, how much do you want?"
"Seven dollars!"
"Um, okay!"

She's a sketchy bum, but she does work hard for the money, I'll give her that!

Sterling/Classon...what was going on last night?

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