Prospective Park Place Pawnshop! - Near Franklin Avenue.

^^^ aw, man! White man trying to give credit to another white man for the words and thoughts of a minority (me)!

I stand corrected, it seems this place is even less regulated than a pawn shop which could make it even easier to fence stolen goods if one wanted to attempt to do so.

I stand corrected, it seems this place is even less regulated than a pawn shop which could make it even easier to fence stolen goods if one wanted to attempt to do so.

That was exactly my point before...had you left this alone from the beginning, the store would have to account for the sellers. But now its not regulated as much BECAUSE of your protests. So the protests weren't ineffective. They were counterproductive. Great Job! And MHA, leave your race card at home. It has no place here. This is not a racial issue.

I propose we make MHA sit in the penalty box until 4:30 PM, but we must resist the urge to make fun of him during this time.

So, let's get back to those bodegas. Does everyone agree that having them on our side could make far more of an impact than going after the jeweler who has somewhat cleverly located himself almost immediately next to an alcohol and drug rehab?

Less regulation equals greater threat. There is no shame in getting knocked down, the shame lies in not trying to get back up. Protest alone is not enough.

i don't really shop there, but that's interesting. have you done it? what exactly did/would you say?

i'm a little worried that they don't just allow the dealers to operate -- that they're into illegal activities themselves.

Likely for the same reasons as you, I do not shop there often either. However, I have been involved in similar efforts at similar stores.

....it is crucial that they believe you will be there for the long term. If they believe you are outside person who will just leave once they clean up their act, they will not comply.

Let's assume they participate in illegal activity:

perhaps buying food stamps

perhaps holding "packages" (drugs, weapons) for the sellers out front

....they certainly know all of the dealers (and are known to the dealers).

They certainly have allowed the dealers to come in and get warm during the winter months.

In this scenario, threatening them with a boycott or police action isn't going to work.

MHA and others are correct when they state money talks, and money is the way to change things.

Quite simply, we have more money than the local drug sellers ...studies show that they usually make less than 30k a year.

We also tend to spend it during hours that the store owner prefers to be awake; whereas drug dealers tend to buy their 40s and cigarettes late at night.

....our store keeper could get sleep!

...our store keeper could make more money!

...our store keeper could deal with a nicer, more sober clientele!

Although not exactly the same, here's something I was a part of locally:

http://brooklynian.com/forum/prospect-heights/gentrification-photo-exhibit-2

In Washington Heights in the 90s (seriously scary shit!) , I did behind the scenes stuff for (against?) a store which was very drug involved.

Here are the central tenets:

The police aren't especially effective ....the effort needs to come from the locals. ...and lots of people have to particpate.

CHCA, Nostrand Park, About Time and others have shown that it can get a bunch of people out to events: Kids Day, Street clean ups, monthly meetings, cleaning up the vacant lot, etc.

I predict they could get even more people to participate in an effort such as I describe because people could participate anytime they chose, and could spend $4 buying the items they stock that they were going to buy anyway

...yes, we've all seen the inventory, and let's buy that don't need to be fresh:

toilet paper

ramen

goya products

laundry detergent

It doesn't take a lot of courage to say a few words from a clerk AS YOU BUY SOMETHING from their store.

If all this sounds familiar, it is because myself, KWAC, MHA and other posters have talked about this before:

http://www.brooklynian.com/forum/crown-heights-and-prospect-lefferts-gardens/police-activity-at-bodega-on-lincoln-and-franklin

At some point skywatch is going to leave. Are folks just going to let the corner return to how it was, and then whine that skywatch is gone? ....or are folks going to mobilize and get the attention of these owners right now, in their "moment of clarity", when they are the most desperate for $ and customers?

Look, you didn't want a pawn shop in the area...there isn't one now. The store-owner now opened a jewelry store. But you can't tell me that it isn't a direct result of your actions that there is now less accountability for the goods that he buys. I'm not "acknowledging the potential danger" of anything. I'm simply saying that if you think that pawn shops are the cause of crime, which I think is absurd, you have now made things worse for yourself. As for the mural, I think that you are all taking your aggressions out on the artist. If you look at his other work, you'll see that this is kind of his style. He has done that very same baby before. The store buys jewelry, so he put money and jewelry in the mural. Now, if his customer base feels insulted, they are well within their right to shop elsewhere and the market will decide his fate. But you are clearly not his customer base, MHA. As for the race card, that was in reference to your early comments. I do not believe that this is an issue of race. Class, maybe. But not race. I love how I get shit for basically re-iterating what whynot says. You're very selective, MHA. I'm just saying that maybe its time to try a different tactic, since your protests have gotten you nowhere. They have only made things worse. I agree, you couldn't have foreseen them getting worse, but now that you have seen them get significantly worse(the owner is now using the crow hill name, you have a mural you don't like, theres less accountability for the sellers, the store has a ton of publicity...) perhaps its time to admit that you have done more harm to your cause than good. This is exactly what whynot said. But you chose to single me out. BTW, who said I'm white? Am I automatically white if I disagree with you? Thats quite an assumption to make, considering I never gave any indication of my race. Meanwhile you've taken every opportunity to talk about race. Sounds kind of racist to me.

As far as my 'race card', as you call it, my response was made because whenever I hear folks talk about how hard it is to 'tolerate' me or 'take me seriously' I have to chuckle to myself and shake my head at the arrogant white man. You always want a brother to 'know his place'. So I call it as I see it.

these are your issues, not mine. it's not my fault that you have a bunch of negative associations with the word "tolerate."

you know nothing about me, other than that i disagree with your posts.

I know many here would like to consider me a racist, and that's your right. What I am to be considered is a human being. I am on equal footing as you, and not someone to be 'tolerated', nor a thing to be tolerant of. You have no power over me. Who are you to tolerate me?! Who are you to 'take me seriously'? You think I care how you consider me? You think any of you wannabe 'tolerant' people are of any concern to me? I don't even think you understand what you are saying when you say these things. The arrogance of you. The sheer stupidity, arrogance, and inbred sense of entitlement, that flows usually from your white sensibilities -- primarily, and if not that, your inflated sense of 'better than'.

here's the pseudo-intellectual bullshit that i knew was coming. this is a message board on something called the internet. you post all types of stuff that i disagree with, and i'm allowed to tell you i disagree. deal with it without falling back on this racial crap. none of what i've said to you has anything to do with race.

and by the way, you haven't shown how this jewelry store has ANYTHING to do with race.

Its the same argument the democrats use whenever anyone opposes Obama. If you disagree with his policies, it can't just be that you have a different view of how the country should be governed. You can't just dismiss valid arguments by calling the other person a racist. I made no racial comments at all. I gave no indication of my race because I did not feel that it was relevant to this debate. You chose to steer the conversation in that direction because you had no valid arguments. The fact that you did so with such an attitude is truly offensive. I say to you...the arrogance of YOU, MHA. To think that you can paint everyone who disagrees with you as a racist. And to do so with no knowledge of their race whatsoever. I have no pictures up, nowhere did I say what my race is. You assume that because I disagree with you, that I must be white. So you've shown that you can not have a reasonable debate about this issue.

It is. The democrats called the tea partiers racist when they were protesting. Don't get me wrong, I in no way agree with the tea party or the democrats for that matter. I just think that calling them racist because they disagree with your policy or your views is silly.

Splooie wrote: I do not believe that this is an issue of race. Class, maybe. But not race. I love how I get shit for basically re-iterating what whynot says. You're very selective, MHA.

I suspect this stems from simply wanting a new opponent; I do not believe MHA has developed a sudden affinity for me.

Although I disagree with this campaign, I feel the need to point out that this campaign is actually being spearheaded by a very inclusive, thoughtful organization: CHCA.

History has shown that even strange goals can be achieved with substantial public participation.

By making offensive comments here, MHA runs the risk of shrinking the number of people willing to support his (and their) shared cause.

To tie it in to the above post, MHA does appear very much like the guy who comes to the Tea Party rally opposing Obamacare and insists Obama is doing this because he is black.

Likewise, MHA does appear very much like the democrat who claims that the entire Tea Party is racist because they disagree with the opinions of a black president.

....but let's move on. Let's not let yet another thread devolve into discussing whether something is racist. I mean, who cares what the motivation of the Jewelry store is? If (as MHA alleges) such a store will cause huge amounts of crime, does the it really matter whether the store owner is black or white? Or whether he has moved to a neighborhood to take advantage of black people, or has no regard for their personal safety because they are black? ...isn't the "neighborhood going to shit" what we are opposed to?

Back when it was a Pawnshop, those opposed seemed to be quite a diverse group. I assume that those opposed to the jewelry and Electronics Store are equally diverse. This seems to indicate that one is not opposed to the shop on the basis of being white.

....As all of this silliness occurs, I continue to shake my head at a local community group. For some reason, it has decided the best use of its limited resources is to focus its attention on what is essentially a legal business that has pissed it off.

...and I continue to wonder if anyone will offer assistance to those bodegas that have been the site of so much actual crime.

Perhaps when they are done with their boycott of the landlord of the jewelry store, they will take up my idea of seeing whether those bodegas are willing to make money from a different customer base.

Until then, the number of days that skywatch and the Impact Officers are assigned to Franklin Ave continues to count down, and those highly questionable bodegas go questioned and unapproached.

P.S. CHCA, I look forward to the next monthly meeting.