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PS316 playground / basketball court area safety assessment? — Brooklynian

PS316 playground / basketball court area safety assessment?

rednaxela
edited November -1 in Prospect Heights

so a guy got shot on saturday afternoon next to the playground i walk through all the time and work out in sometimes.

am wondering if anyone has some specific information or insight into whether it's safe to walk through beyond the general "watch yourself" kind of stuff.

it's technically not prospect heights, but just around the corner off washington and park -- the little playground and basketball courts on the south side of the street.

http://prospectheights.patch.com/articles/man-shot-in-head-at-ps-316s-playground

Comments

  • My apartment overlooks the playground, while I have seen some shady carryings on, I wouldn't call it dangerous or unsafe. My experience is that it is generally safe.

    The shooting on Saturday occurred during a basketball competition. I have no knowledge of the actual circumstances, but I am going to hazard a guess that the shooter was a gang member or prospective gang member, carrying out a gang initiation or exacting vengeance for some slight, real or perceived. The basketball competition seemed pretty innocent and there weren't huge numbers of people in attendance.

    Most of the time it's a safe place, it's only when the local gangs decide to exercise their testosterone that I have any concerns, and usually they appear in large numbers, followed closely by large numbers of NYPD. If you see a large group forming, it's probably time to leave.

  • Depends on your definition of "dangerous" and "unsafe." I have a three-year-old son who loves the playground (Stroud) adjacent to PS316 and we are there virtually every weekend. On numerous occasions, I have seen people smoking blunts, or worse, crack. There are routinely people passed out all day long on some of the benches. Granted, there is a reliable police presence, and I have never seen any situation get violent. But even in broad daylight this place does not exactly engender a feeling of safety within me...

  • Years ago, the Underhill Playground had such concerns.

    ....now it hosts things like a multi-lingual day camp.

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