Parents: Save the sidewalk chalk grafitti for the park.

Every evening, kids from around the neighborhood congregate on my street to play, meaning they yell, scream and dash back and forth without any regard for traffic.

Hmm, maybe I should hand out some chalk...

It is funny how the OP came here and wasted forum space when in fact all he/she had to do was call 311. I suspect that the presence of the police is enough to scare these children straight instead of confronting a parent who in turn will never forget your face. Let's face it, the OP has made an enemy for life and all over a 4X4 patch of concrete and some chalk etched on the OP's stoop.

Do yourself a favor and just call 311 and let the police handle it. That is what they are paid for.

Thanks Puck!

It will only take one or two more news reports about incidents involving children before Bloomberg will be forced to back down and issue a public proclamation that the laws will not be enforced against kids drawing on sidewalks.

Booklaw, if it hasn't happened yet it will never happen. Look at the date on the article. It is from 2007, bro. 4 year later and the law is still on the books and the city is still making money off these supposed vandals. Keep in mind that the children are not being issued tickets but instead to their guardians which is legal under the guise of this law.

If it generates money for the city coffers it will never get repealed.

Obviously you can't teach sense to senseless people so I will do what I must then. Since I have some landscaping in front of my home, I will set up a sprinkler. Next time you lazy parents can't keep your kids in check, I will simply put my sprinkler on which will water the sidewalk as well as your bored kids. Then maybe it will sink it to mark up your OWN PROPERTY!!! Allowing this type of behavior only leads to them tagging up the whole city years down the road. But I guess its too much for parents to be parents and teach their children some responsible behavior.

Stretchy/Anthonycm, I do not understand why people are so intent on having confrontations. Violence is not the answer. Absurd bear claw traps for children are not warranted neither is spending a large amount of money on a sprinkler system that is only geared at spraying young children. What some of you fail to understand is that the 311 system is there to be used in cases like these. Please allow the authorities to remedy the situation without causing harm to your neighbors or their property. Escalation of violence is the only outcome that could come of the advice being hinted at by the to aforementioned posters.

Please allow cooler heads to prevail and let us handle this via the proper channels. At best, the police will arrive and shoo the young Picassos away and at worst some one will get arrested or receive a citation. Keep in mind that we are members of a community and that we do have to share the same over all space. If kind words do not remedy the situation then by all means bring in the heavy guns and call 311. There is no reason to go nuclear and take matters into our own hands.

I for one would like the nascent neighborhood patrol to take up this cause. Maybe while you fine citizens are stalking around Gotham in search of miscreants, you can practice your citizens' arrests. Win win.

SMH

Simply put Snarkslope, that is not the answer to this frivolous dilemma.

JR, I think that is the main point of this thread. Somewhere along the line we have lost the ability to co-habitate within the same community. Perhaps much of the family values of the 50's and 60's have been lost over the coarse of time. Perhaps this "ME" generation is reaping what it sews. I hate to say it but we are dealing with a new breed of parent now a days and sadly the art of cleaning after oneself has not been ingrained within the genes of the new brood. This is evident by some of the replies being posted on here. Seems like some are exhibiting that nasty "Let them eat cake" attitude.

I have seen it myself where parents take their children to the park with snacks and candy in tow only to see them leave the same park and leave behind their refuse. Some do not even place the refuse in the proper trash bin but instead leave them there on the benches. The same can be said about the children who harmlessly draw on the concrete sidewalks. The innocent art might appear cute and cuddly but there are many in the community who take offense to the filth left behind. JR points out that the crushed chalk makes a bigger mess when abandoned on the ground for so many to walk upon. Not only is the dust left behind a mess to behold but it also might make the life of a neighboring asthmatic cumbersome. These are the small points that some people do not take into consideration.

I guess my point is that we need to return to that sense of community we had back in the old days. We need to think about our neighbors and what can result if the actions of our children are sorely lacking. Is it too much to pick up after oneself? Is it too much to ask the parents to hose down the sidewalk after their Vincent Van Gogh prodigy have at it on the communal concrete canvas? I think it is not but then again I am a foolish old man with values that seem as current as a 15 cent soda pop.

Well at least we have 311 and the police. If the majority are intent on being selfish then why should I hesitate to call the police to do their job and enforce Local Law 111.

I agree 100% SoldierSantana. Over the course of decades, society has lost its basic values, common courtesy and manners. And this all starts with the parents. I remember a number of years ago when Marty Markowitz used to have his yearly wine tasting event at the park. Soldier, I'm not sure if you have ever been to this. But I couldn't believe how many of these disgusting people would take veggies from the table and double dip into the various dips. Do they really think everyone else wants to dip their veggies into a mix of dip and their saliva? These are the parents training their kids. So it doesn't surprise me when their kids do anything nowadays. They take after the parents and have no manners, no courtesy and no sense of moral values.

Woo Woo love PuckBrooklyn's insight a bout this thread.

PuckBrooklyn said:

I read a great post tonight! Here are some excerpts that I like:

* Try to pick one username and stick with it. If you start posting under different identities, do not be surprised when people get angry with you, or try to "out" you publicly as masquerading. Fakers will be named and shamed, and posts like this are subject to removal at the discretion of the moderators and admins.

* If your post gets deleted, it's not a First Amendment issue. It's probably an issue about you being a jerk.

source

I think he has some valid points