what s missing in bedstuy and how could we improve it

I agree with everything that has been mentioned so far, especially by jimspahr. If I had to choose among the top few though, I would concentrate on crime and quality of life and thus the things that condone them. So I'd like to see a greater police presence, more lighting, less SROs & methadone clinics. Then....I'd focus on services...which we need bad. But we've got to get on stable feet first.

Perhaps you should visit Common Grounds on Tompkins bet. Putnam and Jefferson and let us know what you think.

God, I 'd love to see a curfew imposed on young teens...but the damn ACLU!

BK Allday wrote: God, I 'd love to see a curfew imposed on young teens...but the damn ACLU!

Blame the ACLU? Way to be powerful!

i heard about a wine bar that's supposedly coming soon on franklin/greene..cheers! (and a mexican rest. too!)

BedStuyDoOrDie wrote: [quote=madeline]Get rid of all of these store front churches. They do not improve the community,and are not politically aware of the needs of the community most times. We need services that benefit the whole community. Also the over abundance of churches creates further division in the community. Some strips have 4 or 5 churches next to each other.
Lyn

How exactly do Churches divide the community? They've been the moral foundation of Bed Stuy for years. Unless the churches are almost empty seven days a week (which they aren't) I think they're serving their purpose, that is, being a place of worship for religious people.

And as for some of the other posters: You want to impose a curfew? In a major city? During the summer? Many things wrong with that idea. One, no one would follow those rules. It simply isn't going to happen. Not to mention that it's not the right thing to do. If kids are committing crimes, or loitering on your property, call the police. If they are sitting on their own stoops, or walking around the streets, what inconvenience is that to you?

And for those who want to shut down the methadone clinics... There's a huge shelter on Bedford and Atlantic, proabbly the largest in Brooklyn. Many of the paitents live there, so simply getting rid of a crucial service for them isn't going to get rid of them. And believe me, having stoned methadone patients is a lot better than heroin addicts.

Good point about the methadone clinics; I didn't realize that there were a fresh supply of heroine addicts just footsteps away. And I even hear you on the fact that a curfew will not work (although it doesn't change the fact that these kids can be a real unpleasant fact of life in the city. No one cares if they're sitting on their stoop, etc., but when 12 or so invade a train car and act as if they were just sprung from Rikers, its a problem!)...but I completely lost you with the store front churches. They may not divide the community, but they certainly don't help. Some of these pastors are no better off than the liquor store owners. That's why its no surprise that those 2 businesses are the most prevalent in any ghetto....storefront churches & liquor stores. Feeding folks pie from the sky while collecting tithes 2-3X a service....aw hell no. we've come beyond that, man!

Religion bad; spirituality good. We need a good copy/fax/office/computer center to service students and home based businesses. A learning center for our younger students.

I wasn't the one who said "get rid of the churches". I came into the conversation late in the day. I do want to add though, as well as war, religion is also the reason for lots of hate crime, loss of civil rights (abortion, gay marriage) and hold ups in scientific research (stem cell). It's not religion itself, but people's interpretation of the bible, quran, torah, etc.

Anyway to spirituality is good, but religion would definitely be the scenic route.