Super Soaked at St. Marks and Grand

apollonia666 · July 2007

Actually, it wasn't a Super Soaker, but some little asshole just threw at least a gallon of water on me at the intersection of St Marks and Grand. I saw about 20 kids running around throwing water on each other as I was trudging home from a long day of work with a huge sack of groceries and my dinner, but I (naively, admittedly) didn't think they'd do it to just some stranger walking by. This kid, maybe 12 or so, stood five feet from me, holding up a bucket of water, and said, "Ya hot?" "Not that hot," I said, and smiled, and he smiled too so I figured we were cool, and I started to cross the street and then I was *soaked.* It wouldn't bug me so much if it had just been a cup of water or a water gun or whatever, but this was a full bucket and he totally soaked my bag (and thus my wallet, cell phone, calendar, etc. etc.). A couple of his friends were clearly shocked he'd gone ahead and done it.

I had to take my shoes off to keep walking (fortunately the sidewalk is fairly clear in that area) because my feet were slipping around in them, got about a block away, and called the police, mainly to get them to drive by over there and bust it up. And I know this is hardly a big deal in the grand scheme of things -- I didn't get mugged or hit in the head with a rock or whatever -- but still. It's a shitty thing to do. And I'm pissed off. And I really wish I had a Super Soaker right now so I could go back up there and find that little jerk.

Lesson learned: Next time I see a pack of kids doing something like this, go around the block, no matter how heavy my fucking groceries are.

Anyway, I'm mainly venting. Anonymous guests who want to make all sorts of assumptions about who I am and call me all sorts of names for being a "gentrifier" or whatever are invited in advance to bite me. :evil: :evil: :evil: :evil:

MOD · July 2007

That's fucked up, stupid kid. No respect.
Vent away honey, we're there for ya.

neene · July 2007

we just drove by
windows open
sun roof open
you guessed it ...

apollonia666 · July 2007

neene wrote: we just drove by
windows open
sun roof open
you guessed it ...

OOOOH those little assholes! I think that's probably worse. How bad did you get soaked?

I'm just thankful that 1) I didn't have my camera in my bag, because I can't afford to replace it, 2) my iPod didn't get damaged, because I can't afford to replace that either (it did get wet, even though it was all the way in the bottom of my bag), and 3) I didn't have any mace or whatever on me, because I was so pissed off I probably would have done something really stupid.

anonymous · July 2007

Aaaah. Another evil white gentrifier assaulted in the hood. Any one taking a tally?

apollonia666 · July 2007

Boo_Hoo wrote: Aaaah. Another evil white gentrifier assaulted in the hood. Any one taking a tally?

That didn't take long.

1) What makes you think I'm white? (I am, but you know what they say about assumptions...)

2) I wouldn't and didn't characterize it as an assault. I do, however, characterize it as a shitty thing to do to another person, period.

3) See abovementioned invitation to bite me.

anonymous · July 2007

1) I've read your post history, so I figured that out quick

2) You called the police obviously. With all the tensions in the hood recently with police and residents don't you think doing that would make harassment of teens worse? Its just f*n water. you said you smiled at the rugrat and made light convo.

3) I did bite you. Thats why I posted.

4) Get over it!

whyfi · July 2007

I live by that intersection and I just saw a black woman get soaked. So, two things - 1) she took it in good stride ('oh well, it feels good on a hot day, anyway...') and b) the kids are practicing equal opportunity.

apollonia666 · July 2007

Boo_Hoo wrote: 2) You called the police obviously. With all the tensions in the hood recently with police and residents don't you think doing that would make harassment of teens worse? Its just f*n water. you said you smiled at the rugrat and made light convo.

I did smile at him and make light conversation, and he returned with a bucket of water. Not a cupful of water, or a squirt from a Super Soaker. He dumped a bucket of water all over me. I was soaked from head to toe.

Yes, I did call the police. I also didn't ask to make a report. All I wanted was for someone to drive by there and disperse them. But hey, feel free to continue making assumptions about the situation instead of asking me any questions you might have about what happened!

Boo_Hoo wrote: 4) Get over it!

I will. As I mentioned (reading is fundamental!), I was venting. I posted within minutes of this happening. If you think you'd be so much calmer moments after someone dumped a bucket of water all over you at the end of a long day, feel free to let me know when we can get together so I can dump a bucket of water on you.

Actually, envisioning that IS fun. I can feel a bit more empathy for that kid now. Lookie, you were so helpful to a neighbor! Aww, give yourself a hug! :P

santa · July 2007

haha and people complain about park slope kids

sweet tea · July 2007

Santa wrote: haha and people complain about park slope kids

um, what's funny about this, Santa? it sounds awful to me -- i was super-soaked by a bunch of horrible, laughing men on a balcony above me once, and it was really terrifying. i suppose that sounds strange to you, but it was. (incidentally, the experience also rather spoiled pride parades for me, but that's another story.)

it's one thing for a ill-mannered guest like boo-hoo to make stupid comments here, but i'm surprised and disappointed by your "haha", given other posts of yours, and our shared home state.

santa · July 2007

sorry, ive just been reading countless crap on multiple websites today about how horrible park slope is with all of the kids and this story makes that seem like a piece of cake.

haha at that, not at what happened.

sweet tea · July 2007

ok, sorry for freak out, thanks for the clarification

santa · July 2007

not a problem.

people should be happy kids are in strollers and not running around wielding water guns.

neene · July 2007

omg
i think the heat is getting to people
this so has nothing to do with race

i get caught in the rain on my bike all the time
sometimes i love it and think it's fun
other times it makes me grumpy
how i feel about getting soaked has to do with my headset at the time
(and if anything i am carrying/wearing could get ruined)

i thought the whole thing was funny
my husband wasn't as amused
nothing to do with race

one woman gets soaked and is po'd
another laughs it off
so what?
and the fact that the kids are equal opportunity soakers ...
why even bring that into it?
it never even entered my mind that i was targeted because of the color of my skin
and i don't see anything in the original post that suggests that either

this is just about kids being kids
and depending on where one is coming from in the moment
that can mean having fun or being obnoxious

apollonia666 · July 2007

neene wrote: i thought the whole thing was funny
my husband wasn't as amused
nothing to do with race

one woman gets soaked and is po'd
another laughs it off
so what?
and the fact that the kids are equal opportunity soakers ...
why even bring that into it?
it never even entered my mind that i was targeted because of the color of my skin
and i don't see anything in the original post that suggests that either

this is just about kids being kids
and depending on where one is coming from in the moment
that can mean having fun or being obnoxious

Right. However, I do think the amount of water they were dumping on people made what they were doing much more likely to be more negative for any of their targets. Sorry to belabor the point, but it feels a bit like people aren't quite grasping that this was a LARGE AMOUNT of water. I couldn't walk in my shoes anymore after that, thus forcing me to go barefoot on a Brooklyn sidewalk (not something I think anyone really wants to have to do), my shoulder bag, grocery bag, and dinner were soaked, and some of my personal property could have easily been damaged. I barely salvaged a prescription for a medical treatment that was in my bag that they soaked and I'm hoping they'll still take it when I go in for my appointment later on this week. It was a huge pain in the ass for several little reasons like that.

My exterior reaction was definitely anger, but I was *very* close to bursting into tears when it happened. Normally I'm quite a bit tougher than that, but I've had several crappy days in a row and this really was the icing on the cake. In retrospect, I probably should have; maybe that would have freaked him out enough to give him pause before he dumps a bucketful on the next poor schmuck to come by.

These kids didn't know what kind of day someone might have been having, how much they might have been inconveniencing someone, or how scary what they were doing might be for someone. It's great that some of the people who they did this to took it in stride, but the fact that I didn't doesn't mean my feelings about it weren't valid. For me, it pretty much ruined my day, at the end of a streak of several very trying ones. The fact that it isn't a day-ruining thing for everyone they do it to doesn't make it any more okay for them to do it. It's a matter of how people treat other people.

apollonia666 · July 2007

BTW, I just learned that half an hour after the incident I was involved in, someone in that same crowd assaulted one of my neighbors. An adult dumped a full pan of water on my neighbor's head, then started swinging the pan at his head, and then another guy jumped in and punched my neighbor several times in the side of the head.

I'm going to ask him if he'd consider coming here to share the details with people here, or if he would mind me posting part of his email describing the incident.

apollonia666 · July 2007

My neighbor just gave me the okay to post his email. I'm only editing out a couple of small items that might identify him or his address:

Coming home from work today at about 7pm I was assaulted right
outside of our building, on the corner of St Marks and Grand. There
was the usual group of kids and adults hanging out, and as I walked
by they made a circle around me and someone dumped a cooking pot full
of water on me from behind. I turned around and a hispanic guy, maybe
5'6", goatee and short dark hair and wearing a white wifebeater t-
shirt started saying "C'mon, c'mon" and swung the empty metal pot at
my head. He missed my head (or I dodged, I don't really know) but
clipped my arm pretty badly, and while I was worrying about him
swinging again another guy (black, probably 5'10", heavyset, short
haircut in a dark blue t-shirt) ran up from the side and punched me 3
or 4 times in the side of the head. During all of this the younger
kids are throwing water, just to keep things lively.

A driver stopped in the intersection and tried to break it up, but
when I asked to borrow his cellphone he refused, and refused to call
911 for me. He told me "just walk away". Meanwhile everyone's yelling
and the guy that punched me is laughing and throwing his arms out
like "What are you gonna do?".

The part that burns me the most is several of my neighbors, people
who live in the same building as I do and know me, my wife and my
baby, just stood and watched. I went to one of them (we both
have children and talked all the time about fatherhood) and asked to
borrow his cellphone and he also told me to "walk away". When I told
him we're supposed to be friends, he got angry and became belligerent
and threatening. Like I needed a fight at that point.

These are my neighbors, some I've known for 7 years.

Personal feelings aside; so I had to go up to my xth floor apartment
to place a 911 call, giving everyone involved plenty of time to
disappear. The police came, took a report, drove me around the
neighborhood to see if I could ID anyone and then dropped me back at
home.

I'm pretty god-damned disillusioned about this neighborhood (and my
neighbors!) right now, and my wife and I are faced with the difficult
decision of whether or not we can chance raising our child
here.

king without a crown · July 2007

These incidents are not merely childs play. Before reading the last post I was thinking to myself about the countless incidents like this, that often lead to sexual assaults, fights and even gunplay. The ole kids will be kids attitude is part of a larger problem, leaving unsupervised kids to terrorize the neighborhood. I don't think anyone on this forum would like an incident like this to happen to themselves or their loved ones.

homeowner · July 2007

apollonia, did you say anything to the kids? I think that a lot of times kids don't understand the line between "playing" and "some really dumb shit that can get you in trouble". There are way too many times where I see kids get themselves all twisted up because they get caught up in some group think thing and they can't see the consequences of what happens. I just wonder if you had unloaded on them if you wouldn't have gotten at least a begrudging "sorry". Not that it would make things better, but perhaps then they'd think twice about wetting the next person that came by. King is right in that this is the kind of stuff that results in a kid getting stabbed or otherwise injured when someone who isn't playing gets involved.

whyfi · July 2007

apollonia666 wrote: My neighbor just gave me the okay to post his email. I'm only editing out a couple of small items that might identify him or his address:
Coming home from work today at about 7pm I was assaulted right
outside of our building, on the corner of St Marks and Grand. There
was the usual group of kids and adults hanging out, and as I walked
by they made a circle around me and someone dumped a cooking pot full
of water on me from behind. I turned around and a hispanic guy, maybe
5'6", goatee and short dark hair and wearing a white wifebeater t-
shirt started saying "C'mon, c'mon" and swung the empty metal pot at
my head. He missed my head (or I dodged, I don't really know) but
clipped my arm pretty badly, and while I was worrying about him
swinging again another guy (black, probably 5'10", heavyset, short
haircut in a dark blue t-shirt) ran up from the side and punched me 3
or 4 times in the side of the head. During all of this the younger
kids are throwing water, just to keep things lively.

A driver stopped in the intersection and tried to break it up, but
when I asked to borrow his cellphone he refused, and refused to call
911 for me. He told me "just walk away". Meanwhile everyone's yelling
and the guy that punched me is laughing and throwing his arms out
like "What are you gonna do?".

The part that burns me the most is several of my neighbors, people
who live in the same building as I do and know me, my wife and my
baby, just stood and watched. I went to one of them (we both
have children and talked all the time about fatherhood) and asked to
borrow his cellphone and he also told me to "walk away". When I told
him we're supposed to be friends, he got angry and became belligerent
and threatening. Like I needed a fight at that point.

These are my neighbors, some I've known for 7 years.

Personal feelings aside; so I had to go up to my xth floor apartment
to place a 911 call, giving everyone involved plenty of time to
disappear. The police came, took a report, drove me around the
neighborhood to see if I could ID anyone and then dropped me back at
home.

I'm pretty god-damned disillusioned about this neighborhood (and my
neighbors!) right now, and my wife and I are faced with the difficult
decision of whether or not we can chance raising our child
here.

That really sucks... The fact that others (neighbors!) stood and watched is the worst part.

basketball fan · July 2007

wow, I would have been just as pissed off as you, first of all I like water and I love playing in it. but not when i am not prepared. It reminds me when I was younger and it was snowing and after school the boys would torment us girls with the snow. The moral of the story is "it is not right". Think of the damage water can do, she mentioned she had groceries, her work clothes & shoes & her handbag etc... That's crazy it's just water..... Again sorry to hear about that... don't know what I would of done or said which probaly wouldn't have been too nice.

neene · July 2007

wow
i am sorry it turned so ugly
from the car it really seemed more upbeat and playfull
not in any way threatening,
plus of course
we were out of there in 2 seconds

however it was a a substantial crowd and i for one would not advise one person unloading on 20 rowdy kids
that seems less like a learning opportunity
and more like a recipe for disaster

apollonia666 · July 2007

neene wrote: however it was a a substantial crowd and i for one would not advise one person unloading on 20 rowdy kids
that seems less like a learning opportunity
and more like a recipe for disaster

Yeah, I think I blurted out a quick "You little asshole!" right when it happened but that's all I said. It was a big, rowdy crowd, quite a few of them were older, and it felt like it could have gotten really nasty, really fast. I just thought the best thing to do was get out of there before it got any uglier.

It also annoys me that a full half hour after I called the police asking that someone go over there and bust it up, they hadn't shown up. As a result, it was still going on, had gotten more tense, and my neighbor was assaulted.

erikka · July 2007

King without a crown wrote: These incidents are not merely childs play. Before reading the last post I was thinking to myself about the countless incidents like this, that often lead to sexual assaults, fights and even gunplay. The ole kids will be kids attitude is part of a larger problem, leaving unsupervised kids to terrorize the neighborhood. I don't think anyone on this forum would like an incident like this to happen to themselves or their loved ones.

I agree....and it wasn't just kids. A grown man hit your neighbor completely unprovoked.

Fuck them, call the cops.

armchair_warrior · July 2007

time to go buy some water balloons or water guns to get that sucker back. when you see him snip him next time with it.

if you have access to garden hose even better. that teach that little bastard. lol

some punk did that to me years back. i was walking home. neighbor kid had water guns and was shooting each other. one of them eyes. me and i told him. if you soak me i'll get you punk. he laughed and soak me.

i went for my garden hose. he learn his lesson. /hopes none of his stuff gets busted by the damn kids.

apollonia666 · July 2007

Armchair, I've already explained why I don't think it was a good idea to escalate the situation.

armchair_warrior · July 2007

merely jesting

.

ben · July 2007

apollonia666 wrote:
It also annoys me that a full half hour after I called the police asking that someone go over there and bust it up, they hadn't shown up. As a result, it was still going on, had gotten more tense, and my neighbor was assaulted.

I think this is a big issue. Even though it was water, it was still an assault which caused both economic and emotional damage. The fact that a group that large had congregated and were assaulting people should have been looked into immediately by the police upon them being made aware of it.

KWAC appears to recognize that these things can escalate which validates that the police should have known the same.

King without a crown wrote:
These incidents are not merely childs play. Before reading the last post I was thinking to myself about the countless incidents like this, that often lead to sexual assaults, fights and even gunplay. The ole kids will be kids attitude is part of a larger problem, leaving unsupervised kids to terrorize the neighborhood. I don't think anyone on this forum would like an incident like this to happen to themselves or their loved ones.

I think the people in charge need to be asked some serious questions as to why this was not broken up sooner. Someone should be accountable. Luckily the final assault was not to the degree that KWAC describes that it could have been, i.e. sexual or gunplay.

king without a crown · July 2007

Often a there are dozens of these 911 calls on any given hot day. They usually get dispatched as a Disorderly Group playing with water. Many other pertinent details are left out to the responding officers. As you can see, even the so called "nice neighbors" didnt feel they needed to get involved. The Police are running around back and forth from one end of the precinct to other, responding to all sorts of "emergency calls" with that being said, it is very difficult to determine that the Disorderly Group playing with water is also Harassing and Assaulting people.

apollonia666 · July 2007

King without a crown wrote: Often a there are dozens of these 911 calls on any given hot day. They usually get dispatched as a Disorderly Group playing with water. Many other pertinent details are left out to the responding officers. As you can see, even the so called "nice neighbors" didnt feel they needed to get involved. The Police are running around back and forth from one end of the precinct to other, responding to all sorts of "emergency calls" with that being said, it is very difficult to determine that the Disorderly Group playing with water is also Harassing and Assaulting people.

Thank you, KWAC -- that really helps to know. What you're saying makes a lot of sense -- I'm not sure how much I perceived at the time or how accurately I was able to convey the situation to the 911 operator. While I was really upset and freaked out by the incident while I was on the phone with her, I hadn't noticed any adults participating at the time, and nobody approached me in a particularly menacing way, so it probably did get reported to the responders without harassment/assault included.

It's possible that I just wasn't perceptive enough about what was going on, or it may just be that the adults joined in and turned things nasty after I had left.

Super Soaked at St. Marks and Grand

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