Shooting last night: Hart St

Pursuant to local custom, random gunfire is permitted only after 2:00 a.m. Conduct yourself accordingly.

frankly, in most cases a neighborhood is safe as long as you don't get caught in the crossfire. i live in what many considered a bad neighborhood. there are fights, there are gunshots ... but they don't involve me. i'd of course like the area to be safer for everyone, but for the time being i don't feel unsafe personally. so apply it to your situation, if you can live with it, you'll probably be fine.

I been around that area.. It isn't as appealing as other parts of BedStuy due to constant noise and people hanging out..But I would say - you should be safe there.. Police are everywhere in BedStuy..There may be a police officer stationed 2 blocks away.. ( I recall, maybe) .. There are mandates that on certain blocks -- a police officer be present.. for public safety,etc..

I'm with the FDNY as an EMT. In the past I've encountered people who don't know what an EMT is. An EMT is an Emergency Medical Technician. What that means is that I work on an ambulance. So my office says "FDNY AMBULANCE" on it and it has wheels. Get it?

Ok- I have worked Bed Stuy for the past three years. I'm from Brooklyn. I was born in Bensonhurst and was a minority in the neighborhood because I'm Irish. What I'm driving at, if it matters, is that I am white.

I have seen a sense of community and family in Bed Stuy that I've never experienced in any neighborhood I've lived in or visited. I have seen families outside their buildings talking to one another, barbequeing together, etc. I've walked into apartments and houses and seen concerned neighbors who have called 911 because their elderly neighbor isn't feeling well. There is a strong sense of community.

I have also seen unspeakable violence which would send some people to therapists. I was the first unit on scene at the triple shooting on Gates Av outside the Louis Armstrong Houses Wednesday night. I transported the 16 year old that the paper listed as "critically injured". Trust me- he was critically injured. While I was treating him, I had two more people shot laying on the ground and begging me for help until other units showed up on scene. Today a kid sitting on Gates Avenue cursed at me and blamed me for what happened to his friend. I said "I didn't put the bullet in him, pal" and drove off.

My point is- this shooting took place outside of a housing project. Housing projects are for low income families. If you look at the American history of any ethnic group- the Italians, the Germans, the Irish, the Jews- I defy you to find a difference between them and the poverty stricken black families living in the projects in Bed Stuy. The Irish, the Germans, the Jews, the Italians- all of them at one time were considered violent and ignorant.

On certain blocks in Bed Stuy are brownstones more beautiful than any in the city. I have had the pleasure of being inside some of these homes and have spoken with the residents. In these buildings I have encountered intelligent, educated, polite, wonderful black men and women who want only to live amongst their own people. I understand this. When I was growing up, I wanted to live amongst Irish people. Water seeks it's own level. We all fundamentally want to live among people to which we can relate.

I do not wish to say that people who live in the projects are not as intelligent as those who own brownstones. I only mean to say that they are at a disadvantage and should be given some "slack", based on economic status and all that that implies.

The main thing I wish to say is this- As a white man, who does not consider himself to have any racial prejudices- I sit at work. I sit on Fulton and Nostrand. And I sit and watch black children, and black families, black men and women go about their business in their own neighborhood. And then every now and again- one of you midwestern born, white hipsters pops out from the subway stairs in your V-neck hanes t-shirt, your fedora, your beard and glasses, and your stupid fucking idealistic smile. And I say to myself "You know what- if this motherfucker moved into my neighborhood, I don't think I could stop myself from robbing him."

New York is a tough city, and Bed Stuy is quite possibly the strongest evidence this city has. If you ain't from there, don't go there. And don't cry to me when you get pistol whipped and all you money gets vicked. As far as I'm concerned, you asked for it.

To the real Bed Stuy community- I'm here to serve you. If you see us sitting in our ambulance (which may not be that often because we've been very very busy lately) wave at us. Come up and talk to us. We're on this job because we love people. I promise you, if you pick the ambulance with me and my partner inside, you'll leave laughing. We're here for you.


YUPPIES GO HOME

ashlee spears wrote: so, by that logic, would you also post "BLACKS GO HOME" on a message board covering the upper east side?

Yeah, SevenAdam does really well until his last few paragraphs and then his sign-off shatters any remaining credibility he may have had.

Good effort but better luck next time.

Ok- I see some valid responses to my post, I don't have time to address them at the moment- I'm on my way out the door. I will write back later. Again- valid points were made, and I would like to clarify what I was saying. I appreciate the intelligent dialogue instead of verbal assault. I mean that sincerely. I will write more later.

No name face- I appreciate what you've said. The last paragraph got a little off centered, but aside from that, it was great.

Ok- re-reading what I posted, I can even see where I may be misinterpreted as mistaking race for class. I was trying to keep my posting succinct. I think I excised some important points in the process.

The "yuppies" I refer to are not confined by color. I think "hipster" would have been a better word than "yuppie". And furthermore- I see plenty of young black males from the neighborhood dressing in ways I'm not used to seeing black males dress. One thing I didn't mention is that I ingratiated myself in the skateboard and punk rock culture when I was younger. I see young black men carrying skateboards, wearing tight pants, wearing aviator sunglasses, and for lack of a better word, looking like hipsters. And if that's what they want to do, good for them.

If white people want to move to Bed Stuy, good for them. But I feel like most of the white folks I've seen in Bed Stuy look as if they're trying too hard. I've seen black folks in Bed Stuy that look as if they're trying too hard, too. It's just easier to spot the white cats. My partner said today, as a white dude walked up Nostrand with his Ipod on "Please rob me". We see weakness and vulnerability because we've perfected not showing it. Sometimes this vulnerability is humorous to us. It's sick and sad, but it's true.

I looked at Craigslist before I moved into my apartment in Park Slope, which is where my grandparents, aunts, and uncles lived before they had to sell buildings and jump ship, so to speak, when the neighborhood turned to shit. The rents in Bed Stuy are comparable to, if not exactly the same as the rents here. And I live in the yuppie capital of Brooklyn, I'm ashamed to say. These are my roots, though.

So I sympathize with the Bed Stuy natives who own beautiful brownstones and rent a floor to lily-white, idealistic suburbanites. I sympathize with the natives who rent to black yuppie suburbanites.

I got called to a beautiful brownstone last week and found five ancient Schwinns in the hallway, and as we were carrying the guy out of the house, I said "Let me guess, you rent to yuppies"

This large, black, military family, neighborhood native man said sarcastically "How'd you guess?"

He was resigned.

I've told my lieutenant- Bed Stuy should be a black enclave instead of a black ghetto. It's a beautiful place. It could be a wonderful neighborhood.

And in response to the queries as to whether I'd say "Blacks go home" or whether or not I'd advocate white-on-black violence in Bensonhurst, the answer is unequivocally: Absolutely not.

Bed Stuy is a black neighborhood. There are class differences throughout the neighborhood. No matter where you go, unless you live in the projects, rent is the same as it would be anywhere else in the city. So "yuppies" white or black or asian or pacific islanders cannot hide behind cheap rent for a place with amazing square footage with wood floors and no roaches, cuz I would have known about it before you moved here.

The rents in Bed Stuy are no cheaper than anywhere else. I know this. Bed Stuy is as beautiful as Park Slope, if not, moreso.

And yes- maybe I look at the people I serve as charges that I must nobly protect- but I do look at them as people.

If anyone has any other problems with me- post em.

Do people truly believe that the rents in Bed Stuy are the same as in Park Slope?

I kind of ignored that part.

Ben wrote: Do people truly believe that the rents in Bed Stuy are the same as in Park Slope?

SevenAdam wrote: I've told my lieutenant- Bed Stuy should be a black enclave instead of a black ghetto.

See, SevenAdam, again I'm not seeing why you need to specify that it should be a "black" enclave as opposed to a "black" ghetto. Why do you specify the RACE of the people living there? Why not simply say "it should be a neighborhood instead of a ghetto"? Why do you continue to call attention to the race of the people who live there?

Focusing on race and wanting division out of "respect" for difference generally just backfires on the group with the least power.

Black people should want white people streaming into their neighborhoods and vice-versa because black and white people need desperately to become more culturally flexible and more attuned to common goals.

Race is a terrible, destructive distraction from larger problems.

hear hear

[ post removed by moderator. no commercial shilling, thanks ]

What is commercial shilling? :?: