Greenwich Village Block Associations NewsAn Occasional Publication from the Greenwich Village Block Associations & An Open Community Forum |
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Alice Certainly Doesn't Live Hereby Wendy DixonIf you missed the Mad Hatter's tea party, you should have attended the February 12 'Quality of Life' Forum held by Community Board 2 at St. Vincent's Hospital. With a view towards addressing 'quality of life' problems besetting Villagers in search of quiet in their homes and safety on the streets, NYPD police brass, including reappointed Commissioner Raymond Kelly turned out to discuss issues with community residents. Prior to the 'standing room and not enough of that' event, a nasty flyer from a Chelsea group called FIERCE urged the youth who commandeer Village corners, to show up, opining that homophobic, racist Grinches were rising up to halt the good times. Villagers facing vicious drug dealers and hostile transgender prostitutes, may have not put these late night tourists tops on the agenda, but the 'kids' came early, grabbed seats, and demanded attention. Villagers, who hadn't 'seen the scene', saw what their neighbors have been enduring for years... and the kids were on their 'best' behavior. Were these young folks ferried to St. Vincent's by taxpayer funded social service providers, which are supposed to offer alternatives to a disruptive, dead end life style? Carrying 'in your face' signs, asserting their right to take over Village streets, they demanded jobs (without specifying skills) and..... more social services. They were making these demands of the NYPD, which, responded patiently ...no answers, because this isn't their job. Representatives of the rowdies were invited to sit on the dais. From this vantage point, they assailed the Commissioner and NYPD reps. Residents, who outnumbered the kids by about 4 to 1, spoke out...they were outraged that residents from elsewhere were causing so much trouble in the Village and assuming that they had the right to do it. And it wasn't just wealthy newcomers talking (as intimated in a March 30 New York Times piece ). Villagers of all incomes, renters and owners, many who have lived in the Village for years, were tired of having themselves and their community abused. (Virtually, all Village crime is committed by people who don't live here.) Rowdy street behavior may not be criminal, but it sends a destructive invitation to drug dealers, and other criminals...the 'broken window of civility'. What was lost in the clamor was an inescapable fact. All these kids hanging out on our streets isn't good for residents, for business, and it isn't good for the kids. When they were coming - mainly from New Jersey - by the hundreds and 'doing what they do' on the piers, tolerant Villagers didn't say much. The piers are closed now; they keep coming and 'doing what they do' on the streets. Many are Jersey City residents; their own community has a curfew, which means that they can't go home until morning. The kids were making demands in the wrong state. CB2 threw a 'wild pitch' when it sponsored this event; it could have hit anywhere and anything. If the GVBA and other groups had not flyered the neighborhood and urged residents to attend, the 'street kids' would have taken over and sent the wrong signal to the NYPD. The auditorium was packed; it was confrontational, it was unpredictable, and it was dangerous. As a result, St. Vincent's Hospital no longer allows CB2 the use of its auditorium. And the event effectively ended whatever sympathy there may have been in the Village for the plight of a bunch of kids who, in many respects, are their own worst enemy. All in all, it was a night 'never to forget' even for those of us who wish it had never happened. |