Brooklyn Better Every Year? Tell It to the Cops
Cops valiantly protecting Brooklynites from the Idiotarod. (from the defunct Brooklyn Record).
I was at a Christmas party next door last night, and started talking with a cluster of guests near the food table. Turns out one of the group was a guy who grew up in Bed-Stuy, talking about how Brooklyn is cleaner, safer, more fun, and cooler all the time. “Look at Bushwick — this neighborhood is so much better!” We shared stories about how it used to be — he particularly liked my story from my dad about fishtailing at 50mph to keep thieves in late-’70s Bed-Stuy from breaking into his delivery truck. His stories about random crime were, of course, first-hand; mine were passed down from my father and others.
“Yeah, everything gets better here every year except the cops.” I perked up, of course. We then began sharing stories and complaints; one of his was that a cop lured him off his mother’s stoop with a beer in his hand, and when he stepped on the sidewalk he was issued an open container ticket. We also talked about people ticketed for walking their bikes across the sidewalk from their stoops to the street. “Don’t ride your bike at the end of the month” was advice we shared on avoiding being a victim of citation quotas.
He said a friend of his was stabbed four times on the Metropolitan G platform, though the station houses a police precinct. A cop stumbled upon the guy laying in a pool of blood and asked him if he was okay. “I’m fuckin’ bleeding!” his friend responded, and was reprimanded by the cop for his attitude!
To hear native Brooklynites tell it (to the deep chagrin of those who like it how it used to be just because that’s how it used to be), the borough is better than ever. So why do the cops still act like it’s 1977 up in here?
December 21st, 2007 at 2:13 pm
Because 24 is awesome?
December 22nd, 2007 at 6:05 pm
Sometimes rough around the edges and other times outright rude but it was those cops who worked there, in 77,87,97 and now even in 07 that you can walk in the parks and on the street. Wish you could have walked those streets then with you camera in hand.
December 22nd, 2007 at 6:14 pm
BTW… I do not condone rude behavior but many understand that although some cops are jerks there are many more out that that have made the area nicer. Unlike like others who just bad mouth cops.
December 22nd, 2007 at 6:43 pm
The basic fact is - Jeremy is a rude prick who hates cops, Jews (even though he is one), and most definitely himself.
Another fact is - cops are paid so little, what is most probable is that the ones who are the street grunts are a bit unintelligent - however they are also serving humanity…
something Jeremy isn’t doing.
June 12th, 2008 at 4:31 pm
You gentrifiers should thank the heavens every waking hour for the NYPD. They make your little excursions into formerly blighted neighborhoods like Bushwick possible. The fact of the matter is, the police aren’t acting like it’s 1977 anymore. They had far more pressing issues to address than to bust people’s balls for open container violations and bicycle citations. A greater police presence was instumental in making Bushwick along with most of Brooklyn and the city a relatively safe and palatable place for gentrifiers to live. Now that Bushwick is a lot safer it should only be expected that the police crack down on quality-of-life crimes. It sucks but that’s the price you pay for a safe neighborhood. Unless, of course, you’d prefer things to be like they were in 1977.
June 12th, 2008 at 9:06 pm
Bob, let me qualify the following comments: I was born and raised on the streets of Bushwick. I lived throughout the blackout and the crack years and finally left about 18 years ago to start a new life in the Far East. I can say definitively that “Police Presence” had nothing to do with the improvements you see there today. Nothing. When I was a kid in the 70’s, we had plenty of cops walking the beat (many were crooked, ask any old timer if he remembers a certain detective Medina and his crew). Life was bad because of the prevalence of drugs, joblessness, racism and too many young people. But once the effects of roe vs wade kicked in and more low income druggies opted for abortions, we saw a subsequent drop in birthrates that eventually bore fruit in the late 90′ in the form of lower crime rates (young men from low income homes are the number one perpetrators of crime after all). So you see, Giulliani and his blue boys has little to do with the drop in crime. In fact, when NY saw a drop in crime, so did most of the major cities in America, mostly due to a drastic change in demographics. Not more cops. My brother was a NYC cop for 10 years. He worked some of the shittiest beats in the city. If you knew what really goes on behind the blue line you wouldn’t think so highly of New York’s finest. I think a neighborhood could do better by maintaining a private police force paid for by the local residents and answers directly to their patrons…the tax payer.
June 12th, 2008 at 9:49 pm
Couldn’t have said it better myself, Tony! People are gonna start thinking you’re my alter-ego…
June 13th, 2008 at 8:56 am
I can see it now - private security forces to protect and serve the fine citizens of Beverly Hills, er I forgot, we’re talking BUSHWICK here. Adding another layer of cops is silly, gentlemen.
June 13th, 2008 at 9:14 am
Nobody said anything about another layer of cops.
June 13th, 2008 at 9:40 am
so we tell NYPD to get out of Bushwick and we stop paying taxes for NYPD and we hire private police and appoint some entity to monitor the new cops I guess? AS I said, SILLY! Only way Bushwick gets private cops is to add another layer to NYPD (as Beverly Hills added another layer to LAPD, but this being Bushwick all we could afford is the Bloods or Crypts!
June 13th, 2008 at 10:16 am
Or maybe this would require just a little more explanation than you think it does. The private security bit is tangential to the conversation, anyhow. The cops did NOT clean up Bushwick, Bushwick cleaned up DESPITE the actions of the cops.