In Bushwick Schools, Police State Persists
PS 384 on Cooper Street, by specmotors
The Village Voice’s heroic Nat Hentoff wants to know the Bloomberg Administration’s logic behind handcuffing children under 16 for non-crimes and booking them at police precincts. Of course, nobody denies these kids are probably misbehaving, but this is the province of a school disciplinarian, not a nightstick-wielding police officer. As discussed here previously, treating at-risk children like criminals is not a good way to steer them clear of a future life of crime — in fact, by exposing them to threatening jails and indifferent cops early on, it teaches them early on that the world is against them.
Bushwick kids have it bad enough without being tasked with trying to learn in a police-state environment.
October 29th, 2008 at 3:33 pm
Love the pic of the police car parked comfortably on the sidewalk. Setting a good example for the rest of us, I see! Next thing you know, they’ll start driving through red lights, or the wrong way down one-way streets. Oh, but that’s okay: they’re the PO-LICE. They can do whatever they want.
October 29th, 2008 at 4:26 pm
Speaking of police, any idea on why there’ve been SO MANY POLICE around recently? The burgeoning compound by the Marcy J is bad enough, but the other day I saw cops with a DOG inside the Myrtle-Broadway stop, during rush-hour. They couldn’t move any of these cops down a few stops to, e.g., Halsey, where my friend was mugged walking home from the stop at 1030pm a few months ago?
(Sorry I sound so much like a Letter to the Editor…)
October 29th, 2008 at 6:41 pm
All hail King Michael - or else! Actually, if more parents would set boundaries and discipline their children at home - let them know that breaking school rules has consequences, not only those imposed by the teachers but ramifications from the parents as well - this police involvement would be non existent (and certainly not invited by the schools). But I guess no one has the time (or interest?). I know two Brooklyn teachers that feel their job was reduced to that of glorified baby sitters (the young one moved to Long Island so she could get a “real” teaching job, the older man is just counting the time until he grabs early retirement).
While waiting at the bank Saturday, I watched a little boy get a bit rambunctious while waiting with his mom and grandmother. They threatened to “call the police” if he didn’t settle down! Once upon a time, as little kids, didn’t we think the cops were there to HELP us in case of trouble? Now cops discipline the children because no one else wants to bother, I guess. And they use handcuffs because that’s what cops do.
October 29th, 2008 at 7:21 pm
“treating at-risk children like criminals”
They were at risk by the age of 2.
They are damned criminals, as long as a 12 year old can slash your face with a box cutter all these brats should be treated like criminals with weapons.
October 29th, 2008 at 8:43 pm
As an educator, I personally feel a lot safer knowing the police are around to keep me safe. I am not a fan of the 83rd precinct, and have dealt with their corrupt bullshit too many times however these kids today are capable of anything. And you suggest their parents do something at home? The streets are their parents….this isn’t a rural town, this is the real fucking deal. It is sad to admit, but its true. Its like the posts about the military recruits. There’s a reason why they’re coming around here…because a number of these kids have no hope, no direction, and no one to care where they end up.
October 29th, 2008 at 9:24 pm
“The streets are their parents…” - so maybe that’s why there’s so many condoms littering Bushwick streets? And if the streets are their parents, who are the people receiving “public assistance” every time one of these kids are born?
It only “takes a village” because too many parents bear no responsibility for their kids. Thank God for grandparents or we’d really be up shits creek, rural or not.
October 29th, 2008 at 11:43 pm
In my little corner of Bushwick, the children are kind, wonderful, and happy. I love them and their parents.
October 30th, 2008 at 9:56 am
Not all kids in Bushwick are bad but when I first moved here a group of Mexican gang members tried to mug me in front of my building and a neighbor helped me and got rid of them by threatening to call the police. I think most people want only the best in the neighborhood and like the positive changes that are happening without a heavy police presence.
October 30th, 2008 at 11:00 am
I live across the street from an elementary school (opposite Maria Hernandez Park) with a predominantly Latin American student body. My guess is that most of the kids are Mexican or from Central America. When school lets out, the parents come to pick up the kids and the whole scene looks like something out of a small town. Everyone is smiling, kids getting ice cream cones etc. The kid seem generally well behaved, wear uniforms, and the parents are obviously involved if they take the time to pick up their kids at school. I bet these kids won’t be causing havoc around the neighborhood once they get to high school.
October 30th, 2008 at 12:08 pm
Erin’s comment about the 83rd precinct being corrupt piqued my interest. I would like to know more about this. Anyone have any insight?
October 30th, 2008 at 12:29 pm
The recent Mexican immigrants in Wyckoff Heights are some of the most positive, friendly, hardworking, modest, kind, ingenious, frugal, cooperative and supportive of each other, upwardly mobile people you could ever hope to meet. I find them inspirational. They are very far from being gang members, though I’m not disputing there might be a Mexican gang around somewhere in this city. (Uh, you’re sure it wasn’t Columbian?)
October 30th, 2008 at 12:38 pm
Obviously these kids have parents, but from what I see they could give 2 shits about what their kids are doing. Maybe I should clarify- I too see parents who pick their kids up and have happy smiling kids, but there is an alarming amount of kids out there who have nothing to go home to, hence gangs and other troublesome activities that provide these kids a sense of “family” or belonging. And that is what I meant by saying the streets are their parents. Their parents really do not take responsibility to provide the child with the love and guidance that it takes to raise a responsible member of society. There’s a little boy on my street that on any day during school hours, you can find him skateboarding or hanging out in the street. Which always raises the question “where are his parents? Why isn’t he in school?” Sure, its horrible that the police have to be posted at the schools all the time, but until things change, that’s what is needed. My previous post was too generalized-there are parents in bushwick who care, and I can see in some parts the sense of community that helps these kids…but on the other hand…
October 30th, 2008 at 12:42 pm
And kevin- corrupt was not the correct word to use…..useless and arrogant are more appropriate. I’ve had multiple experiences with them where they’ve done nothing, haven’t helped, sexually harassed, and have shown no regard or care for the community that they’re supposed to be protecting. I’ve always been a supporter of the police lol but not the 83rd precinct..they blow
October 30th, 2008 at 1:27 pm
Abuse of power also comes to mind
October 30th, 2008 at 2:12 pm
Screw the immigrants with parents who spit in the face of our laws by illegally entering the country the little ones will soon follow.
For reference see predominately Mexican/Latino towns in California. Or watch the Spanish news from Mexico where whole towns are executed and rape is at over 50%.
God bless the police who are always under appreciated.
October 30th, 2008 at 7:10 pm
#15, you have no idea what you’re talking about. It’s only the narco-dominated areas that have violence, and it’s rarely random. I’m a gringo that splits time between Brooklyn and Mexico City.
Funny you bring up immigrants on this thread. I think they’re the best parents we have in Bushwick. My anecdotal sense is that the Mexican/Central American parents are much more involved than the nonimmigrant Puerto Rican and Black parents in Bushwick, and their children are correspondingly much better behaved.
Yes, there are exceptions, but I think it’s a generally accurate observation.
October 30th, 2008 at 8:40 pm
I love Mexican immigrants. They’ve helped destroy my nation’s economy, but as people, they’re great. Usually humble and kind - but it’s a problem.
I was actually in Life Cafe and the girl who works there said she thought she should be allowed to vote (she’s british) because she pays taxes here…
i was like - omg, no way.
October 30th, 2008 at 11:25 pm
Little Bear it’s about crime stats and the Cops protecting us.
Go to report a crime in Mexico City and see how that ends up. Google “california gangs” and name the dozens of gangs with millions of “humble and kind” members.
Florida is now home to former Bushwickers but I see no triple digit jump in crime or neighborhoods marked by gang signs and colors. Yet thanks to the immigrants the last few murders in Bushwick have been gang related, the new graffiti is all this cryptic MS-13 garbage.
Like bed bugs they introduced to NY these waves of immigrants will slowly invade then exploded in blood and violence.
I hope the 83rd is ready and willing to knock them down before it gets bad.
October 30th, 2008 at 11:42 pm
someone has a split personality
October 30th, 2008 at 11:49 pm
rapom & Dresden,
1. The United States’ economy would fall apart without Mexican immigrants.
2. The United States destroyed the ability for Mexican farmers to earn sustainable, living wages with the introduction of various NAFTA agreements. Through “free trade” negotiations, America has been selling its heavily subsidized corn products in Mexico for a long time, making it impossible for Mexican farmers to compete with their unsubsidized crops. The agriculture sector was crippled and farmers, mostly from southern regions, crossed the border to find work.
3. Racism brings me down - direct your anger at the companies/employers that rely on undocumented workers to minimize their expenses.
4. Immigration has gone the way of the stock market: DOWN. As the United States continues to lose global dominance, skilled workers will look elsewhere for employment - leaving a large gap in the American workforce, considering the collapse of education standards over the last 30 years.
rapom, you better be ready to work, really work, and stop blaming homegrown problems on foreigners.
October 31st, 2008 at 6:10 am
Diego points out some good lies perpetuated by the media.
I assign blame where it belongs not putting a shine on a group because they act nice for a short time.
October 31st, 2008 at 1:50 pm
When I post “insensitive” things about grown-ass adults who should have to take responsibility for themselves or suffer the consequences of their actions, I am a racist, a sexist, a midwestern hipster douchebag coldhearted Darwinist asshole etc. THEN when I post something in solidarity with fucking CHILDREN persecuted by cops in school, the comments are full of the SAME people who call me heartless saying “fuck those punks”!!! WHAT THE FUCK? Defenseless children in a bad situation, put there by their irresponsible dirtbag parents and shoved on their way to delinquency by their premature contact with authorities should grow up fast, but once they grow up, they should be endlessly coddled from cradle to grave. Wow. The bizarro logic is thick here.
As for the comments about Mexicans and immigrants, “ropam” aka “Man” went in disguise (I don’t know why he’d think I would keep it a secret) to go all Boricua Archie Bunker on us. You hate white people (unless, *faint* they’re movie stars!), you hate Central Americans, but I guess it’s okay for you to be racist just like it’s okay for the very lightest Puerto Rican to say “nigger” 20 times an hour and say all kinds of shit about white women with no asses and joke about Mexican “caras planchadas.” But if I DARE say something snarky about basketball jerseys, I am the absolute worst thing since fucking Hitler — might as well have killed some black babies with my teeth.
MS-13 — Mara Salvatrucha — is a Salvadoran, not Mexican, gang. I haven’t seen them, but I don’t doubt there are MS-13 tags in Bushwick — we have a significant Salvadoran population, so anything is possible. No, what I see is the same “Platano” and “Piojo” tags all over the place — it’s not Mexicans, here ONLY to work and send remittances home, whose lives are so pathetic and pointless that they are proud of marks they make with Sharpies and spray paint on other people’s things. The recent gang violence in Bushwick is the same old black and Puerto Rican gangs that have ALWAYS been here, and always killing each other.
The reason Bushwickers who leave don’t export gang culture to Orlando is because they are self-filtering. In other words, in most circumstances, any half-sane low-income person who can afford it would get the FUCK out of here as soon as they can, and they do. The Orlando burbs may be boring, but it’s a decent, affordable place to raise children, away from gangs and rats and collapsing old tenements.
That you bring up the fact that illegal immigrants “break our laws” by sneaking into the country demonstrates the thickness of bubble you live in. When talking about your own people and Bushwick, your heart bleeds for those too bratty to live where they can afford, you calmly explain that Bushwick is a half-burned shithole because of the worst 5%. But when it comes to the desperate, crushing, life-or-death poverty suffered by Central Americans braving the border to just find a job, you find no reason to try to understand why — you just spit down on them from your ignorant perch, like the cruelest Arizona Minuteman. Because you probably think your community’s candy-ass First World poverty is as bad as it gets, where families are so poor they can’t afford DVR on top of their 900 channel cable service. Nobody here is poor. Central Americans are poor. But they are less so now because of the entrepreneurship and initiative they demonstrate every day in the US, against all odds, even those put in their path by the ignorance of cruel xenophobes like you.
The plain fact — fyi, Dresden — is that Mexican illegals are here to work, and saying they helped “destroy [the] nation’s economy” is the exact opposite of the truth. There is a demand for cheap, unskilled labor in this country, and these enterprising people are supplying it. They have taken nothing from us — and to be clear, we have taken nothing from them — and we all benefit from each other, because all of these transactions are voluntary and necessary. Maybe that’s the real reason why Man/rapom hates Mexican guts so much — they work for a living instead of festering in a culture of welfare dependence like the old Bushwick he loves so much.
October 31st, 2008 at 1:54 pm
To clarify, “ropam” is not “mopar” — fuck, nobody is that dumb to think that disguises them and nobody would realize it. I happen to agree with mopar here, if it wasn’t abundantly clear above — any Mexican or Central American kids acting like punks learned it from being in Bushwick, not from their parents’ native cultures.
November 1st, 2008 at 12:53 am
Never tried to disguise just responding to one particular commentator.
Seeing how you don’t know my ethnicity or the other three names I use to comment on this site your Xenophobe comment would seem funny.
I hate no one.
In my five blogs and years of posts and thousands of comments else where, along with my own real life I’ve never used such harsh ugly language like this…”You hate white people (unless, *faint* they’re movie stars!), you hate Central Americans, but I guess it’s okay for you to be racist just like it’s okay for the very lightest Puerto Rican to say “nigger” 20 times an hour and say all kinds of shit about white women with no asses and joke about Mexican “caras planchadas.”” lies said Jeremy to prove some odd point.
You’re full of hate but twist to throw it on everyone else. Not even as a joke have I used the N word that was thrown in my face as a youth.
That never happened to you, but you probably will write some brilliant comment and call me sort of word-hater because I refuse to use that word.
I did say God bless the police for a personal reason so I do have a bias towards the 83rd.
November 1st, 2008 at 10:25 am
The police car is parked on the sidewalk in this picture. Notice that. Simple things.
November 1st, 2008 at 3:15 pm
Jeremy is completely right. The Mexican immigrants in Bushwick are a very positive force. They have nothing to do with gangs. You should see the relationship they have with their kids. It is something for all of us to emulate.
November 1st, 2008 at 3:25 pm
Jeremy, well said.
November 1st, 2008 at 4:54 pm
CTS-26 (twice as bad as 13?) that is them, I just came back and that is the gang signed scribbled every where from my front door to the train station.
I asked the landlord to paint over it he said he’s done it three times, it was school kids not gang members.
I said it’s gang kids same thing. He said your late with the rent and I said I got run see ya later.