Freaks, Misfits, Malcontents, Parolees Coming to 147 Pierrepont

CP– if you want to mingle with ” citizens who have been admitted to our penal system” that is YOUR personal choice. I won’t judge you for it and I’d appreciate that you don’t judge me for my equally valid personal choice to not want a massive parole faacility in my backyard. I dont care what color or creed the parolees are. I care that they are parolees which by definition implies people with a history of criminal behavior. Criminal behavior implies a threat to safety and comfort. I am sure I dont need to patronize you by explaininhg all the reasons why a threat to safety and comfort would make one unhappy. Essentially, what you are saying is analogous to something like “anyone who chooses not to have sexual relations with someone afflicted with herpes is a discriminating pig, bc there is a chance to catch the disease between flare-ups.” I too have had personal relationships with people who have passed through the penal system. It doesn’t mean i want them unloaded en masse in my backyard or in my child’s school.

I am wondering why you even choose to live here in our little racist, homogenous enclave.

“The prevalence of this type of attitude is exactly what concerns me about raising my daughter in the Heights.”

“Making broad statements about a large group people rarely leads to accurate claims or claims that strengthen communities.”

Gotta remember that this blog is only representative of a small faction Heights residents. (Sorry, Homer.)

Similar to Nancy, I want to know if the liberal ideology would survive if a registered sexual predator moved in next door. Would you be comfortable with that?

It’s not prejudice regarding convicted criminals (the innocent don’t have parole officers). It’s more like post-judice.

to ABC, with the difference being that all the offices will now be consolidated into one massive location in a SCHOOL building.

Smartest comment on Brownstoner, posted here without permission (author is anonymous, but if I recognize the style, possibly the best history teacher in the city):

“I’ve been teaching at St. Ann’s for over 30 years. It’s a city school–safe for reasons that make suburban schools unsafe. Our safety comes from knowing all kinds of people firsthand, and knowing that people, young and old, live in the same society, gate their communities how they will. The biggest danger, statistically, to teenage people is not parolees or other potential lawbreakers, it is the automobiles they use to get around and hang out beyond the reach of urban public transportation. For kids under those ages, I could easily argue that the greatest risk could be poor immunities due to lack of everyday contact with large numbers of disease carriers. That’s the paradox: protect yourself by excluding others and you run the greater risk that the protection will fail. I’ll throttle incipient references to national politics except to point out that the Eastern (east of Brooklyn Bridge) and Southern (west of Brooklyn Bridge)Districts of the federal court system are quite separate, but that both handle drug prosecutions, which are, because of the dumb “war on drugs,” an overflow business in every District.”

(Ok I lied, back on my soapbox for a minute) Concerned Parent, I don’t recall mentioning any real estate investment; that is the least of my concerns.

This applies more to state prisons than federal, but many inmates and ex-offenders have severe mental health issues. (The lack of resources put into mental health care in prison does not entirely help.) The fact that federal prison is largely people committing medicare fraud also kind of undercuts the hysteria unless you are, in fact, in a nursing home. It’s especially disturbing to see Rep. Velazquez, who has been a leader for mental health parity, leading the pile-on. (Maybe she thinks so little of Brooklyn Heights that the only time she’s shown any awareness of the neighborhood is to pander to the right. One expects more from Democrats with seats for life.)

Property value, shmoperty value. First, there’s no threat whatsoever to property values from nearby government offices. (I used to work near main justice in DC, and the neighborhood was pretty nice.) Second, the U.S. Attorney is not insuring you from loss. You buy property, you assume the risk of the price going down, just as you benefit from the price going up. Not that it’s wrong to complain, per se, but crying lost property value is not a conversation-ender.

Also, I did not say only white people were complaining — to do so would be unfair to Congresswoman Velazquez — just that it’s enjoyable but also to this scotch-irish bastard to see individuals who meet just about any definition of privileged acting like victims about a private real estate lease to which none of them is a party. Still, fear of crime, when it comes out of a politician’s mouth, has historically meant anti-minority sentiments, some of which can be found, supra. For her part, Velazquez doesn’t get a pass on this — she’s the one who said Hispanics won’t vote for Obama unless Hillary’s the VP.

There’s another argument that even if you accept the argument as true that the feds shouldn’t lease property near schools, or use the properties they do lease for anything, why should anyone care if it’s near a *private* school. If parents don’t like it, they can take a walk. Not sure even I buy that one.