Brooklyn Paper on Clark Street Dorm’s Spring Offensive

By on May 5, 2011 11:57 am in News

The Brooklyn Paper picks up on BHB’s initial report of a “Mad Soda Can Bomber” at the Clark Street dorm.  Seems like one suspect has been given the boot:

Brooklyn Paper: “One time, they threw a yogurt, and it came very close to hitting me,” said Heights resident Peter Myers.

And it has been a site of recurring problems for the past 14 years — ever since the students moved into the grand building, which was once the largest hotel in the city, and where part of “The Godfather” was filmed.

“This has been going on for years,” said Clark Street resident Andrew McKeon. “This has been a systemic problem since it’s been a dorm.”

Residents have been urging the dorm to do more — and officials say they are taking the complaints seriously.

A student suspected in one of the can-hurling incidents has been evicted, said Christy Gaiti-Chatfield, vice president of student life for Educational Housing Services, the non-profit company that manages the dorm, which includes 1,300 students from about 12 area colleges.

Share this Story:

, ,

  • GHB

    It’s about time they started doing something! I wonder if it was any better when the building was an SRO full of junkies and crack whores.

  • Jeff

    Last night a lit cigarette butt landed a few feet away from me, coming from one of the windows on Clark Street side of the St. George. I wasn’t sure if the near-miss was intentional or just coincidental. But it suggests that perhaps not all the problem kids have been taken care of.

    That said, I’ve never had any other trouble with the kids there, and am happy to see them hanging around outside at night, since having them around at all hours makes the streets livelier and safer.

  • nabeguy

    Take a look up at those windows some time…it’s a bit surprising that stuff doesn’t fall more frequently.I’ve seen cans sitting on window ledges, and what appear to be book cases chock a block with items pushed up against the windows. The buliding management should make it a rule that nothing can be put up against them and enforce that with random inspections…this is a school dorm after all. Or, just nail them shut!

  • HeightsBK1

    i hate the dorms…., there is no reason why there should be college dorms in our quiet nabe.

  • Wrennie

    I once got hit with what I think was a wet, balled-up paper towel. Harmless, sure, but definitely annoying. In my mid/late-20s, I’m not terribly far from dorm age–but even back when I was, I wasn’t throwing things at passersby from my windows. These kids are incredibly immature and obnoxious. I’d love to see them gone.

  • Jesus

    Jesus, people. Such a bunch of cranks. These kids don’t cause any serious trouble. And I agree with the poster above – not a lot of things that can help make a subway stop safer at night, but a bunch of college kids who stand outside smoking all night fits the bill.

  • Topham Beauclerk

    @heightsbk1

    You wonder why there should be college dorms in our quiet nabe. Why, you might also wonder, was the building a SRO before it became college dorm, a SRO attractive to junkies and other insalubrious types? The long delcine of the St George has everything to do with the building’s owner who is a Hasidic Jew. Verbum sap.

  • Tony

    There goes Topham’s CUNY honorary degree …

  • Eddy de Lectron

    LOL

  • ClarkStRes

    Ok. While I first want to say that I am definitely not a fan of the bigotry a couple of comments above this one, and while I think that _in_general_ most of the students in the building seem to be very nice and don’t cause any problems, I think that EHS should do a better job of working to make sure that they are being responsible citizens in our community.

    A little over a week ago, on a Tuesday night just after midnight, I was lying in bed when, for the THIRD time in two weeks, there was incredibly loud music coming from across the street (from the 2nd floor, either over the subway station entrance or a little bit west of it.) For the second time (the first time, I just couldn’t be bothered) I got out of bed, got dressed, and went to talk to the security guard. As had happened the last time I went, he told me that he couldn’t go upstairs, because he needed someone to come and relieve him. As this was the second time it happened, I asked him what kinds of consequences these students would have, or how I might escalate the noise complaint. He was very sympathetic but told me that the procedure is for him to notify the RA, and that students don’t face a formal warning unless they still keep their music loud after that. Now, mind you, other people had come in and told him before me, but again, he couldn’t go do anything about it because he needed someone to relieve him. I don’t actually understand why the RA wasn’t there or doing anything (isn’t that their job?) but again…. The music was REVERBERATING off both sides of the street. I am a heavy sleeper and it was unbelievably loud.

    I asked for the number of the building manager and left him a voicemail asking him to call me so that we could discuss the situation. Don’t you know I never got any kind of a call back. At least the music’s stopped for now, but I am frustrated that they don’t have better community relations. I used to work in residential life for a university and was responsible for 250 students who lived in among other residents in an apartment complex, and we took complaints and relations with the community way more seriously than EHS appears to.

  • God

    Jesus, be quiet. how many times do I have to tell you.

  • AEB

    The problem is the belief that people in their early twenties (or younger) are more adult than not. Not–they aren’t, and they need more supervision than they receive in a dorm of this type.

    What’s needed are floor monitors, people willing to supervise residents in an ongoing fashion. Of course, such an arrangement can’t prevent all instances of infantile acting-out, but an adult presence might curtail it.

    PS, Toham, stuff the antisemitism. It’s really ugly. What compels YOU to act-out this form of antisocial behavior?

  • GHB

    Topham, you miserable, nasty bigot. Must you spew your hate on every thread on this site?

  • Damn those Dorms

    They could at least put screens on the windows. That could at least reduce items inadvertently falling out of the windows and discourage the idea of tossing things out.

  • Jeffrey j Smith

    There is an entire history of bad behavior towards neighborhood residents by those in the dorms. The thrown objects are only the
    latest and most serious incidents.

  • WillowtownCop

    I disagree with AEB. People in their late teens / early 20s are certainly adults- the problem is too many of them, especially the ones that go to “college” and don’t work continue to get treated like and act like children.

    These “kids” and their families have been sold on the idea that to get a job you need a 4 year degree, no matter what it’s in or what barely certified “school” you get it from, and you should take 4 years of your working life off and refuse to grow up and be responsible and take out 150K in loans to pay for it all. And then they end up with a degree in Art History and wonder why they can’t find a job.

    What’s wrong with getting a job, renting an apartment, and taking night classes at a place you can afford, and growing the hell up like you’re supposed to? I guess that would be too blue collar for some people.

  • HeightsBK1

    I am jewish and I find topham comments rude and quite frankly just unnecessary. Point blank the dorms are annoying…. there should be screens on the windows.. the RA’s should do their jobs. people shouldn’t have to worry that objects are going to come flying out the window and hurt them. I am 23 I just graduated college last may.. usually it’s not the 20 somthings living in the dorms… by then you move to off campus housing… it’s really the 18 year olds.. most of whom were sheltered and are now “living it up” out on their own.., You better believe my freshman year dorm was watched like a hawk,( after all you were literally just in high school). the RA’s are clearly not doing their jobs. BUT honestly what can we do? Not a lot…, I am just thankful the semester is coming to an end.

  • Knight

    I live in the St. George Tower and always refer to the dorms as “the kids next door.” All in all, I don’t think they’re such bad neighbors. Yes, there are a couple of incidents, but remember that there are 1300 “tweens” living there … most of whom are living on their own for the very first time. Proportionally they’re a lot better than some other neighbors I’ve had!

  • David on Middagh

    Knight, I aren’t “tweens” eleven- and twelve-year-olds? I think you’re talking about people who are technically adults but still teenaged?

  • Knight

    I thought they were twenty/late teens, hence the name. I could be wrong but it shouldn’t diminish my point.

  • Topham Beauclerk

    A good liberal will oppose any form of fanaticism – political or religious – and Hasidic Judaism is, undeniably, a species of fanaticism. By their fruits ye shall know them: what do we see when we examine Hasidic Jews and their conduct? They are aloof, separatist – dressing distinctively and living in ghettos – sanctimonious, ungenerous, self-righteous, angry, aliens in our midst who want the benefits of society without having to pay for them.

    Ask the BHA about its long and miserable history with the owner of the St George.

  • http://www.valeriefrankel.com val

    Tweens are be”tween” childhood and teenage. Ages 8 to 12

  • ujh

    I suggest you contact City Council member Steve Levin; he represents Brooklyn Heights and may intervene with the company that administers this building.

  • HeightsBK1

    tweens, teens.. let’s call the whole thing off.

  • Soulman

    I’m glad that the (what lately seems like) majority of posters on this site don’t represent the majority of my neighbors. The impression I get is that there are quite a few old (I’m 64), unhappy people with too much time on their hands. Gotta complain about something. Right? From the dog poop issue to the St. George students, the comments make me puke (but not out the window). Topham, this Jew atheist would love to meet you. Possibly under a St G’s window. There are a few things I’d like to discuss.

    But, I live across the street from the hotel and don’t know what you cranks are on about. I’m glad the kids are here. The kids are alright, actually and add, rather than detract from the Heights. Some get rowdy, some dog owners are thoughtless – sure. Get over it. The vast majority of both are responsible members of our community – and I say that after 24 years here. There’s less poop than ever and every interaction I’ve ever had with dorm residents has been positive. Over & out.

  • Jesus

    Yeah, Soulman’s got it right on the crankiness on here. I take the elevator at Clark St. with these kids all the time. Very little jackassery, for kids of that age group. Usually talking about school or a party. A few cigarette butts get tossed out windows? Jesus (to take my own name in vain), this is NYC!

  • AEB

    Willowtown, I think you’re confusing the fact that twenty-year-olds are sufficiently grown to hold down a job with the idea that they aren’t yet mature, my point. Physiologically, actually, their brains are still developing (though, truthfully, I’m not sure how this does or doesn’t correlate with acting sensibly).

    And to those posters who bitch about people bitching–should I stop there?–THAT’S WHAT A FORUM LIKE THIS IS FOR! To allow people to vent. It’s cathartic. It feels good. A dialogue is established. Readers get to agree or disagree with others, or to disregard them entirely. Or to bitch about their bitching.

    Of course, when the bitching turns to something nastier, as in Topham’s antisemitism–well, that’s a different story.

  • Heightsguy

    Most of the kids are OK, if not Rhodes scholars – Pace students mostly business students, btw, not art history. there is a small subset of art students not from Pace who are older, and quite polite. As I’ve said on other threads, I’ve seen much much worse from freshmen on campus in re vandalism, drunken brawling. It is a continual problem with kids newly out of home and in dorms, etc. Residence hall assistant training and floor monitors are a good idea. Ownership by Hasids, or characteristics of Hasids, are irrelevant to typical obnoxious behaviors of freshmen. just an insufficient system of monitoring the large # of “adultolescents” by EHS.