Open Thread Wednesday

By on June 10, 2015 12:09 am in open thread

What’s on your mind? Comment away!

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  • Willow Street Watch

    The 2015 Flag Day observerance is This Friday June 12.

    This is the day we commemorate the adoption of our nation’s standard in 1777 and its entire proud history. Many patriotic and historic groups and individual patriots from the Heights attend every year. At least four of our family members attend every year.

    This years parade and rally will take place, as above, on June 12, the parade will step off at 12 Noon from city hall. Participants in the march should arrive by 11 AM. Patriots often begin arriving at city hall as early as 10 AM. The parade proceeds down Broadway to Francis Tavern for the Annual Rally and luncheon.

    Many SAR, St George and St Andrews Societies, American Flag Institute and dozens of other organiza.tion’s with substancial membership in the Heights always participate in some way. Dozens of unaffiliated Heights residents who support the event and what it represents, always attend.

  • Gormley

    Why is it every single time I jog on the track at Cadman Plaza Park 75%
    of all dogs walkers let their dogs run around without a leash. It
    doesn’t matter what day or time, the majority of dogs are off leash.
    They run on the field, block the track and cause potential injury
    scenarios for joggers, scare children when fighting/playing in groups
    running around chaotically, crap while their owners don’t notice because
    they are talking to other dog walkers many yards away from their dogs. etc. etc. etc………

    And
    every single time you attempt to explain to them — no matter how nice
    or neutral your tone or approach is — that there is a leash law in the
    park (which they all know anyway) they either play the indignant AND
    ignorant card and claim there isn’t a law, tell you to “f$%k off”, or
    they get aggressive and start yelling ad hominem nonsense…

    As
    the temperature has gotten warmer I have also witnessed numerous owners
    encouraging their dogs to drink from the water fountain with their paws
    propped up on the fountain itself.

    There are almost a dozen signs
    that clearly state all dogs have to be on leash except on the NORTH
    FIELD between 9pm-9am. If you don’t think it’s a big deal and need a
    lesson on why dogs need to be on leashes… Congrats! you are part of
    the problem.

  • StudioBrooklyn

    Unrelated…
    Did
    we ever establish why
    such an interesting form of poetry
    has developed in the comments section on
    this blog?

  • Aaron

    Last night coming home around 8:30pm, I was walking in the Borough Hall station in the corridor between the 2/3 and 4/5, and there was a young woman bleeding from the top of her head. There was already someone from the MTA and a crowd of people attending to her, so I didn’t want to stay and gawk, but I’m curious if she was okay and what happened. Anyone know?

  • cmpizz

    Does anyone know what was going on with the helicopters this morning? I’ve never heard so many.

  • Willow Street Watch

    First: call the parks dept war memorial office: 718 722 3214 Mike Shuster.
    The parks guys should be out there better controlling behavior like this.

    Second: call the parks dept Brooklyn HQ Litchfield villa 718 965 8912 exec
    8956 operations. Office physi all loc is 95 Prospect park West

    Third: call the NYC parks main office the arsenal 212 408 0226 0021

    You have to first call, then put your concerns in writing best via registered mail. I’m a real dog lover. But I know ALL of what you say is true and I’ve seen off the leash dogs threateningly approach small children so…
    But undérstand , while the city and the media has encouraged more public park use, funding for the parks has not kept pace. Parks are really woefully underfunded….

  • CHatter

    I take my dog there often and agree with you–we only go off leash on the north field (aka Walt Whitmen park) and only during the designated hours. People who stretch the time and geography boundaries of that arrangement are taking the piss–they know the rules very well. But I would say that the vast majority of dog owners in my experience do in fact respect the rules, not the mere ~25% your post suggests.

  • gc

    Beautiful, clear summer day= more helicopters. Another battle we have lost.

  • Willow Street Watch

    They were over my house this morning at 2:20 AM. One was on stationary post over State Street and one was doing their by now classic figure 8 at low altitude from Old Fulton street to just beyond Remsen St.

    Isn’t it time for some officials or elected officials to…truthfully..answer some questions as to wha5s going on….

  • Willow Street Watch

    No, “our” “leaders” hardly put up any fight at all…

  • ShinyNewHandle

    Is the large orange traffic buoy at Hicks and Middagh to save a space for the soft-serve truck, or to prevent its return?

    Not to be a curmudgeon on such a beautiful day, but if I hear “It’s a Junk Food World After All” one more time….

  • cmpizz

    I heard them around 5:30-6am this morning for at least an hour. @gc could these really be tourist helicopters at that hour? Also @Willow Street Watch, at 2:20am? I can’t even guess as to what was going on at that hour.

  • StoptheChop
  • StoptheChop

    ps– Stop the Chop is raising money to explore legal options. Our elected officials have been in “wait and see” mode for a year- and don’t seem to have any plans/inclination to force the issue.

  • Rick

    I was curious how early helicopter tours fly, so I just checked libertyhelicopter.com. Here’s when they fly:

    Our Downtown Manhattan Heliport at 6 East River Piers, NY NY 10004 is open 365 days a year Mon-Sat from 9:00am – 6:30pm (last flight 6pm) and Sunday 9:00am – 5:00pm (last flight 430pm) including holidays.

  • gc

    Two sets of issues. Both annoying.

  • Willow Street Watch

    No, the central issue is why this really dangerous behavior has now so intensified and who approved this new activity….

    But just a quick note, as posted before, if you scan the downlinks from much of this activity, especially the late night and stationary post activity you’ll find that the downlinks are all on FEDERAL frequencies not nypd …And…the traffic is encrypted….

    What does that say to you? Nothings going on…?

  • Willow Street Watch

    Tourist or traffic helos at 2 or 3 AM??
    Everyone needs to look deeper into this…

  • AEB

    Having dealt with the school crossing guard previously over the matter, I can say that the buoy is there to prevent cars from parking–at least on one side of the street–near where kids cross.

    The buoy doesn’t discourage “official”cars from parking there, however, as you may have noticed.

    It’s probably an improvement over the crossing guard’s previous MO, which was to drag the corner garbage can to the spot where the buoy is now; it usually remained there, as the guard wasn’t too interested in returning it to its proper corner spot.

    But come summer, when school’s out–well, with any luck, the buoy will go away. Under official auspices or that of concerned everyday citizens. If you get my drift.

  • Willow Street Watch

    Search me, but its time someone in a position of authority answer some hard questions..

  • Jorale-man

    Curious if anyone has noticed how many leaks there are in the Borough Hall station these days? It seems like half of the 4/5 platform has signs warning you to watch out for dripping ceilings and puddles.

    It would be nice if the MTA had a way to let you petition for station renovations, though it would probably be just an exercise in frustration.

  • Susan Sloan

    I called 311 at around 2:45 to complain/report. I actually went outside with my dog since we both got woken up. It looked like one was just flying back and fourth over bk heights. Don’t know if calling 311 will do anything–but made me feel better.

  • ShinyNewHandle

    I’m concerned that our youth not be fed a diet of junk jingles…

  • gc

    Wondering what your background is to be so conversant re scanning downlinks and identifying as encrypted federal traffic. How does one go about scanning these downlinks? Whole thing does sound a bit disturbing.

  • Willow Street Watch

    First, I would like to see some COPS somewhere/sometime anywhere in the BH station 4/5, 2/3 or R line. In recent years we went from Natl guard/regular duty army with assault rifles to…Nobody. The only time you
    See cops is when you call, and response time can be 20 minutes!
    Yes, the physical plant IS deteriorating and, remember a lot of the interior
    surfaces can have high voltage cables inside. As hundreds of incidents have shown, leakage can be a LOT worse than just an eyesore….ZAP!!!

  • Willow Street Watch

    Its more than disturbing. These nightly flights can be monitored by simply using a good lab grade instrument called a spectrum analyzer. These I’d a kind of ultra wide band radio but its made to measure in visualization form what the radio frequency electromagnetic sectrum at any given time. My unit, has a range of DC (zero frequency) to the gigahertz. To get an idea of the radio emissions from a location or device/system, you scan when the device system is closest to you and then when it is the most distant.
    So when a help is right overhead or very near by you run a scan of the Radio frequency spectrum. Then you store that information. Then you wait for the helos to leave or to be the most distant in their search pattern. Now take another scan. Then you overlay the scan A the nearby scan to the B scan which when the unknown aircraft is the most distant. Now note what frequencies are active when the aircraft is the closest. The activity “spikes” on the nearby scan which are missing or very diminished on the B distant scan tell the story. That’s the radio activity emanating from the device in question.

    Now tune to those frequencies with a commercial grade radio receiver. Something like a Watkins Johnson, Racal or a Rhode Schwartz. Plug in a good lab grade scope. Note first the type of modulation involved and confirm the actual frequency. Now listen and watch the scope and if possible a phase analyzer. When you tune your receiver to the frequencies involved you can see and hear if the signal is incripted or “in the clear”. Look up the frequencies involved to see what radio ” service” type the freq. Is assigned or “allocated” to. In the case of our less than welcome night time visitors, the radio emissions are on feguencies the federal government reserves for its OWN use. And the traffic IS encoded/
    Encripyed…..you can also use a standard “scanner” receiver to listen in as long as the downlinks are using pretty standard FM modulation

    I am a life long SW radio listener, have administered public service emergency radio systems and for many years was the chief buyer/procurement agent of radio equipment for several leading national “patriotic” organizations.

  • Willow Street Watch

    No, what you have to do is CALL every elected official you can, and then direct a WRITTEN complaint to them, and you need to send it certified or better, registered mail this makes a huge difference, trust me. If you have a good low or zero lux video camera with good zoom AND an if frame time and date stamp this also makes a huge difference. The more you make it impossible for them to deny a problem exists the more you may get help….

  • Eddyde

    Be sure to line your hat with a double layer of aluminum foil when you mess with that gear.

  • Jorale-man

    True – there is that little room at the end of the 4/5 platform where police sit, but it could still be better. The whole station feels like some grimy 1970s underworld really. For what is the entryway to Brooklyn for many people it really looks horrible.

  • MaryT

    I logged a complaint with the EDC, who are the epicenter of promoting helicopter tours. Received a reply two weeks later asking me to identify the chopper(s) by tail number(!) I don’t have a telescope. If anyone does, we might be able to ascertain which choppers are police, military, tourist, commuter et.al.

    BTW: The June 1st New Yorker ran a story on Uber’s new Blade commuter operation out of the 30th St. heliport in their Talk of the Town section. And StoptheChop’s website has a recent article on a helicopter lobbyist and de Blasio.

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