Pier 2 Evacuated…Again

By on May 11, 2016 10:19 pm in brooklyn bridge park, crime, News

Your correspondent went to the Promenade to view an especially glorious sunset when a BHB reader pointed out to him that people were streaming along the path in Brooklyn Bridge Park below, headed to the Joralemon Street exit. Pier 2 had been shut down again. A police boat was nestled next to the pier (photo). We don’t yet know what precipitated this, but when we know more, we’ll give you an update.

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  • ColumbiaHeightster

    Isn’t it a good thing that there is a large police presence? Isn’t that exactly what we want there? I’m confused. What else would you like to have be “done about this” other than policing the park?

  • Slyone

    My family has enjoyed the courts. The fact that there have been several incidents and police have had to close Pier 2 is big deal. I don’t know the best way to solve the problem, but I don’t like the idea of closing the courts for a bunch of reasons. I’m interested in the specifics of what’s happening at Pier 2. My family has enjoyed other courts in neighboring areas, too, that don’t seem to have these problems, as far as I know, though maybe they just don’t get the same publicity?

  • Concerned

    I seriously feel bad for those who invested on Joralemon in the last 5 years. The property values go up to and even beyond $1,500.00 per sq ft, and now Joralemon has this ruckus for 6 months of the year. You can’t tell me their property values haven’t gone down significantly on Joralemon as opposed to the rest of BK Heights.

  • Concerned

    Thank you for promoting civil discourse, “e”.

  • gc

    Cause any later is apparently the time when the trouble starts.

  • gc

    If that sounds like the white solution to you then let me know what you think the non-white solution sounds like.

  • TeddyNYC

    Generally, when you go to a park, you expect some tranquility and a park with a strong police presence implies that you may be in the wrong place for that. There are more peaceful alternatives to BBP, but it would have been nice to have a reliably peaceful place there. Of course it’s better to have a strong police presence if it’s necessary, but my point is it would be better if it wasn’t necessary.

  • HereToStay

    A few kids? Have you seen what has been going on there?? There are gang wars. Have you even ever been to Pier Two? Go hang out there at night and see how you feel.

  • HereToStay

    Please – you have to be realistic. We all knew this would happen once they made more than 2 courts and now it has happened. You cant live in pretend world – you have to see the reality of the situation and then react to it. You cant just say all people are innocent or stop stereotyping. We’re not – and nobody said basketball people are thugs. But the issue needs to be addressed. One of the worst things about this country is that if you want o crack down on crime and then crimes just happened to be committed by a minority, well, then you must be a racist. Absurd.

  • HereToStay

    I was thinking the same thing. At first I thought they were crazy for complaining because I saw the Fulton Ferry enterence and although a nutty area as a whole, it seemed fine (so how could Jorale be bad?). But then I went there are saw the crowds — a constant stream down the street. I would be livid if I had bought there…

  • A Tree

    No, the entire park did not get shut down. I would know, as I was in the park most of the day. Here we go with the histrionics again.

    The majority of the kids there are law abiding. I don’t even know what you’re talking about with the gun violence, I believe there was one shooting there last year. It’s far more dangerous in the neighborhoods these kids are coming from, can you blame them for coming here to escape it?

    Also, every anecdote you’ve shared is second or third hand. Forgive me if I don’t put much credence into neighborhood gossip. I’m in the park all the time too.

  • Concerned

    Yeah, no one can be everywhere at once. I take accounts from people on the blog like “Rick” who stated that much of the park was blocked off by police cars yesterday on this same thread. Why would “Rick” lie??? Moreover, there are pictures of a major police presence in the park Wednesday and Thursday, so who are you to say differently? We know there was a shooting there last year, and there is a post about a gun from yesterday. The police presence and the post about the gun seems to go together.
    And OF COURSE MOST OF THE KIDS ARE LAW ABIDING. Is that really your point? No one is arguing differently.
    In regards to the kids escaping their neighborhood, I agree that they should have a place to do so, but not if they are going to conduct illegal activity.
    Look, the courts are a place, like a mall, where these teenagers are gathering together en masse and causing trouble. If we cut down the amount of courts, we’ll cut down on the teenagers acting out in large groups (hopefully). Malls across America have done this is white, black, hispanic, etc… neighborhoods. We should do it here.
    There will be ZERO affect on the amount of basketball these kids want to play. There are courts everywhere in NYC.

  • Bornhere

    As I have noted before on the BHB, I have lived in the Heights all my life, and I have been a co-op owner on Henry and Joralemon for almost 35 years. In those three decades, I have noted more traffic down Henry, more pedestrians everywhere, an almost endless stream of cabs dropping off visitors/residents at all hours at this crossroads, etc. In varying degrees, these changes have affected us; but nothing has prepared us for the sequelae of the existence of BBP.
    What happened Wednesday night was scary, and no, I am not given to “pearl clutching:” just before the crowd reached the western corners of Henry and Joralemon, a group started to shout and the whole crowd, who was completely occupying both sidewalks and the street, started to run toward Clinton. Uninvolved pedestrians had to get out of the way, and traffic was stopped and pulled over, in part to allow the group and police “escort” (driving west) to continue.
    For the past year or so, I have avoided taking the Lex after work, if it means landing me at home after 7 PM.
    Although this has not been the first police presence following BBP visitors at that hour, I have to wonder if this is to be the new normal. If anyone thinks all of this is a wholly benign evolution in the Heights, I invite you to this crossroads any time after 7:30 on a nice evening, to see/assess for yourself.

  • Michelle

    The anecdote regarding the beating of the young man is first hand at least for me. I (& others) called 911 at 6:37 on April 25, 2016 and reported the beating and described the attack to the 911 operator. The group that attacked the young man knocked him to the ground and stomped on his head repeatedly. The young man appeared unconscious and was bleeding from the mouth and ear. As I reported in the blog shortly thereafter, the beating occurred near the picnic area near the Joralemon street entrance and was after they closed pier 2 because of fighting. I have not been to the park since that evening.

  • mlcraryville

    The totally AWOL Park Corp. should simply enforce a regular system for the use of the Courts. Start with a sign up list. Also, limit the times they can be used from very early to no more than late afternoon.
    People who can’t share need help. People who won’t play in a regular, friendly fashion won’t want to be identified by name.
    See you all at the BHA/84th meeting tuesday night.
    We all need to rally around Joralemon Street.

  • Concerned

    Once again. I’m so sorry you had to witness this. Who would want to go back to the park after something like this?

  • Teresa

    So NIMBY, then? Drive people out of Brooklyn Bridge Park so that they can cause trouble elsewhere, if you think that the people playing basketball are the causing problems?

  • Concerned

    I don’t care what you want to label it, Teresa and everyone else. Look at all of these neighbors stepping up and getting past your misdirections and overly pedantic political correctness. Don’t you see how the safety issue is affecting everyone around you? Michelle has to see a young man beaten and stomped on, yet you have the gall to say “crime happens everywhere”. That is pathetic. Bornhere tells about the craziness at Joralemon and how he/she’s never seen anything like this in 35 years in the neighborhood, yet you have the temerity to question “second hand accounts”. Don’t you hear your neighbors calling to you. People are scared and for good reason. There has been gun play, brawls, stompings and more. But all you want to talk about is NIMBY and race and every other thing except the violence staring you in the face. Shame on you. Really. Shame on you for not listening to your neighbors who are legitimately and reasonably afraid.
    Let me say, I have no doubt that all of you that I am opposed to in this debate are good people who want the best for the neighborhood. There is zero doubt in my mind that you don’t want to see anyone hurt. But people are getting hurt. People are getting scared. You want to protect 3 basketball courts!?! How about protecting the neighbors that make this neighborhood great?

  • Concerned

    To all the doubters and the pedantically politically correct:
    http://www.brooklyneagle.com/articles/2016/5/13/brooklyn-bridge-park’s-pier-2-evacuated-again-nypd
    “… a fight had taken place involving “bats canes bottles knifes grips it was like world war park.” Another witness wrote that people were “popping out with sticks & bats then sh*t happen.”

  • ToddCastilow

    I agree. It doesn’t matter if it’s basketball courts or skateboarding half-pipes. It could be chess boards or bocce courts. It doesn’t matter if the crowd is white, black, asian, latino or all of the above mixed together. Large crowds of misbehaving people are a problem, period.

    If there is a particular venue that causes trouble it should be addressed. If trouble stems from the people who come to the basketball courts (players or non-players) then it makes sense to consider altering the venue.

    If the hidden nooks in Swing Valley on Pier 6 become a marijuana hangout for affluent white teenagers (which I believe is brewing), then we should cut back the hedges, install cameras and put police on duty.

    This is not a black or white thing, this is a safety thing.

    And, I think it’s about time that people start owning their public comments and stop hiding in anonymity while attacking their neighbors.

  • Concerned

    I agree 100 percent. Except with the anonymity part. If you’re even remotely moderate politically, you can have a career and personal life ruined by some of the aggressive hard left wingers on this blog. They’re as bad as some of the hard right wingers you see on Breitbart or theblaze.com That’s why I post anonymously. I don’t need a witch hunt by these nut jobs.

  • ToddCastilow

    Sadly, I think you’re right about using your actual name in comments. It’s a sad state of affairs that anonymous sniping has become the norm. I continue to believe that if everyone took ownership for their comments, the discourse would be far less visceral and cruel. It might even approach an actual open exchange of thoughtful ideas. But maybe that’s just my inner Jerry Maguire.

  • Concerned

    LOL. It’s funny you bring up Jerry Maguire, though. Because when he wrote the manifesto “The Things We Think And Do Not Say”, he lost his job and his life…
    I agree in principle, though. I wish I could post with my real name, but my family doesn’t need the stress and there is NO way anyone would believe who I was if I did. The neighborhood is great for us and I am used to nodding and blindly agreeing when I run into someone who thinks the ideas of someone like “Concerned” are racist and disgusting…
    I mean, do you know how many times I’ve been called a racist or bigot on this blog? It’s nuts. If I were in Iowa, I’d be called a flaming liberal jew bastard! The world is crazy, but I do believe in the best of people, even when they try to label me according to their own prejudices and fears. Be well, Mr. Castilow, and keep fighting the good fight.

  • ToddCastilow

    Thanks.

  • Jorale-man

    It’s good to see some media attention for this issue, besides the BHB. Now if only the NY Times or Wall St. Journal would shine a spotlight on this problem. Perhaps they look at it and think Heights residents are just being precious and pearl-clutching (as Bornhere alluded to) but the Park Corporation needs to be held more accountable for this.

  • Rick

    Just to be completely accurate, what I wrote was that there were police officers standing guard and police cars with flashing lights parked all over the park. I never wrote the whole park was closed. Just Piers 2 and 5.
    But I do agree with a lot of what you’re saying.

  • someone

    Can’t wait to see what happens when there are people living in the pier houses and the hotel is open: The park will be closed and will become accessible for residents only. Problem solved. LOL

  • gc

    Yes. The same way that the bridge has been mysteriously closed down in anticipation of their arrival.

  • peterbrooklyn

    Close the basketball courts. I’ve been saying it for two years now and have been called some pretty negative things for saying it, but it’s time to close the basketball courts. Separately, if there was ever an optimal space for dealing drugs, it would be the recently opened Pier 6. Far too many nooks and crannies, making it difficult to patrol. Go ahead, mock me. Two years from now the basketball courts will have long been closed and the posts here will be about the problems the Pier 6 layout has caused.

  • Concerned

    Thanks for the clarification and the support, Rick.

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