Video of 65 Year Old Man Assaulted on Joralemon Street July 6

By on July 19, 2016 9:19 am in Brooklyn Heights, crime, News

(To see video, click on “Read full story” and follow the link. Also see update for an interview with the victim.) Several news media have obtained a surveillance video of a 65 year old man receiving a “sucker punch” as he walked along Joralemon Street on the evening of July 6. The victim’s eyeglasses were broken and he was treated at a hospital for an eye laceration. See the video here.

Update: Mary Frost’s Eagle story includes an interview with the victim, Joralemon Street resident Richard Carey.

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  • Concerned

    Once again, this conversation is being hijacked by people injecting race. It started with meschwar calling us racist a$$holes and has gone downhill from there. Conversations about race are not going to make our neighborhood safer. Let’s try to stay above trolls trying to divert our attention to race.

  • StudioBrooklyn

    That’s fine and it’s absolutely your right. I know you (in whatever sense this is), so I believe you’re not racist, but others may see you using that term and come to different conclusions.

  • KXrVrii1

    I understand its a loaded term, but it also has a specific meaning.

    Randomly calling every African-American on the basketball court “a bunch of thugs” is loaded / potentially racist. Calling someone who sucker punches someone on the street, regardless of race, a thug is simply accurate.

    Same with your fried chicken and watermelon example. If it was random trash left by African-Americans, most likely racist. If they literally left fried chicken bones and watermelon rinds, then it is simply a factual statement.

    And, Meschwar was not concerned about perception, he was literally calling people who use the word “thug” racist.

  • Greg

    Thank you for this clarification, Concerned. And I apologize on my part if I mis-attributed your comment to our own dialogue.

    I will continue to read and value your input here.

  • redlola

    Thanks but I’m pretty sure I have never used the term thug.

  • redlola

    this has a racial component in that people are sensitive to the fact that our concerns are mainly directed towards non-white users of the courts as that is who has been hassling people per witness accounts. The fact that we don’t care what color people who create problems are gets lost in the realities. And to pretend that race is a non-factor in the attacks is delusional. My husband, a tall, muscular black man, never gets harassed anywhere he goes in BK.

  • StudioBrooklyn

    Never said you did. But you have complained about being called racist, and anyway you upvoted almost every single thing Concerned said, so I figured you might be interested.

  • StudioBrooklyn

    Quick upvote explanation: “that we don’t care what color people who create problems are gets lost” is absolutely correct.

    Perhaps we need to do more to ensure this point does not get lost?

  • uhhuh

    Shutting down the Joralemon gateway is a great idea. But there’s nothing racist about wanting to shut down the basketball courts. It is simply 1+ 1 = 2. The kids playing basketball are the ones committing the crimes. It’s sure as hell not the families (mostly minority!) having nice cookouts at Pier 5. No courts would = far less crime. Where in the hell is it written that we have to have basketball courts there?

    Shut. Down. The. Courts.

  • banndain

    Gee? Basketball courts? Hmmm…

  • StudioBrooklyn

    But perception is everything here. We all agree that some kid who sucker punches an unsuspecting man in his 60s fits the definition of a thug.

    Meschwar was indeed concerned about perception:
    “There are ways to address…crime that has come to the neighborhood with BBP without…being a bunch of racist a–holes”…”I’ve seen many people here unironically…refer to “thugs” bringing crime “from their neighborhood into ours””

    I’m not endorsing this statement verbatim, but I’m using to illustrate (a) meschwar’s point about the way our comments are perceived by outsiders and (b) the important of that perception upon our reputation.

    Of all the places I’ve lived in Manhattan and Brooklyn (four very distinct neighborhoods), this one is by far the most accepting and colorblind. Perhaps that’s privilege, perhaps not, but I don’t care: I hate to see us painted as rich white racists because it’s so categorically inaccurate. But we don’t get to just stamp our feet and demand to be seen the way we see ourselves. If any of you go back through comments you’ve made, can you honestly say that the word “person” or “people” couldn’t have replaced “thug” or “thugs”? Isn’t it redundant to speak of “thugs who sucker punch someone on the street”, like saying “musicians who play instruments”? It also means you think that they’re a thug dispositionally, like, before and after they sucker punch anyone, and not that that behavior is thug-like, and this dispositional assessment of character is very convenient for someone who is itching for a reason to tell the world you’re a racist.

  • peterbrooklyn

    The BBP developers should pay for and run shuttle buses from the subway station to and from the park during park hours. There should be two cops on every shuttle bus. This will reduce the amount of park-related pedestrian traffic on Joralemon Street.

  • redlola

    Thanks for the upvote explanation LMAO. It gets lost cause people are quick to reduce everything to race especially in a case where there is a racial (and socioeconomic) between the majority of this community and a good number of ppl using the courts. We have people in our community quick to call those who express concerns racist along with those external to this who don’t speak to us or know how we really feel but assume.

  • StudioBrooklyn

    “LMAO” So, I upvote your comment and provide an additional remark about why I think your point was astute, and you respond with derision?

  • redlola

    Um, like I have mentioned in the past, the realities of my actual life spare me any concern about whether randoms in the virtual world think I am racist. What I complain about is what I discussed in my comment below which is the immediate bungee jump to the conclusion that race is what people are complaining about when it is actually behavior. If people of a certain race are committing said acts, it is what it is. So far, that seems to be the case in instances where we have victim/witness accounts. I actually never have and never will use thug in reference to a Black person. There are many things you don’t know/get about me so we’ll leave it at that. As far as upvoting, like you said when you took on Theresa’s defense, just because someone upvotes doesn’t mean they agree with every word someone says. I generally agree with the premise of most of Concerned’s points but not necessarily every sentence he uses to communicate the premise.

  • StudioBrooklyn

    “Um” why are you writing like this?

    I said “you have complained about being called racist”. You can take that however you want, but it covers the same point as “you have complained about people being called racist” who complain about behavior. So, yeah, I keyed you in.

    As far as upvoting: as I said, I took your upvote of Concerned’s remarks only to mean you had expressed interest in the topic, so I sort of cc’ed you in my comment. I never made a single presumption about anything beyond that, so please drop the indignation.

    “There are many things you don’t know/get about me”

    This is a complete non-sequitur. Your ideas about what I know or get about you comprise your opinion to make and keep. Trust me, for every iota I don’t know about you there’s an ocean of things I don’t care about.

  • StudioBrooklyn

    I just want to say, separately from the content of this thread, that discussing things with you is like pulling teeth. We ALWAYS end up in this stupid little back-and-forths and I find it concerning that you can’t discuss a topic without throwing shade at people you think you disagree with. I thought I’d made a good faith effort to try to patch things up with you in the past, but every time we’re on the same thread, you’re right back to square one, despite my defending, upvoting, or otherwise supporting your remarks, or parts of your remarks. I’m running out of patience.

    You say I don’t know anything about you or get you. Well, I get this: maybe you’re just not a friendly person. You seem to think very highly of yourself, you congratulate yourself a lot, you’re quick to claim that you or those who are likeminded are being rhetorically victimized by those who disagree, but you don’t really seem capable of having a grownup conversation with people unless everyone is preaching to the choir.

  • Danny K

    Everyone today is called racist. That’s the new normal. What you don’t understand is that living in a nice neighborhood is racist. Unfortunately you cannot control your optics in the age of the internet. The kids on Gothamist will always hate you. It is a game to them. Don’t worry about it.

  • ColumbiaHeightster

    Has it come to this? The need to explain an “upvote”? Ugh.

  • Bornhere

    I sent e-mails to both Senator Squadron and Councilman Levin, and this morning, I received a quite lengthy response from Glovani Bravo-Lopez. It’s long, but it is presented here in its entirety:

    “Thank you for contacting Council Member Levin. Our office has been well aware of the situation as we are present at all community meetings – and as it relates to this, the Brooklyn Bridge Park CAC, 84th Precinct Council, and CB 2 meetings. These issues have been addressed at the BBP CAC, as recently as this past Tuesday, where I stood and spoke to the issue personally. We were able to hold a meeting with the NYPD 84th Precinct and had another meeting last night (7/19) at the Brooklyn Bridge Park offices at 334 Furman Street with the NYPD 84th Precinct’s Commanding Officer, DI Centa. He has assigned additional police (from outside the precinct) to BBP for security concerns over the summer – a total of 25 assigned to the park, split between shifts with more in the evening. There were originally two officers who were at the base of Joralemon Street in either a hybrid or scooter, but they have not maintained a regular presence since as a result of not having enough manpower/resources at all times. The officers who were assigned to Joralemon and were recently moved away to other Heights locations, have been moved back and there should be a regular police presence on Joralemon Street for the time being. Furthermore, Joralemon Street residents agreed for the most part to install security cameras (from either nest or arlo) and place signs by the front of their home informing folks that the property is under surveillance. CM Levin is exploring allocating funding for NYPD cameras for Joralemon, which would be installed on the street lights with a sign up there as well.

    Yesterday’s meeting covered public security cameras for Joralemon Street, surveillance, costs, and whether it is NYPD and DOT who maintain jurisdiction or whether BBP will agree to come in and pick up for security on the street. The driving issue is that a great volume of pedestrian traffic is coming up and down Joralemon Street from the Borough Hall station, so BBP should be picking that up as a responsibility of theirs covering approaches to the park and being a condition caused by BBP. In the events of any needed evacuation of the park, which thankfully have not been necessary since the first two occurrences, officers try and spread the load. As to directing traffic down Atlantic Avenue, the NYPD cannot direct traffic down to Atlantic instead of Joralemon, unless there was a physical closure or emergency at Furman and Joralemon, otherwise this cannot legally be done. The BBP CAC, at their monthly meeting just last Tuesday, formally requested for BBP to explore opening an additional access point from the central Brooklyn Heights area aside from Squibb Bridge in order to mitigate the volume of pedestrian traffic on Joralemon Street.

    Crime reports at the last Precinct meeting showed crime generally remained the same – where burglaries, especially targets of opportunity rose. The two attempted muggings on Henry Street and Love Lane, and Hicks Street and Love Lane were of particular concern. As is the rock reportedly thrown through a window on Joralemon Street, and the garden tool shed on Joralemon Street which was broken into and burglarized. The shooting of the BBP “Fornino” restaurant employee was determined to be an isolated incident and was not an incident the Police could reasonably have stopped. CM Levin did try to have Joralemon Street closed to through-traffic with the hopes of being able to minimize the pedestrian traffic as well, however DOT challenged and reversed their position on this at the last moment. Willowtown Association has been in contact with us and in for meetings with us and DOT on the matter. I did raise the allocation of Police Officers and their positions at yesterday’s meeting. It is this funding which we are looking to repurpose at least partially for cameras.

    Should you see anything suspicious or which you believe to be a crime or a crime unfolding, please call 911. I have had to do so recently in the neighborhood. It is the only way crimes get logged and numbers/metrics reflect actual events. The precinct has already made it abundantly clear they will be the ones to determine what the priority is, but do not let crimes go unreported should you see them otherwise they are not that. I would be happy to hear any additional concerns from you and your neighbors, and I am sure the 84th Precinct Community Affairs would as well. As a resident of Brooklyn Heights myself, it is a matter of serious concern to me as well. Feel free to contact me with any questions or concerns.”

    We will all draw our own conclusions, of course, but at the very least, recognition of the problem is encouraging. I was, though, discouraged to read of events on Joralemon, and Henry and Love Lane, of which I was unaware.

    I still suggest that a jitney, rounding from Joralemon and Court, down Atlantic, across Furman, back up Old Fulton, and across to its starting point, might be helpful. A camera caught the awful attack on our 99 Joralemon neighbor, so I’m not sure of the value of more passive surveillance. I do suppose a greater, almost constant police presence could help, too.

  • Sen. Bob Forehead

    So (1) the people committing these crimes are from THIS neighborhood?(That’s a easy no). And this reality does not make anyone in this nabe a racist. It just makes you a denier/enabler. (2) Think that it’s a given that it’s nice to be near this park, so perhaps that’s reason for the lack of discussion on the board, so no torches and hoods for #2. (3) The city is replete with Bball courts so is it really the best use of this unique public real estate? Seems like a lack of good judgement in the planning stages, or more likley a concession to one specific groups demands at the expense of the community as a whole. Given the lack of open areas in the city, seems like addtional park land, grills, benchs, a dog run, and access to the water front would be a more equitable solution.

  • ColumbiaHeightster

    Thanks for sharing. I got the same exact response, verbatim, and was just about to share.

  • gc

    This idea, noted in the fifth to last paragraph which begins with the words “Yesterday’s meeting”, advanced by the BBP CAC to open up an additional access point through the central Heights should be nipped in the bud.

  • Bornhere

    In the world of “Yeah, whatever, customer service cares about YOU” responses, it pretty well addresses my concerns. It doesn’t resolve them, but it is a beginning. Here’s hoping a lot of our neighbors are sending e-mails, too.

  • redlola

    i love that you take the time to sit there sucking on the nib of your pen (metaphorically speaking) and trying to dissect everything I say. Concerned used the word thug. You then chastised him for it and threw my name into it. Stop bullshitting about your motives. You couldn’t key in on me with a military scope cause you’re too busy filtering what I say through your own paranoia and working to one up me. Please stop it is tiring. Also, please refrain from ever strangersplaining to me what I mean by my own statements. I am not indulging you anymore. You know where I stand on the park. We need not discuss it. I know you don’t like me and that I don’t like you. We do not need to keep wasting internet space and people’s time because you can’t seem to let anything go.

  • redlola

    see above. i don’t do hypocrisy and self-imposed victimhood. the fact that you accuse anyone of thinking highly of themselves is laughable when you’re on a relentless mission to try to be the smartest guy in the room. stop chastising ppl and telling them what to stay or how to say it. stop being snarky while simultaneously whining when you get back what you give. we are not compatible people. we do not need to engage here.

  • redlola

    you read derision into it, that is your issue. i’m like heightster. why do you need to explain an upvote. that is funny to me. get over yourself.

  • redlola

    why can’t ppl just act right? like is it not possible to just go to the park so all this doesn’t even need to be discussed?

  • StudioBrooklyn

    You take criticism poorly too.

  • ColumbiaHeightster

    To quote one of my favorite contributors to this blog: “Both of you…ugh…stop…”

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