Brooklyn Ron

BklynRon Video: Checkpoints Disrupt Lives in Brooklyn's 71st Precinct

Police have been setting up checkpoints along Flatbush Avenue near Empire Boulevard, as well as farther east along Utica Avenue, in a policy that is upsetting some locals.

The stop-and-checks have been continuing even though a number of neighborhood officials, notably State Senator Eric Adams (himself a former police official), have complained about them.

(See previous BrooklynRon post about the controversy.)

One might suspect that any police anger that might have led to such actions is related to the killing, two years ago, of Police Officer Russel Timoshenko, who is seen by police and others in the community as a martyr.

Timoshenko was gunned down in cold blood just several blocks from the checkpoints.

Unlike many military checkpoints, ones set up by police involve much arbitrariness, as officers stop certain residents heading home or elsewhere and question them. The police practice can be very disruptive for law abiding citizens, who are the vast, vast majority of residents of the Prospect Lefferts Gardens area where these police stops are occurring.

In any case, check out the report:

Help Ocean Park (Ocean Avenue Abutting Prospect Park) Get Landmark Status

Celeste Lacy Davis is asking neighbors and all interested persons to show up at the upcoming Landmarks hearing and support Ocean Park's bid to become an historic district.

Celeste Lacy Davis wrote a letter to Flatbush neighbors and others, saying, among other things:

"On Tuesday, March 24th, from 2:15 to 2:45 p.m., the New York City Landmarks Preservation Commission will hold a Public Hearing on the proposed Ocean on the Park Historic District. On behalf of the Ocean on the Park homeowners, I now write to urge your support for landmark designation of this new "micro" HD in northernmost Flatbush.

"If you wish to express your support for the Ocean on the Park Houses HD, we would appreciate it if you or a representative of your Association would appear in person to give your testimony to the LPC at next week'’s Public Hearing.  In the alternative, you may submit your testimony (ASAP) in writing to the LPC via snail mail or email."

Celeste Lacy Davis indicated that the only email address she has is for the Commission Chair Robert Tierney, at rtierney@lpc.nyc.gov.

See and Hear How the Best Park in the World (Prospect, of Course!) Ends Winter Season

Ah, the ice skaters were out there, smiling and rolling along. And they weren't the slightest bit cold.

Winter, you see, was bidding farewell with a warm smile.

This was the penultimate weekend at Prospect Park's popular Wollman rink, and end-of-winter revelers were out in force, there and all around the park.

There were Daisy Feddoes and her mom, for instance, feeding birds at the lake after Daisy had finished skating.

The beauty of it all was almost too much to take. But take it, please!

Watch and listen.

In the Belly of the 71st Precinct. Is CPR Nothing More Than BS?

This city has gone through enormous changes in the past twenty five years, and the changes are reflected in the composition of the police department, which mirrors the diversity of the city considerably more than does, say, the Fire Department, which remains overwhelmingly male and white.

But while the Fire Department still has a raunchiness that's exposed from time to time in headlines and newscasts (drunken brawls, even in the firehouse), it still commands a respect from the populace that seems to elude the NYPD.

Granted, in the 71st precinct, there's a somber awareness of the ultimate sacrifice made by Police Officer Russell Timoshenko, who was murdered a year and a half ago by cheap, worthless thugs right in the middle of Prospect Lefferts Gardens.

One gets the impression that the young officer, in his apparent innocence, was not sufficiently aware of the dangers lurking on the streets around his precinct.

But moving beyond that incident, it must be said that relations with police in the 71st precinct are sometimes quite tense.

Recently, of course, there was the case of Michael Mineo, who says he was sodomized by a 71st precinct officer at the Prospect Park subways station, and the allegations are being taken seriously by many.

Other alleged abuses by 71st precinct officers came to light in the wake of the Mineo incident.

In my own experience, I was stopped and ticketed a year ago by an officer in the 71st precinct, who asserted that I had crossed yellow lines at Flatbush and Maple. When I protested to him, he wrote the ticket anyway and, in fact, followed me home.

The officer was later made a fool and liar of when I showed up in court with photos and letters from the community board and State Senator Eric Adams, saying there were no yellow lines there.

Over the past year, on our block, there is a man who has identified himself as an off duty police officer, and who regularly parks at a fire hydrant, sometimes for more than a day, leaving a photocopied NYPD parking pass on his windshield.

He has never been ticketed.

The message that this all sends to residents is from the days of Frank Serpico, when police entered candy stores and took what they wanted; when they went to movie houses free of charge; and, of course, when they parked wherever they wanted, as long as their comrades knew they were "on the job."

Fast forward to today, and it's clear there's much work to be done in the way of image polishing in the 71st precinct.

Regarding, the above headline, by the way, referring to CPR, it stands for Courtesy, Professionalism and Respect, and it adorns police vehicles.

The initials were adopted a decade ago when the police department, under Rudy Giuliani, was facing widespread charges, even from international organizations, of routine human rights abuses.

90 Years Ago Today, Prospect Park Station Was Site of Worst Subway Accident in History

Ninety three people were killed in that crash of wooden trains as a motorman sped southward into a tunnel.

The driver of the train survived but then disappeared and was later picked up by police at his home. He maintained he blanked out and did not even know how he got home.

In fact, the fellow was the victim of labor strife, as the regular drivers went on strike and he was ordered to do their job, even though he had no real experience in it.

The scene, as one might imagine, was horrific, a localized and criminal-less version of the Trade Center, with the crash reportedly having been heard a mile away.

Oddly, there is no memorial at the present Prospect Park station and few people in the area know of the disaster.

[photo here is by Steve Duncan of UnderCity fame.]

The "A Year in the Park" blog took a stroll around the vicinity of the actual crash site, and strangely even transit employees were unaware of the Malbone event, so named for the Malbone Street beneath which the catastrophe occurred.

The anniversary falls on the Day of the Dead, which according to the historian's source book, wiki, falls on the first and second of November, All Saints and All Souls days respectively.

One good outcome of Malbone was that the city decided that steel, and not wood, was the appropriate material for vehicles carrying so many people at such speeds.

The above photo was found on the etsy website (whatever etsy means) with a nice, brief description of what happened. The caption says starkly: "This photo shows the Malbone Street Tunnel in Brooklyn, site of the worst disaster in the history of the NYC Subway."

The New York Times account from back then (as carried now on a city subway web site) was fascinating.