There was a time (we’re told) that quality of life in Cobble Hill meant a nice cold brew, a nice brisket sammich and the Mets on TV. Now it seems it means NO FUN FOR YOU. Or are we just over reacting to this item from the Brooklyn Paper:
Brooklyn Paper: Not a Walk in the Park…: Police swept through Cobble Hill Park at least twice last week, issuing summonses to several people for allegedly violating the park’s curfew.
Neighbors around the park, boxed in by Congress, Clinton, and Henry streets and the mews-like Verandah Place, complained of late-night carousing inside the park, leading to the police crackdown, according to a source in the 76th Precinct.
But one of the people snared in the dragnet said she and her husband were being quiet as mice and should not have been ticketed because their stroll was a victimless crime.
And while you’re at it… watch it with the open containers.
Flickr photo by urch
You’re not overreacting. I’m the person quoted in the article — a law- and rule-abiding citizen and good neighbor to Cobble Hill residents. I was shocked when the officer who issued the summons explained Giuliani’s “shattered window” theory, as if unknowingly walking through the park after official closing is an invitation to crime and neighborhood deterioration. The sweep was so clearly a ticket-quota fulfillment effort. They could have easily given us a warning and we would never again have set foot in the park after dark (and would have warned our friends and acquaintances in the area). They could have notified the Parks Dept. to straighten out contradictory signage (one says 9pm, another says dusk). Instead, the cops made respectful citizens angry at the police and are jeopardizing the career of someone who, in fact, wants to become an officer of the law himself.