The Q at Parkside

(for those for whom the Parkside Q is their hometrain)

News and Nonsense from the Brooklyn neighborhood of Lefferts and environs, or more specifically a neighborhood once known as Melrose Park. Sometimes called Lefferts Gardens. Or Prospect-Lefferts Gardens. Or PLG. Or North Flatbush. Or Caledonia (west of Ocean). Or West Pigtown. Across From Park Slope. Under Crown Heights. Near Drummer's Grove. The Side of the Park With the McDonalds. Jackie Robinson Town. Home of Lefferts Manor. West Wingate. Near Kings County Hospital. Or if you're coming from the airport in taxi, maybe just Flatbush is best.

Thursday, June 25, 2015

Our Meeting Covered Better Than I Could've

Gothamist was there with the deets. Below is an excerpt from writer Nathan Tempey, who took way better notes than I could ever hope to take. So I'm happy to let his be the public record.

Suffice to say that Rebecca Fitting (and I) called the meeting to look for action items and solutions, in collaboration with the 70th, 71st and 67th Precincts, since we live at the intersection of those three. I chaired only to try to moderate, but in retrospect it really wasn't our meeting, and I got the evil eye from a number of attendees. Equality for Flatbush and Imani Henry used the opportunity to push their agenda. Which...was...fine. I felt bad that the precincts were called to a meeting where their tactics would be berated, but hey, they can take it, they're the cops. Still, the group's activism, much like MTOPP's, railroads most discussions into the direction it wants it to go. Apparently we're racist for having called it at all and for not inviting them. Whatever. E4F got their forum. Next time, though, I hope to do something where a wider range of opinions are allowed. Because as neighbor Cheryl Sealey related, all this talk about systemic change is fine. But some of us also want to walk down the street without fearing gun battles. Now, not in a Utopian future. A hard line, I know, but worth noting.

A meeting about crime in Prospect Lefferts Gardens became a referendum on Broken Windows policing when a dozen or so of the 60 residents in attendance sounded off to NYPD reps about what they say are racist and overly-aggressive policing tactics in the area. Several spoke out against the recently announced plan to hire another 1,300 cops in the next year, which coincides with Summer All Out, a program to flood high-violence areas—including the 67th Precinct, which encompasses East Flatbush and part of Lefferts—with cops who would normally be on desk duty.
Early on, one black woman in attendance said she opposed any calls for more police that might come out of the meeting, so long as low-level enforcement is disproportionately aimed at young men of color.
"I have three nephews that are grown," said Vena Moore, a 15-year neighborhood resident and Brooklyn native, to the officers who attended the meeting from the 70th, 71st, and 67th precincts. "They get harassed by cops periodically, and if we're going to have more of that kind of policing with additional cops, then I don't want more cops."
Responding to that concern, raised by her and others in the audience, Det. Robert Thybulle of the 67th Precinct said that some 500-700 officers are headed for retirement in the next year, so the hiring spree is really not a huge gain. Plus, he said, "personally, I think more police can only be good."
Circling back around to the issue after being pressed further, Thybulle, who is African-American, cited the sensitivity training he received at the Police Academy. "I had to do a report on Germany and German society. I had to look at everything related to the food, to the culture, to everything. Everyone goes through that in the Police Academy."
When I caught up to him in the lobby for more information, Det. Thybulle explained that he attended the academy in 1999, and that the project took 2-3 weeks of his 6-month training as a cadet. Thybulle noted that the department added a new, three-day sensitivity training for all officers last winter, a change that came in the wake of a grand jury's decision not to indict Officer Daniel Pantaleo in the death of Eric Garner.
Back in the sweltering basement, meeting attendees shared alarming stories of police misconduct (none could immediately be independently verified). A white woman described being ticketed for being in Prospect Park after dark with her Puerto Rican boyfriend by a cop who asked, "What's a nice girl like you doing in this neighborhood?" then implied that he was making errors on her ticket so that she could get off, but stuck it to her boyfriend.
A longtime resident, Aaliyah Lessey, told of sitting down on a park bench off of Ocean Avenue around 5 p.m. one day, then being ticketed along with everyone else in the park for an unspecified violation. Having known many of the neighborhood officers, she was flabbergasted when one she'd never met asked for her ID and came back with a summons. "If I was smoking or drinking, it was fine, but I wasn't doing nothing," she said. She said a judge dismissed the summons after taking one look at it. Others bemoaned the shutting-down of a longstanding block party, a move the 70th Precinct's Lt. Jacqueline Bourne said was due to a brawl. Equality for Flatbush activist Imani Henry described an hour of monitoring a checkpoint at Flatbush and Church avenues in 2014, during which police stopped only one white driver, and only after cops spotted him talking to cop watchers. Audience members began to raise their voices as the police on hand avoided their questions, saying they couldn't comment on incidents without knowing the particulars, and encouraging the aggrieved to call Internal Affairs and the Civilian Complaint Review Board.

To read more, you know what to do.

21 comments:

Anonymous said...

Hey Tim Thomas, the biggest apologist for wealthy real estate developers on this this of Brooklyn. Tell me, did they serve you crumbs while you were blowing them? What, did they invite you to a cocktail dinner just so that they can use a so called pragmatist as a cheerleader for their cause? Just because Alicia Boyd wasn't there doesn't mean she is not with us in spirit. Her fight is our fight and we will prevail and you will not. Keep kissing their ass fat man.

Anonymous said...

Post 1 of 2

Thanks for hosting the meeting. I was there (and shouted back at the heckler who claimed you were biased in moderating the event). Even though I disagree with many of the cop watch and equality crew (seriously, much of the criticism showed a lack of understanding behind basic policing science and showed a general ignorance of statistics and, dare I say, common sense), I'm glad that there was a forum for people to come together and talk. Even through all of the tension, there was some very good information and concerns shared between the various stakeholders. I only wish we were able to hear from the representatives from the DA's office; though, quite frankly, they were probably pleased not to have to officially step into what had become the lion's den.

At the end of the day, I care about living in a safe neighborhood and being able to walk down the street without fearing for my life (did we really have people at last night's event claim that the neighborhood hasn't gotten safer in the last 10-15 years??? What planet are they living on?). Now, I don't live in PLG/Crown Heights (I've live in Prospect Heights for the last 16 years, which is now, thankfully, much safer than it was when we moved into the neighborhood and I can walk around without living in the fear that I described above, I frequent PLG/Crown Heights and my family owns property there. Also, I know what it is like to live in areas of the city with crime problems. I grew up in Bed Stuy when shootings and other criminal activity were out of control. For instance, my family and I were caught in the middle of a shootout walking down Nostrand Avenue (on our way home). Shootings and other criminal activity were out of control. And we were the victims of these crimes more than once. That's not something that I want to return to. Not now, not ever.

That said, it is important that people demand quality policing at all times. But, quite frankly, many of the arguments of alleged bias/racism from the police, which are based often solely on the number of disproportionate stops/frisks/etc. of people of color (and, note, we're not talking about of all people/communities of color . . . the Chinese enclaves and Arab/Middle Eastern/Asian enclaves in this city seem to be just fine, violent crime-wise), are weak and not supported adequately, if at all. Do people not understand that there is a perfectly non-racist explanation to the disproportionate stops/frisks/etc. of blacks/Latinos? Namely that police resources are targeted most aggressively at high violent crime areas (as they should be . . . this is common sense), which, in this city, happen to be black and Hispanic neighborhoods (to get some perspective, 90% of homicide victims and offenders in NYC are black or Hispanic: http://projects.nytimes.com/crime/homicides/map . . . we see similarly out of whack numbers across other crimes). In light of these numbers (and, no, this doesn't get into the causes of the violence, but, quite frankly, that's the job for politicians, not the police), do people really want police resources to not target the most violent areas? (Note, a stronger argument for racial discrimination in stop and frisk tactics, etc., would exist if blacks and Latinos were disproportionately being stopped even in areas where they do not dominate/areas where police resources are not focused, but that is not the case).

Anonymous said...

Post 2 of 2

As a black male, I thank the NYPD for what they have done in helping to bring down shootings and crime in our communities. For all of the focus on the few bad cops there are out there (and, note, mistreatment by the police is never OK, but its important to follow through and file complaints after the fact . . . if you don't, its as if the mistreatment never happened and it won't be remedied), my experiences with the NYPD have been overwhelmingly positive. As a black male, I understand that, contrary to some of the language from the Al Sharpton types (and there were quite a few of them at that meeting yesterday . . . for those who had a hard time locating them, they included the individuals who called the young man giving advice on how to deal and deescalate encounters with the police respectfully "classist," the individuals who cried racism at every single incident, the individuals who insinuated that Tim and Rebekah were racist for being white and not inviting their majority black organization to the forum that they managed to show up to and contribute to anyway), I am much, much more likely to be injured/killed by another black male than by a police officer. Facts hurt, but we don't get to change them because they are uncomfortable.


~pheightsresident

danny said...

Cheryl, if you are reading this, I just want to say that your analysis was spot on.

I have no problem with groups like E4F. However, people like Alicia Boyd and her acolytes can go kick rocks. Eff em. Anyway, people have the right to air their grievances at these meetings but they should not railroad discussions that have to do with the saftey and security of our neighbors. We have a problem with safety here and you and others should work together on fixing this problems and work with the police. After all, they work for all of us. And what are their practical solutions to some of their grievances? They haven't outlined one. It's more like they are only interested in shouting matches. I'm not interested in that and "tearing down the system"is not practical. It ain't happening. If they have a practical solution, they should articulate it.

I agree that of some of these summonses are flat out ridiculous (if these accounts are true) and police officers should exercise better judgement before they summons someone . I also agree that you have some of these police officers who behave like assholes and don't know how to talk respectfully to the very same people who are paying their salaries. I've seen how discourteous some of them are and its appalling. They need to straighten up or get off the force. But we shouldn't lose sight of the fact that we need to get tough and smart on gun crimes over here because it effects all of us.

Anonymous said...

Sigh. AB's minions strikes again. This is all they do. They want us to fight each other. She did the same thing during a meeting at the school on Caton avenue months ago. We need more people to speak out against her, her followers and their disruptive tactics.

Rebecca said...

Pheightsresident - you're well spoken/written and make good points and have good thoughts. I like reading/hearing your level headed perspective and approach to things, thank you for taking the time.

2 things to note:

1- The DAs office spoke at our previous meeting (along with Borough Prez Eric Adams). This time they were content to sit, bear witness and listen. They didn't miss an opportunity to speak if that's the concern, although I can certainly understand the desire to hear them talk (they were great and fascinating at the last meeting).

2- This was a public meeting. For Equality for Flatbush to imply or be upset that they were excluded from a public meeting because they weren't invited is inciteful. While I am so well aware that race is an unavoidable topic, this was supposed to be a meeting about violent crime concerns, which transcend race and affect all of us, and unfortunately that got derailed.

Alex said...

E4F's solution is to ban the police. It's not possible to have a pragmatic discussion with them, so don't expect it. Sadly, what Imani's behavior means is that many of the discussions with law enforcement will have to go through back channels.

Adrian said...

No group or person comes to these meetings without some sort of "agenda." Apparently, part of your agenda was to chair a meeting in which policing tactics were not criticized. This hardly seems healthy when there have been ample instances in New York City of police intransigence to concerning any criticism of any police behavior, even when that behavior results in an unjustified homicide. See Patrick Lynch, the officers who turned their backs on Bill Diblasio, Thee Rant, etc. It hardly seems healthy when a great number of white police officers live outside the city, seem antagonistic towards city living, and seem to feel free expressing racist ideology. Everyone wants to be able to walk without being assaulted or harassed in their own neighborhood. To give this ideal meaning, people should be protected not just from harassment by civilian criminals, but also from abusive officers.

clefnote said...

I was at the meeting. I am considering putting together a more-detailed breakdown of what actually happened, as what I am reading on this blog is (at best) misinformation.

In the meantime, here's a quick attempt to set some things straight:

1. Rebecca, no disrespect, but be careful before you take the bait from the anonymous troll posting above. Accusing E4F of being “inciteful” seems a bit off. Please think about what you are co-signing by claiming that this anonymous person is "well spoken/written and [that they] make good points and have good thoughts...[having a] level headed perspective and approach to things..." Go back and read the post, it's chock full of the same reactionary talking points you read on Fox Nation ("alleged racism," blacks are “prone” to violent crime, etc). For some odd reason, this anonymous “pgheights resident” person who had so much to say didn’t say any of this garbage at the actual meeting.

Before we accuse anyone of being “inciteful,” let’s look at what we know was said. I did not hear a single thing said implying that E4F was excluded, or that the organizers were racist. Even the above commenter's use of the "classist" quip is completely out of context. While one black man was talking about knowing how to speak to police, another black man said, "yeah, but that idea can be classist, too." He then went on to explain, quite eloquently, that no matter how respectfully he tried to assert his rights, the police would take it as an affront. The spokespeople from the 70th Precinct confirmed this by saying things along the line of “even if you know you are dealing with a hothead cop, and you know you are totally right, be careful.” That’s not an exact quote, but that’s the gist of it.

I didn't hear anyone "incite" anything. I am not a member, but I am on the E4F mailing list, and no one has suggested anything about “racist exclusion” from the meeting there, either. Again, unless someone came up and said this while I was on the way out the door, I question the accuracy of this. Let’s assume someone from E4F did say this. Why not prove them wrong by including more community voices next time out?

--Rico Cleffi

clefnote said...

2. Despite the implications here that the meeting was rowdy, or even especially heated, I'd say that's way overstated. People have strong feelings at being treated poorly (a colossal understatement) at the hands of the police. A few people talked out of turn. Big deal. I thought it was the most productive discussion on policing I’ve heard in some time. That includes the black grandmother who worries that her grandkids will be the victims of violent crime. It includes the majority of people who had concerns about the NYPD. Honestly, I’ve been involved in far more heated discussions over Mets games.

3. The tone was set from the beginning when the young white woman described having cops tell her she should be especially afraid of being raped in Leferts, the implications so obviously racist we don’t need to rehash them. One of the public-relations cops (I think Vincent Martinos?) cut her off, and began deflecting. When she tried to assert herself, the officer rudely snapped, “let me finish.” Tim Thomas jumped in, yelling “Let HIM finish.” Pretty much everyone I could actually see was aghast. Why Thomas hasn’t been called out for this sexist, arrogant behavior begs the question.

As moderation goes, Thomas came across as ego-driven, and unhinged. At one point, while someone was speaking, he pointed at someone in the crowd and said “Do you have a problem with me?” It was pitiful, but we only hear about the unruly rabble who speak out of turn. On this blog, Tim claims someone threatened him, but if they did, it wasn’t audible from where I was sitting. Still, what kind of moderator engages in that sort of behavior? Then there were the numerous people who spoke up, only to have Thomas cut them off, demanding they offer “solutions.” At least one person tried to outline some idea of better community-police relations, but I guess it wasn’t Thomas’s preferred solution, so he talked over the person. Thomas also had side conversations with some of the cops in attendance while other people were speaking.

--Rico Cleffi

clefnote said...

4. So I think the organizers could’ve maybe could’ve done a better job of moderating. The problem wasn’t that the discussion got “derailed” so much as people have a lot to say, and don’t want to be talked down to by a bunch of NYPD public-relations flacks. That type of top-down, sit-still-and-have-your-intelligence-insulted format is a drag, and almost every one in attendance lost patience with the cops within about 30 seconds. Hearing the first cop bumble through his “home evasion” (seriously) spiel, telling us to worry about some suspect, who he later announced “well, we caught him this morning, so I guess it isn’t relevant.” This was the same guy who told us about how he dug “German culture.” People were practically rolling on the floor at these howlers, but the bad gags only got worse. Then there were the endless deflections by all cops present telling people they should do a better job reporting police abuse to the CCRB. How many officers have ever been fired or jailed by the CCRB?

To reiterate, I think the meeting was a great success in that people need to be talking about this stuff more. It was a rare occasion for people of several racial backgrounds to actually discuss these issues. Again. people came out and aired their grievances. I think the organizers made a real strategic mistake by decoupling calls for security from the issue of police violence (arguably the most important civil rights issue of our time). Rebecca noted that this was a grass roots effort, and everybody’s learning as they go along. I can respect that. Community building is messy.

5. I lose count of the number of times MTOPP has been invoked in relation to this meeting, on this blog, and in the comments. No one from MTOPP was present. There was nothing remotely resembling MTOPP-style disruption. I counted two people from E4F who spoke, but I don’t know for sure, I don’t ask people to identify their political allegiances before they speak. I think attempts to make E4F seem like a disruptive force at this meeting are misguided and wrong. The idea that it was a matter of one side against the other simply isn’t true. There were several people with similar concerns.

Also, seeing the discussion on this blog turn to what kind of hat Imani Henry was wearing puts us in the realm of appearance over substance. I have no interest in who wears what, who screws whom, what Kim Kardashian had for breakfast, or any other TMZ-type gossip matters.

Anyway, I’m sure I’ll be attacked for this post, but I’m willing to take whatever shit people want to hurl. I ‘ve been the victim of both violent crime and police violence. In the case of the former, the cops made clear they didn’t give a shit that I was nearly killed during a robbery. They suggested I “move to Long Island” and repeatedly tried to get me to finger black suspects in the mugshot book, even though my assailants were white.

Anyone interested in discussing these matters more can email me directly at rcleffi [AT] gmail. I will not be responding to anonymous comments on this blog, and may not check back at all, as I generally find commenting on blog posts to be a huge time drain.

--Rico Cleffi

Anonymous said...

This meeting was well advertised!! They were invited. Everybody was. Claims they were excluded are lies and completely ridiculous as is everything connected with these groups. As for the question about police presence, hey Imani I dare you to go ask to their faces whether the family of the woman shot in the head and killed in front of her daughter when they got in the way of a gang hit, thinks just even one or two police in our neighborhood once in a while would have prevented that brazen shooting on Flatbush. Shame on those who ask for no police who have not been directly affected like that and had a family member or friend killed because these shooters know full well there are no police around to see them. I am serious, ask the victims' families what's best, not some guy who doesn't even live here.

Clarkson FlatBed said...

Rico: You say you didn't hear when someone threatened me. I'm here to tell you they did. So...I was supposed to just take it, I guess. Sorry. I forgot part of the job of moderator is take it up the ass.

The REASON it was a good meeting was because I insisted on everyone having a chance to speak without being interrupted. It's always the case...when YOUR perspective is being articulated, it's okay to talk over someone. When it's someone else's, suddenly the slightest utterance while your person is speaking is reason to flip out. It's a fine line, this moderation business. But if you don't like me or my moderation, I wonder just how well you would've done. Perhaps you'll call your own meeting and we'll see? Til then, have a little heart for someone who is trying to let all voices be heard.

The cries of racism happened before and after the meeting, and in emails, so yeah you're not privy to the whole story. If you're serious about understanding the bigger picture, I ask that you email me offline and we go get a coffee. I'm not comfortable with the way you're calling me out here, because I don't think you have the slightest idea where I'm coming from. I have NO IDEA what the best way forward is, though I do know the GMAC people are articulating serious solutions beyond bashing the cop. And by insisting people stop hurling complaints at the NYPD folks there, we had a productive coversation. No one wants to talk calmly while being attacked, including the NYPD. And yes, Vinnie et al were being attacked. I won't stand for it, on any side.

Thanks for your opinion, and most of all for signing your name. I'm curious where you live and whether I may contact you to continue this conversation. I'm not perfect, but I'm learning, and hopefully you and I will be able to figure out how to keep the conversations productive in the future. But I'm not going to take your Monday morning quarterbacking seriously unless you talk it out, rather than just posting your problems with me. From your writing, I'd say you came into the meeting with a pretty well formed idea of your opinion of Tim Thomas. As I've said many times, I come to these things to learn as much as anything.

And guess what I was saying to the cops when I spoke to them aside? "Thanks for staying cool and keeping the conversation going. This stuff is important for everyone to hear."

Got a problem with that?

Clarkson FlatBed said...

The fact that the meeting was generally productive and didn't dissolve into chaos, given that "opposition" groups were in attendance and brought simmering anger into the room, suggests to me that the moderation was pretty good over all. God knows I've watched a ton of poorly run meetings this year. It ain't as easy as it looks. I thank Rebeccca for putting the word out to all. And I do mean all. She's very smart and fair, and willing to learn. I hope you can respect that. At least she's trying to do something.

Oh, and here's the joke. Maybe you missed it.

Imani goes on TV to denounce me as a racist. I call him out on a two-bit blog for having an unflattering hat. To me, that's hilarious. Sorry if it wasn't your cup of comedic tea.

Bottom line, I'm not stooping to his level and that's why I'm comfortable entertaining your critique here on me own blog, and those of others with views on the right, without worrying that somehow my dear reputation will be impugned. Put yourself out there, you'll get attacked. That's just how it is. And if you dish it, be prepared to eat it too.

Oh, The Irony! said...

This is wonderful. Tim Thomas, a racist? Oh, we've been telling you that over the years. His personal vendetta against Alicia Boyd is a perfect example of it. This man has said some of the most incendiary things that I've ever heard said to a woman of color. My God, if you were to ask me which is more dirtier, Tim's mouth or the Gowanus, I would have said the Gowanus, obviously but seeing this deranged so called progressive in action bad mouthing a proud strong black woman and now attacking Imani Henry, I would have to say Tim's mouth. He is very nasty man, inside and out. Did anyone see how the cops manhandled Alicia Boyd and some of our supporters for no apparent reason other than expressing our rights as citizens in a meeting? It's on youtube. He and his fat old friends were cheerleading this!

Now Tim might delete this. That's ok because it's his blog and he can say and do whatever he wants. I just want him to know we are all watching him here and outside of this blog. His support behind 626 is just a start of many bad things to come out of this man.

Anonymous said...

If you feel an officer has disrespectful to you, or to those around you, get that officer's name and badge number and raise hell about it. And if you can, film it. If they can't conduct themselves professionally, then they should find something else to do. I'm not anti police and I'll never be but it pisses me off that some of these guys continue to treat us with utter disrespect. I have no patience for douchebag cops. We as tax paying citizens deserve better. This is what breeds the resentment of police officers here and throughout the country. We could use more cops but we don't need the shit that comes with it!

If they want to know why is there so much hostility towards them, maybe the ought to look at how some of their own "brothers in blue" speak and treat us in a foul manner. How would they like if their own mothers were on the receiving end of an abusive cop attitude and behavior? You will never ever ever ever hear any of these grievances come from neighborhoods where the inhabitants are mostly white. Gravesend? Nada. Park Slope? Nope. Williamsburg? Nah uh. Now why is that? White residents here living with their black and brown neighbors are seeing first hand some of the nastiness we've been dealing with for some time from some of these officers. This shit needs to end.

Clarkson FlatBed said...

Now to you, "Oh, the Irony." Perhaps you're mistaken about what racism is and isn't. It IS disrespecting, misrepresenting, hating, belittling, fearing etc. an entire race of people. It IS a social and political system designed to keep an entire race of people from participating in and enjoying the benefits of an egalitarian society.

It is NOT criticizing hypocrites and assholes. It would actually be MORE racist of me to avoid taking an equal, critical eye to people of color, simply because of their color. And I certainly don't avoid such criticisms because of douchebags like you.

So to reiterate...Alicia Boyd is a divisive hypocrite. The jury is out on Imani Henry, but he likes to calls people racist who merely disagree with him. Oh, and Matthieu Eugene is an incompetent buffoon. Those are the only three people of color and I can think of that I have a problem with at the moment. There have been, and will be, others. Perhaps you, too, though I make no assumptions about your race, religion or hygiene. However, your attitude stinks.

As for the whites that get under my skin? Don't get me started...I'd need a complete other blog for that.

And 626? Perhaps you've forgotten that I was the first somewhat widely read public forum to denounce it. So you blew that call, and that tells me all I need to know about your understanding of me and where I'm coming from.

Oh, The Irony! said...

I may be a douchebag Mr. Thomas, the jury is still out on that but you sir are an anger bitter old fart without a clue. My attitude is that of a saint, but I hate bullshit. I call it as I see it. I love how you attack others while becoming the very thing you HATE. HA! Talking over others, uttering foul language underneath your lips and throwing your weight around as if you are some mob boss. You've made an ass of yourself more times than I could remember. FOLKS, if you want to see ol Timmy boy lose his cool, just tell him what a narcissist he is and he'll turn into a raging lunatic. I haven't forgotten you calling the honorable Ms. Alicia Boyd that word. The C word. Oooh, do you wanna tell your audience about that incident or shall I do it? Nah, I think we all know what happened on that day.

As for the police, your buddy buddy with the cops. You know Vincent and you know the others. There is just one thing that bothers me. Why do you always identify with the oppressors? Hmm? How come there hasn't been anything done to control these pigs who harass innocent people? Why aren't the "bad" cops fired? What happens to an officer when he/she reported to the CCRB? Why haven't you discussed this with your cop friends? What's that? They're good people? I can assure your these men who you call good will not consider you their friend once you call them out on their flaws. They are primitive neanderthals from the backwoods of Long island and some parts of Queens. Blinded by their hate and prejudice for African Americans and Latinos who assert themselves. To them, every person of color is bad or some hoodlum on the street. You however, seem to identify with them moreso than anyone. That's very telling for a "progressive".

Backtracking on 626 already? Oh Timmy, what you do publicly doesn't translate PRIVATELY which is what I am talking about. I know more than you THINK you do.

Clarkson FlatBed said...

Now I know who you are. You gave it away with that last one. I saw you at the Chaka Khan concert. She was amazing wasn't she? I was there with a friend of mine who makes movies and furniture. He bought me a ticket for the benefit. And I got to see your little gaggle getting down. I was hoping our common love for Chaka would be an opportunity to make peace. You must have gotten there early to get such a nice front gate seat! And you have such mouth on you, sailor!

Btw, I have about as much respect for the honoree that night as you do for me. Publicly/privately "Timmy" is the same. Sorry. I'm simply not that interesting. Plus, the "c" word isn't even in my vocabulary. Ask anyone who knows me. Last time I used it in college I got tongue lashed by a beautiful girl. That sticks with you!

In conclusion, bottom line, to wrap up, at the end of the day...you just did more for your reputation in that last comment than I could ever manage in a mountain of type. Thanks for confirming your character so succinctly. And for confirming you identity.

Clarkson FlatBed said...

"Oh, The Iron Man." I like that better than Batman.

I'm going to miss you, Irony. But that's your last public comment here. From now on out, you'll have to talk to me in person. And you WILL be talking to me in person, I assure you of that.

Anonymous said...

I'm disgusted. There are no consequences at all for Imani whether PLG gets appropriate law enforcement. Which it does not have, sorry, all this talk of aggressive cops in PLG, puh-lease, we have been here nearly 10 years and I have never once witnessed cops grabbing somebody off the sidewalk here. Thanks to a SMALL handful of entitled people who believe they're the deciders for everyone historically telling the 71st we don't want a police presence here, no cops come here. None.