Parks Department Attempts To Cover Up PEP Homeless Condition Order

Homeless Camp. Park Enforcement Patrol officers (PEP) are often confronted with dangerous and unpredictable situations while performing their duties. PEP's ranks have been decimated over the years.  (Photos: Geoffrey Croft/NYC Park Advocates.) Click on Image to enlarge.

By Geoffrey Croft

Last week 15 Parks Enforcement Patrol (PEP) officers from the Bronx, Brooklyn and Queens wrote to their union to complain about dangerous work conditions caused by the lack of manpower and resources in city parks. The complaints are due in part to a new order dealing with the homeless and the conditions they encounter. Under the subject line, Fall Tour Changes & Personnel Shortage, the September 21, 2010, letter obtained by A Walk In The Park says, "The following Parks Enforcement Patrol commands were ordered by Arsenal North Management to man two tours [8 a.m. to 4 p.m., and 3 p.m. to 11 p.m.] during the fall/winter time of the year. We are being asked to patrol during the evening hours with a maximum of two officers and & one supervisor. Our main objective on the evening tour would be to focus on the homeless conditions. Some of the homeless conditions that we have encountered during our patrols are seriously mentally ill, combative and emotionally disturbed. This created problems because there are no other patrol units in the borough available to assist. While on patrol there is no telling when an officer may encounter a violent crime taking place. In the past there has been an increase in rapes, homicides, robberies and muggings. Our belief is that two officers is not enough to handle these types of situations and or conditions with any back up. Sometimes the locations are in remote areas that do not enter into the NYPD, or EMS system for them to respond to us. We are asking that all officers remain on one tour for safety purposes until our staff increases."    Hypodermic needles and empty crack vials at the base of a tree in High Bridge Park.  On Sunday the Daily News observed PEP officers dealing with homeless conditions in Fordham Landing Playground, a four-acre park property off of the Major Deegan Expressway near Fordham Road. PEP and the Daily News spoke to a Little League coach who not only complained about the dangerous conditions in the park but stated that the community has had to deal with the hazards for years. The coach said his league's 300 kids are subjected to seeing the homeless doing drugs, urinating and defecating in the park. "Things you don't want the kids to see," said a parks source.   However, when contacted by the Daily News on Sunday for comment, the Park's Department press office said PEP responded to the scene only after a complaint had been made by the Little League coach and PEP responding was not part of any larger homeless initiative, according to a parks source.  The Parks Department press office said that no such homeless order exists.  "When we do participate in (homeless) sweeps, they are performed with the full cooperation of DHS [Department of Homeless Services] and NYPD and after an extended period of outreach," the Parks Department press office told the Daily News. "They're liars," said a Parks Department source who requested anonymity out of fear of retaliation. "They got caught and now they are trying to cover it up." "Its inconceivable they would do this to their own employees when they are risking their lives every day," said Joe Puleo, Vice President of Local 983. "I'm shocked that they would give false information to the media."  "It doesn't shock me, but it amazes me," said a PEP officer who also spoke on the condition of anonymity for fear of retribution.  Last week Local 983 president Mark Rosenthal tried to look into the situation before the order was to be implemented on Sunday.  On Thursday he left a message with Parks Assistant Commissioner Michael Dockett, the head of PEP, and asked for a call back "immediately."  The call was not returned.   The Park Enforcement ranks have been decimated over the years. The current city budget allocates funds for only 152 officers - down from 212 last year year - and from a high of 450 in the 1990s.  This policy means that some boroughs like the Bronx can have as little as one or two officers per shift to patrol nearly 7,000 of acres of parkland. This is in sharp contrast to so called "contract parks" which pay for dedicated PEP to be assigned permanently to work in one park.     The vast majority of PEP are permanently assigned to contract parks which relay on dedicated funding schemes, usually private funds.  One exception is the High Line where PEP officers are paid from city funds. The High Line for instance has between nine and eleven officers for less than 3 acres.  Further compounding the disparity, PEP officers are often taken out of a borough and moved to a wealthy contract park in order to fulfill the city's contractual obligations. A PEP officer on the High Line. Public-Private partnerships in wealthy communities have created enormous disparities in the city's park system.   Read More: Park Enforcement Put At Risk Officers Charge A Walk In The Park - September 28,  2010  Brooklyn Bridge Park To Open With 9 Full-time Dedicated PEP - Discriminatory Critics Charge A Walk In The Park - March 18, 2010   City must PEP up and hire more park patrol officers New York Daily News - September 2, 2009 - By Geoffrey Croft Advocates for other parks angered by extra security for new High Line New York Daily News - June 10, 2009 -  By Joy Resmovits, Kenny Porpora And Erin Einhorn   Private group contracts cause safety patrol dip for borough parklands New York Daily News - October 4, 2008 -  By Lisa L. CoLangelo

Parks Department Amnesia Over Rescued South Bronx Red-Tailed Hawk

That Red-Tailed Hawk Looks Familar. Parks Commissioner Adrian Benepe proudly holds a six-month old rehabilitated Red-Tailed Hawk that was rescued in the South Bronx on June 28, 2010. Yesterday the Parks Department omitted details relating to who actually rescued the hawk for a press event. (Photo: Daniel Avila/NYC Parks & Recreation Department)

Bronx

On the same day the Park's Department's press office was releasing false public safty information to a Bronx reporter regarding the number of dedicated PEP officers available to patrol parks in the Bronx,  they were also omitting details of an animal rescue at a press conference.

Yesterday DPR flak Jesslyn Moser repeatedly tried to mislead Bronx News 12 reporter Sonia Moghe by telling her the Bronx has 18 officers to patrol 7,000 acres instead of only 1. At a press conference a few hours earlier in Central Park the Parks Department chose to leave out any detailed information about who actually helped rescue the hawk. (Its been a tough week for DPR's press office in the veracity department) 

June 28, 2010. A red-tailed hawk, believed to be less than two months old, was brought to Brook Park. The young raptor was then transported by canoe to a licensed falconer. (Photo: Geoffrey Croft, NYC Park Advocates) 

For the record, the collaborative hawk rescue effort included three South Bronx residents - Lee Rivera, Danny Chervoni and Friends of Brook Park president Harry Bubbins, two Brook Park volunteers, Geoffrey Croft of NYC Park Advocates and lots of good-old-fashioned South Bronx goodwill along the way.   It goes without saying that not one of the folks involved with getting the hawk to the falconer were invited to the press event.

We wish a wonderful heathy life to that beautiful hawk.

June 28, 2010. The red-tailed hawk was rescued by local environmentalists after falling from an air-conditioner in the South Bronx. (Photo: Geoffrey Croft, NYC Park Advocates) 

Read More:

Adrian Hogs the spotlight

Queens Crap - September 30, 2010

Rescued Red-Tailed Hawk Heads Back To Nature

gothmist - By Jen Chung

Wild in Central Pk.

New York Post -  September 30, 2010 - By Sabrina Ford and Cynthia R. Fagen

 

Baby Red-Tailed Hawk Rescued In The South Bronx

A Walk In The Park - July 1,  2010 

Bangelesh Community Targeted In Rash Of Crime From Caserta Playground

EACH ATTACK, ACCORDING TO THE VICTIMS ALL OCCURRED AFTER THEY PASSED BY CASERTA PLAYGROUND DURING THE EVENING HOURS...A PARK, THEY SAY, WHERE THE YOUNG THUGS HANG OUT AT NIGHT...TARGETING AND PREYING ON THEIR PEOPLE.

Bronx

A CRIME SPREE IN PARKCHESTER HAS BANGLADESHI PEOPLE LIVING THERE WORRIED THEY'RE BEING TARGETED.  THIS AFTER ALMOST A DOZEN BANGLADESHIS ARE MUGGED IN THE NEIGHBORHOOD.   RAY RAIMUNDI HAS MORE ON WHAT THEY WANT DONE ABOUT IT IN THIS STORY YOU'LL ONLY SEE ON 12. 

 

M.D. ISLIM STILL SHAKES IN FEAR WALKING DOWN ST. RAYMONDS AVENUE.  ITS BEEN TWO WEEKS SINCE HE WAS MUGGED BY A GROUP OF THUGS ON THIS VERY STREET WALKING FROM HIS HOME.  BATTLE SCARS COVER HIS  FOREHEAD, NOSE, AND BOTTOM LIP.  HIS PHONE AND HUNDREDS OF DOLLARS IN CASH SNATCHED AWAY.

 

M.D. ISLAM

wallet was lost, money...they got gold and everything...and they pointed a gun to my head.

 

ISLIM IS ONE OF 9 BANGLADESHI MEN WHO HAVE BEEN BEAT UP AND ROBBED THROUGHOUT THIS PARKCHESTER COMMUNITY WITHIN THE LAST 3 WEEKS.  AND WHILE POLICE SAY THEY DON'T SUSPECT THESE ROBBERIES ARE BIAS OR HATE CRIMES, BENGALIS HERE SAY OTHERWISE.

 

MOHAMMED MUJUMDER

They're not going to fight back.  They're targeting them, they're beating them.  They're taking they're belongings and what ever they have.

 

EACH ATTACK, ACCORDING TO THE VICTIMS ALL OCCURRED AFTER THEY PASSED BY CASERTA PLAYGROUND DURING THE EVENING HOURS...A PARK, THEY SAY, WHERE THE YOUNG THUGS HANG OUT AT NIGHT...TARGETING AND PREYING ON THEIR PEOPLE.

 

M.D. HOSSAN

Every incident is happening from this park...only from this park...everything from this park.

 

BANGLEDESHI PEOPLE HERE IN THIS COMMUNITY SAY THEY'LL CONTINUE THEIR FIGHT WITH ELECTED OFFICIALS AND THE 43RD PRECINCT TO ENSURE THE GATES HERE AT CASERTA PLAYGROUND ARE LOCKED AND CLOSED AT NIGHT.  THEY'RE HOPING FOR THE DAY THEY CAN FEEL SAFE AND COMFORTABLE WALKING THRU THE STREETS OF THEIR NEIGHBORHOOD.  IN CASTLE HILL, RAY RAIMUNDI, NEWS 12 THE BRONX.

 

IF YOU HAVE ANY INFORMATION ABOUT THESE MUGGINGS CALL CRIMESTOPPERS.  THAT NUMBER IS 1-800-577-TIPS.  AGAIN THAT NUMBER IS 1-800-577-8477. 

Bangladeshi men say they're being targeted in Parkchester

News 12 - Bronx -  September 29, 2010 - By Ray Raimundi

Newtown Creek Designated Superfund Site

An area of industrial buildings along Newtown Creek.  The Environmental Protection Agency announced on Monday it had designated Newtown Creek a Superfund site, promising a thorough environmental cleanup and a comprehensive evaluation to identify continuing sources of pollution.  (Photo: Fred R. Conrad/The New York Times

Brooklyn - Queens

The Environmental Protection Agency has designated Newtown Creek, between Brooklyn and Queens, a Superfund site, promising a thorough environmental cleanup of a long-neglected waterway that was once one of the busiest hubs of industrial activity in the city, according to the New York Times.

The Superfund designation, which was announced on Monday by the agency’s regional administrator in New York, Judith Enck, means that the E.P.A. will conduct a comprehensive evaluation of the severely polluted creek to determine what kind of cleanup is needed and to identify continuing sources of pollution. Community advocates, environmental groups and members of Congress had long sought the designation out of concern about the extent of contamination and its possible danger to residents.

The creek, about four miles long, is now the second active Superfund site in the city. The Gowanus Canal in Brooklyn, another waterway suffering the consequences of its industrial past, was placed in March on the Superfund’s National Priorities List, a designation reserved for the worst-contaminated sites in the nation.

Six other Superfund sites across the country were also chosen on Monday, including a section of the Black River in Jefferson County, N.Y., that was contaminated with P.C.B.’s and other chemicals. P.C.B.’s, or polychlorinated biphenyls, can cause cancer and affect the immune, reproductive, nervous and endocrine systems, according to the E.P.A.

“Newtown Creek is a key urban waterway, which provides recreational and economic resources to many communities,” Ms. Enck said in a written statement. “Throughout the investigation and cleanup, we will work closely with the communities along the creek to achieve a revitalization of this heavily contaminated urban waterway.”

Water samples from Newtown Creek, a branch of the East River and part of the New York-New Jersey Harbor Estuary, have revealed the presence of pesticides, heavy metals, P.C.B.’s, volatile organic compounds and other contaminants. Despite the continuing pollution problems, the agency noted, residents use the creek for recreation like kayaking and fishing, and some eat the fish they catch.

The creek’s polluted condition also reflects countless oil spills from the dozens of refineries and fuel storage centers that have operated along its banks since the 19th century.

Read More:

U.S. Cleanup Is Set for Newtown Creek, Long Polluted by Industry

New York Times - September 27, 2010 - By Mireya Navarro 

Suspect Arrested In FDR Sex Assault

Police arrested Kentrel Whitaker, 32, who is suspected of sexually assaulting a 73-year-old woman while jogging on the FDR Drive near 11 Street in East Harlem on September 15, 2010. According to police the woman was approached from behind and thrown to the ground, before being sexually assaulted.  (Photo: NYPD)

Manhattan

A cold-hearted ex-con was collared yesterday for grabbing a 73-year-old jogger from behind and sexually assaulting her in East Harlem two weeks ago, police said, according to the New York Daily News. 

Kentrel Whitaker, 32, threw the woman on the ground in the 6:40 a.m. attack on a footpath near the FDR Drive and E.111th St. on Sept. 15, police said.

Sources said investigators identified Whitaker as the suspect after his DNA matched evidence found at the crime scene.

Whitaker's genetic sample was logged in a database with that of other convicted criminals. He has a rap sheet that stretches more than 10 years and includes arrests for trespassing, drug possession and disorderly conduct, documents show.

Two housing cops spotted and cuffed Whitaker about 6 p.m. near his home on 105th St. near First Ave. He was charged with first-degree rape and assault, police said.

Read/View More

NYPD collars ex-con suspected of violent sexually assault on 73-year-old woman in East Harlem

New York Daily News - September 28, 2010 - By Joe Kemp

Suspect Arrested In Harlem Sex Assault

WCBS - September 28, 2010 

Police Arrest Man Who Allegedly Attacked Female Jogger

NY 1 - September 28, 2010 

Man Accused of Sexually Assaulting 73-Year-Old Jogger September 28, 2010 

DNAinfo - September 28, 2010 - By Jennifer Glickel

Park Enforcement Put At Risk Officers Charge

City-Wide

Park cops say new orders to sweep homeless people out of the city's parks are putting them in danger because they are being sent out without adequate manpower, training, weapons and backup.

"This is a good example of why understaffing can become dangerous," said Joe Puleo, vice president of Local 983, the union that represents the city's Parks Enforcement Patrol officers.

"They have no guns and often encounter dangerous situations and are simply not given enough manpower and backup," he said.

The union claims the Parks Department started new nightly homeless sweeps in the Bronx, Brooklyn and Queens on Sunday, trying to dislodge vagrants encamped in the city's small pockets of wilderness.

Parks officials denied that any new sweeps have been ordered.

The ranks of the park police, who make $35,000 per year, have been sorely diminished by hiring freezes and attrition.

Geoffrey Croft of New York City Park Advocates says the force is down to 152 officers from 212 last year - and a high of 450 in the 1990s.

"Putting public employees in harm's way is not good for the city," he said.

The sparser numbers mean the parks officers will have to try to clear out sprawling parks, such as Van Cortlandt Park, in the Bronx, and Flushing Meadows-Corona Park, in Queens, in teams of just two or three, instead of five like last year, Puleo said.

"Our belief is that two officers is not enough to handle these types of situations," he said, adding that his officers need help from the NYPD.

"Some of the homeless conditions we have encountered on our patrol are seriously mentally ill and combative and emotionally disturbed people."

Read More:

New homeless sweeps put us at risk, park cops say

New York Daily News - September 27, 2010-  By Daniel Beekman 

Park Pounding: More Violence In Fort Greene Park

Park pounding

Four thugs robbed and beat a man in Fort Greene Park on Sept. 24, getting his phone and cash, according to The Brooklyn Paper.

The victim told cops that he was sitting in the park near DeKalb Avenue at 2:30 pm when the group of brutes approached him swinging and kicking. The perps made off with the money and a Blackberry, and left the victim with a battered and swollen face.

More violence in Fort Greene Park

The Brooklyn Paper - September 28, 2010 - By Joe Anuta

Suspect Sought In Central Park Mugging

A photographer was robbed of his expensive camera and beaten by a thug in Central Park on Monday, police said, according to an account in the New York Post. The 39-year-old victim, who is visiting from Florida, was accosted off East 61st Street near East Drive at 6:50 p.m. The thief snatched his Nikon camera and slugged him in the face before fleeing. The victim was treated at St. Luke's Hospital for minor injuries.   

Police say they are looking for an attacker after a mugging in Central Park, according to WABC News.

The incident happened just before 7 p.m. Monday, near the East 61st Street entrance to the park.

Police say the suspect approached a man walking in the park and demanded his cell phone.

When the victim refused, the suspect punched him in the face, grabbed his Blackberry and camera and took off.

Read More:

Police search for suspect in Central Park mugging

WABC News - September 29, 2010

Fotog mugged in Central Pk.,

New York Post - By Jamie Schram - September 28,  2010

Couple Mugged In Central Park By Masked Bandit

Manhattan

A couple was robbed by a masked thug and his knife-wielding accomplice outside Belvedere Castle in Central Park, according to the New York Post.

The 22-year-old male victim and his female companion, 19, were sitting on the steps of the old castle at about 11:30 p.m. Saturday when the two muggers approached, sources said.

Read More:

NYPD Daily Blotter 

New York Post - By John Doyle - September 27, 2010

 

More Than A Week After Tornado Middle Village Still Suffering

By Robert Holden

Most of Middle Village has hundreds of trees with dangerous dangling limbs and branches. What's very strange is that Juniper Valley Park is still very unsafe yet it was never closed by Parks.  Not even a warning sign to park users about the dangerous trees. Much of the park should not be open yet we have hundreds of people using it unaware of the dangers.  I asked Commissioner Benepe why the park is open with such devastation and obvious danger. He said the fallen trees pose no danger (I disagree) but the danger is from trees with broken or hanging limbs.  I told him we had many. Parks did put caution tape around a few but most of the unsafe trees don't anything warning park users.

Middle Village streets are very unsafe. Many blocks have several large unsafe trees with dangling limbs and branches.   I spoke to Commissioner Benepe on Wednesday about getting together about 75 volunteers to mark the dangerous trees with warning signs. He said he would get back to me about whether or not we could staple the signs to the trees. I still haven't heard back from him.

These photos were taken yesterday in and around Juniper Valley Park. On some of the trees it's difficult to see but all have dangerous hanging limbs or branches.

On Saturday morning on 83rd Place, near 64th Road, neighbors heard what they thought was a car accident. It turned out that a large limb came crashing down on a car's roof. This was several days after Parks Department trucks had removed what they said were all the dangerous trees and branches on the block.

Read/View More

MIDDLE VILLAGE STORM DAMAGE CLEANUP DELAYS

WPIX - 

Still Waiting

Queens Crap

Last Weekend For Cedar Grove Beach Club?

The Bloomberg administration has refused to extend the Cedar Grove Beach Club license.  The administration has also refused to create and competitively bid out a seasonal bungalow concession.   The bungalows have been used for more than a half a century as part of a beach club instead, the city is insisting the bungalows be destroyed.  The Parks Department released a rendering this week (above) for its controversial Cedar Grove Beach Club site. The "plan" calls for destroying most of the 41 Summer bungalows and replacing them with natural vegetation like beach grass. It calls for building a playground and bathrooms, installing new entrances, and installing a concession. A lifeguard station will also be installed. The few bungalows that will be preserved will be converted for administrative uses.   

"It's a typical rope-a-dope by the Parks Department. They're going to get in there with their $1.8 million, knock the bungalows down and then walk away and we will never see the real plan implemented," Councilman Vincent Ignizio (R-South Shore), whose district houses Cedar Grove, told the Staten Island Advance.

For the most part, residents fear neglect. Just next door sits New Dorp Beach, whose bungalows were knocked down in 1962. Now owned by the city, the beach there is hideous. Condoms and drug refuse litter the shore. The foundation of an ancient hospital has never been removed.

The city has put aside $1.8 million to fix up Cedar Grove -- money, ironically, from the rent paid by Grovians. It's not enough, officials admit, to get through even one summer.

Parks Commissioner Adrian Benepe has said they can not have have people living on parkland as the reason for getting rid of the seasonal concession however they have not said why people living in house boats on park property or allowing many non-park uses which occupy parkland twenty four hours - three hundred sixty five day a week is any different.

Meanwhile Parks Department officials have repeatedly attempted to mislead the public by indicating the seasonal bungalow concession somehow prevents the public from accessing the beach and that its new "plan" was not compatible with current uses including having "nice beaches."

"Now, you feel like you're trespassing on private property," Mr. Benepe said. 

A contention bungalow users say is absurd. 

On Tuesday Mayor Bloomberg was confronted by protesters on the steps City Hall to save the summer bungalows.  The Mayor said he had "no idea" about the issue and he would "take a look."  Mr. Bloomberg posed with one protester and held a sign which read, "PARKS MUST RECONSIDER. SAVE CEDAR GROVE."  - Geoffrey Croft

Longtime residents gather for a final picnic at Cedar Grove Beach Club over the weekend. Bungalow users must be out by this Thursday.  The Bloomberg administration has refused to competitively bid out the seasonal bungalow concession which have been used for more than a half a century as part of a beach club. (Photo: Michael McWeeney/Staten Island Advance) 

Staten Island

It's been quiet on the shores of Cedar Grove Beach Club these days. 

The kids are back at school and their parents at work, leaving only the oldest of the old-timers to reflect on nearly 100 years that suddenly seem like they've gone by so fast. 

"Sometimes I find myself standing and staring out the window and I can't imagine not summering here," said Marie Mulcahy, 67, who was sitting on her deck recently with her husband, Roger, 79, and sister-in-law, Eileen Lee, 82. A few feet away a lone fisherman cast a line and a sunbather sat under a yellow umbrella at the water's edge. 

"All we have is hope now." 

Over the past few weeks, the residents of the 41 beach colony bungalows have been taking photos off the walls and boxing away knickknacks collected through the years. Furniture has been donated to charity or given to friends. Pots and pans, clothing, small appliances and paintings were sold at a yard sale last Saturday. 

Despite the support of elected officials and a rally last Monday on the steps of City Hall, they may really be leaving for the very last time when their lease with the city expires on Thursday. 

The Parks Department is reclaiming the privately-leased stretch of land at the foot of Ebbits Street in New Dorp as part of its vision of incorporating its 78 acres into 10.6 miles of "continuous, open public beach" from the Verrazano-Narrows Bridge to Crescent Beach in Great Kills. 

By Memorial Day 2011, the beach -- already free and open to anyone to use and maintained by its residents at no cost to the taxpayer -- is expected to be readied for swimming, according to a plan provided to the Advance by Parks. 

Read More: 

Last gasps at Staten Island's Cedar Grove Beach

Staten Island Advance -  September 26, 2010 - By Stephanie Slepian

Village pillage on SI's shore

New York Post - September 24, 2010 - Andrea Peyer 

Bloomberg's Knowledge Of Cedar Grove Beach Club Issue "No Idea"

A Walk In The Park -  September 21, 2010