Park Worker In Critical Condition After Accidentally Setting Himself On Fire In Brooklyn Park

Brooklyn

By Geoffrey Croft

An off duty Brooklyn parks worker is in critical condition after accidental setting himself on fire NYC Park Advocates has learned. 

A witness saw the 36-year-old man burning in Fort Green Park at approximately 1:00 am early this morning within the confines the 88th Pct.

EMS rushed him to the Cornell Medical burn unit  in Manhattan where he is in a medical induced coma.  He suffered third degree burns to 60 percent of his body. 

He was using gasoline to light insence inside the park according to police.  A small explosion occurred when he lit the incense which caused him to be covered in flames.  

Police have been unable to speak with him due to his condition.  Authorities have also been having problems contacting his next of kin.

The worker is a City Seasonal Aid Filterplant Operator assigned to Fisher Pool in East Elmhurst Queens. 

Police are investigating the incident as an accident.

Edward Snowden Artists Seek Confiscated Sculpture Back From NYPD

A 4-feet tall bust of Edward Snowden was exhibited for a few hours last week in Fort Green Park in Brooklyn before the city quickly covered it up and the police confiscated it. The artists are seeking to have the sculpture returned.  (Photo: Aymann Ismail/ANIMALNewYork)

MEDIA ADVISORY

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

April 14,  2015 

Community to NYPD:  Return the Snowden Bust! • 

Calls On The City To Return Edward Snowden 

Sculpture Confiscated In Fort Green Park

WHO:     Civil rights and criminal defense attorney Ronald L. Kuby,   NYC Park Advocates president Geoffrey Croft will be joined by free speech supporters. 

WHAT:  Press conference calling on the City to immediately return the bust of NSA whistle-blower Edward Snowden confiscated by police in Fort Greene Park.  The artists plan to submit an application to legally exhibit the sculpture through the Parks Department's Art in the Parks initiative,  a 45-year-old program that exhibits artwork temporarily in city parks throughout the city.  A local gallery has also agreed to temporarily exhibit the work. 

A letter from Ron Kuby to Police Commissioner William J. Bratton, and a statement from the artists will be available.

WHERE:  Fort Green Park - Prison Ship Martyrs Monument 

WHEN:   Tuesday, April 14th - at 10: 00 a.m. 

BACKDROP:   Supporters gather against the backdrop where the bust was placed and subsequently removed by city officials.

BACKGROUND:      A 100-pound bust of Mr. Snowden was erected by three artists just before dawn near the park's Prison Ship Martyrs Monument on Monday April 6th on one of the three empty pedestals that face the Revolutionary War monument.    The city quickly covered up the statue and police confiscated it.  The bust remains in police custody today.  The artists hope the sculpture is returned so it may "continue to spark healthy conversations about issues central to our freedoms, " they state.



Four parks workers helped cover up the work with a blue tarp so that the media could not get a look at it while they prepared to remove it.  (Photo: Geoffrey Croft/NYC Park Advocates) 

NYC Park Advocates Inc. is a non-partisan watchdog group dedicated to improving public parks, restoring public funding, increasing public recreation programs, expanding open space and accessibility, and achieving the equitable distribution of these vital services in New York City for all. We are the only park advocacy group dedicated to all City, State and Federal parkland in New York City. For more information please visit us at http://nycparkadvocates.org

2 Shot & Killed In Fort Green Park

Police at the scene last nigth where two men were shot dead in Fort Greene Park in Brooklyn. Jahmal Issac Page, 21, and Anthony Earl-Govon, 22, were both shot in the the head and pronounced dead at the scene. The Daily News says a third man, whose name hasn't been released, was also reportedly shot. No arrests have been made yet. (Photo: Seth Gottfried)

Brooklyn

Two men were fatally gunned down in Brooklyn last night, authorities said.

Jahmal Issac Page, 21, and Anthony Earl-Govon, 22, were both shot in the head and killed inside of Fort Greene Park at about 11:30 p.m., cops said.

The shooting happened near the basketball court in the vicinity of Myrtle Avenue and St. Edwards Street, according to police.

A weapon was recovered at the scene, though the motive is unknown.

Police said they were looking for a male who was seen fleeing towards DeKalb Avenue.

Read More:

Two men in their 20s shot dead in Brooklyn park
New York Post - August 10, 2013 - By Matt Mcnulty and Daniel Prenergast  

Fort Green Park Town Hall Meeting

A meeting is scheduled for Thursday to help address a host of issues facing Fort Green Park, include maintenance and safety concerns. (Photo: Bess Adler/The Brooklyn Paper)

Brooklyn

At Fort Greene Park, the soccer field is a dust bowl, the tennis courts are cracked, and portable toilets have long replaced the broken bathrooms, according to the Brooklyn Paper.

Now the Fort Greene Park Conservancy will host a town hall meeting on Thursday to find solutions to these problems, as well as come up with future projects and programming.

“We want to have as much community input as possible,” said Ruth Goldstein, a founder of the conservancy. “This is our town square and everyone should be involved in what happens here and how it happens.”

Billed as “Hear and Be Heard,” the forum will be the first of several public meetings and invites soccer players, tennis contenders, joggers and anyone else who enjoys the park to share their ideas.

The conservancy will design a master concept — a list of priorities and possible plans — based on the local input and will present it to the Parks Department at a later date. The hope is that the city will adopt a master plan based on the concept.

Goldstein said that the town hall won’t solely focus on park problems, though they will be a major part of the discussion.

One longtime problem area is the grassless, muddy lawn where soccer players host pick-up games.

The players’ cleats contribute to the field’s disintegration, so the conservancy is seeking their feedback on a new dedicated footy area or a possible Astroturf field.

Other grounds in need of fixing include the cracked tennis courts and the visitors center’s bathrooms, which have been replaced with portable toilets since 2009.

Goldstein said that safety will also be a topic. Last month, police officers boosted their patrols in the park after a spate of muggings.

In addition to the gripe session, the conservancy will also introduce its schedule of summer events, including deejay parties, children’s concerts, urban bat tours, jazz performances, and spoken word events.

Fort Greene Park town hall meeting at the Fort Greene Park visitor’s center [Washington Park and Myrtle Avenue, (718) 398-4024], June 23, 6 pm. For info, visit fortgreenepark.org.

Read More:

Fort Greene Town Hall meeting to save Fort Greene Park

The Brooklyn Paper - June 21, 2011 - By Kate Briqelet

Police Increase Patrols In Fort Greene Park After Rash of Crimes

Fort Greene Park is a summer idyll, but there’s also a menacing quality — especially in light of several recent crimes. Thieves struck in and around the park at least six times in the past three weeks, prompting the police to increase patrols. (Photo: By Tom Callan)

Brooklyn

Police are adding patrols in Fort Greene Park this month after a spate of robberies have turned the idyllic green into a crime den, according to the Brooklyn Paper.

Officers will drive through the park to ward off thieves and protect parkgoers until the school year ends, said Deputy Inspector Anthony Tasso, the 88th precinct’s commanding officer.

Thieves struck in and around the park at least six times in the past three weeks, prompting Tasso to assign more police there at the end of May.

“A lot of the muggings involved teenagers, so we think these problems will be alleviated when school gets out,” he said.

The recent incidents varied, with bands of teen thieves plucking women’s purses and phones in broad daylight and attacking a man just outside a park entrance at night.

Tasso said students at Brooklyn Technical HS — at the southwest corner of the park — are potential victims, though police records show that half of the assailants were of school age.

Before the extra patrols, cops arrested two suspects after one of them stole a woman’s phone in the park on May 24 at 2:20 pm.

Two days later, police got another purse-snatcher for robbing a woman around the same time.

But the increase in cop cruising didn’t stop some muggers. A band of young crooks tried to rob a man at DeKalb Avenue and Washington Park on May 31 just after midnight. The victim ran away.

In one incident, a teenager was a victim. On June 2, three men jumped a 15-year-old boy at 8:52 am, a block from the park, and made off with $6.

Fort Greene Park is at a diverse crossroads, bordered by the Ingersoll and Walt Whitman public housing developments, a hospital, and a row of brownstones, with luxury condominiums only blocks away.

Police say that the stark contrast in socioeconomics — paired with thieves using the park as an escape route — sets the scene for mugger’s paradise.

“There’s not just one pattern,” Tasso said. “Because of its location, Fort Greene Park is always an area that’s prone to robberies.”

Some residents greeted the bumped up patrols with mixed feelings.

“It’s alarming that people are being mugged by 13-year-olds,” said Jessica McCarthy, a 25-year-old who has stopped walking through the park at night because of recent attacks. “But I’m not sure if more police would make me feel safer.”

Lada Cohen, 35, said that she runs in the park every week and doesn’t let reports of crime bother her.

“Police certainly help, but at the same time, I wouldn’t feel comfortable if they were in here watching me all the time,” she said.

Neighborhood robberies have increased slightly compared to last year’s levels. There were 88 robberies through June 5, compared to 83 at the same time last year.

Tasso said that he doesn’t plan to keep the extra patrols into next month, but he could extend them if robberies don’t drop after school’s out for summer.

Read More:

Cops step up patrols in Fort Greene Park

The Brooklyn Paper - June 15, 2011 - By Kate Briquelet

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