Usually, these appear when there has been a violent crime in the area. Otherwise, it can be viewed as attempting to intimidate members of the public who use the park.
If the issue is drug use in the park, let’s do something that is effective and humane? Much preferable is increased homeless outreach workers and foot patrol police who know our neighborhood. Open and staff bathrooms 24/7 in order for park users or those who have no homes can safely and sanitarily access bathrooms. Do we need a UN proclamation on the right to sanitation in NYC?
And get 24/7 security for the Broome Street building (Parks Department staffs the building 24/7 for the 5 Borough Alarm system which our park hosts for all of NYC).
I live across the street. The only result of the tower is that the people who hang out in the park have moved north two blocks to where the tower was a month ago. They’ll be back as soon as they remove the tower.
I also live right in front of the police tower. Thank God they are here. I can sleep at night now without the screaming and fighting of the homeless and drug users that were staying in the park. The public bathrooms were destroyed by the homeless and drug users. They took over the park and it was not safe. Many families had to stop bringing their children because they were exposed to people publicly defecating and urinating in the park. The police here has brought better quality of life and is also keeping the wild bar patrons in check which is also a big problem here.
Helping the homeless and drug users doesn’t mean to allow them to destroy the park and harass the people that work and live here. Find a solution but also make sure that the people and families that live here don’t have to be exposed by criminal activity and people that don’t respect the park.
The tower is right in front where I live. I understand about helping the homeless and having access to public bathrooms but at the same time I DO WELCOME the tower in my neighborhood. I feel much safer with them there. I was harassed by homeless people in front of my own building, they would make sexual remarks if you go near them or would start approaching you demanding money. There were many times that I couldn’t sleep in my own home because of the screaming and fighting in the park. The reason the bathrooms are closed is because the homeless people destroyed them and then they use the park for a bathroom and every day you will see human feces all over the park and children were exposed to people baring their bottoms to defecate and urinate. Having a security guard for the bathrooms is unlikely and there are no funds for this. The police presence will definitely prevent crime in the area and will also help in keeping the bar patrons in check which is also a big problem in here. I hope the police tower stays, it has already improved quality of life for the people that live and work here. There are other ways to help the homeless without having our park destroyed. I don’t see the police intimidating anyone, the only people that would feel intimidated would be the ones that don’t follow the rules or would have some criminal intent in mind.
While anyone figures out about solving the problem of drugs and homelessness in the park, LEAVE the police tower there. They are doing a great job of keeping the park safe for my family and me. My children can now go to the park without fear of been exposed to drug addicts or homeless people screaming and fighting. I had to stop bringing my children to the park altogether when my 3 year old daughter witnessed a homeless man squatting with his pants down defecating in the park at 2PM in the afternoon. TOTALLY DISGUSTING!!! The public bathrooms were destroyed by the homeless and drug addicts. Am all for helping the homeless or the people using drugs but don’t use my park to bring in services for people that have destroyed the park.
Besides the fact that the tower is creepy and makes me feel like I’m in a prison, the problem with these towers is that they aren’t a solution to the problem of homeless and addicted people hanging out in the park. The only way they would actually work is if there were 4 or 5 of them placed throughout the park permanently. Quite a welcoming park that would be! As they’re used now, the people move to another part of the park while it’s there. This tower won’t be here for long. They’ll move it somewhere else where they get more complaints. I don’t like the situation as it is either. There’s a lot of unpleasant activity around, particularly while the weather is nice. And there’s nothing new about it. I’ve been here since the mid-80’s and it was much worse then.
The real solutions are more difficult and will cost some money. One better solution is foot or bike patrols of well trained cops who get to know people, can single out individuals for either criminal activity or get real help for others in need.
Does anyone really think people want to defecate in public? The solution to people defecating in the park is to provide toilets 24/7. Or better yet, provide housing people can afford.
Money is short, but two permanent teams patrolling wouldn’t cost much more than the tower, which is manned by two cops 24/7, watching the surveillance camera from 20 ft in the air.
The towers might not be a solution but so far is the only solution at present, I do agree is not a permanent solution but there is a lot of talk and really no answers. Like you said, permanent solutions will require money which we are been told all the time that is not there. I also been here since April of 1981, I well remember how bad it was, I saw people killed in the park and prostitution was rampant as well as drugs.I even remember the bullet hole in our front door from drug deal gone bad. I definitely won’t want to relive those times again. If the police can patrol the whole park 24/7, that would be a solution. Will it happen?? I don’t know.
Regarding the toilets, the toilets were there for the public but were destroyed by the same people that then started defecating/urinating in the park, if they don’t like to do that in public, they shouldn’t have destroyed the public bathrooms. We need to be honest as to the situation, there is not affordable housing in Manhattan, the few rent control apartments are becoming less and less every year and many of the people in the park that need housing have mental issues. If there is a solution I would LOVE to hear it. In the meantime if the towers can prevent the bar crazies from screaming and partying loudly at 2AM on a weeknight and if it prevents the park from been destroyed, I will then take the police towers no matter how “creepy” it might look. At least I can sleep at night now.