The 8 benches are gone. This was a bad move. I am really dismayed.

Quote:

Is the proposal to remove all 8 benches along the front of the park? That's most of the benches in the entire park. Removing all of those benches would be too much.

I'm a resident of the street too, and I see neighborhood people sitting on those benches all the time in the summer months. Sometimes the hydrant is open and kids are playing in the water, and the moms are sitting on the benches.

Let me add a little clarification to the matter as a resident of the street-

The removal is only of the benches on the EXTERIOR of the park. For those using the park for appropriate purposes, the benches inside will be untouched.

I also want to add I never see those who are there to use the park, sitting on the exterior benches. Also, this is just another step we can take to help with the problems of the street and the park. It can also be temporary. We have been assured that putting them back is an easy task if that decision is made in the future.

i actually think this will help. if drug dealers move to your porch, then you can call the police about trespassing, and you have a better view to give more accurate info when you do call. and there are not enough police to be there 24/7. there are benches still inside the park, they are just discussing removing the ones on the outside of the park as i understand it. lighting has been/is being addressed from what i heard at the last meeting.
and i believe most drug dealing arrests near the park that i have heard about have been for heroin and cocaine, not pot. and i don't think anyone is suggesting we legalize those.

I thought about this today as I was walking by the park. I don't see how getting rid of benches helps at all. Especially if the ones inside the park stay.

I don't know who came up with the idea, but the details are here at post #259. Also I got an email about it yesterday from the Downtown City Watch.

Who proposed this ridiculously lazy idea?

There is now a proposal to remove the benches from the front of the Angel Ramos playground on Wayne Street, across from the Barrow Mansion. I'm sure it's a well-intended proposal, but I think it's a bad idea. Here's why:

1. Getting rid of benches will not make drug dealers go away. If other conditions are unchanged, they'll just sit on the stoops next door.

2. Instead, we need to address the factors that currently make the space attractive to drug dealers:
-- Better lighting (already done; let's keep it up);
-- More police presence (somewhat better now due to recent arrests);
-- More of a sense that the neighbors are watching (improving, thanks to the terrific Downtown City Watch and the Wayne Street Watch);
-- Better police responsiveness to neighborhood watch calls.

3. Getting rid of benches is conceding defeat. Park benches are amenities that make our city more pleasant. It's a nice place. On summer evenings our neighbors often sit there while their kids play. It's a pleasant spot on a hot day. If you take away those benches, you hurt everyone in the neighborhood. It's like saying, "We can't have nice things, so let's take the nice things away."

4. I also think the bench removal can backfire. If the innocent neighbors with kids don't have a place to sit, it again makes the space even more attractive for illicit activity.

Seating really is not the issue. It's the perception that it is a dark, unwatched space that police leave alone.

The vote is Tues. 11/17 at 7:30 pm at the VVPA meeting in Barrow Mansion. I plan to vote no.