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Comments

• [1] hjs from 11211 April 17, 2008 - 11:49AM

  increased police presents in Williamsburg. could it be all the rich yuppies with kids moving in?? also police stats for Williamsburg are listed online, on police website

  
  
• [2] julie from williamsburg April 17, 2008 - 11:49AM

  the reason for the police presence is because we hav a technical school near the park that the " bus" in lower income kids to . They walk around in packs and my husband witnessed a gang of them harrassing a deli owner. They come back at night and break car windows. My husband had a gang of 30 of them at night follow him and one of them spit at him. The police are supposed be helping with this issue , but instead they are issuing parking ticket and concentrating on catching people who live here tickets on petty violations. I think there are racial undertones , no one wants to admit to , and because we are such a liberal area , people feel ashamed to say anything . I want MORE police and I want the kids to stop being bused in . We are now paying Manhattan prices to live here and we won't if the city allows the neighborhood to go bad .

  
  
• [3] John G from East Williamsburg April 17, 2008 - 11:51AM

  I heard Brian's request for comments on increased police presence in the neighborhood today at around 11:30. I live in east Williamsburg, work on the north side and I'm home for lunch everyday. Over the past 6 weeks I have noticed a large police presence along Bedford Avenue between N. 8th and 12th, and along Lorimer street on both sides of the BQE. This has been during the early and mid afternoon.

  I haven't seen seen or experienced a rash of ticket writing that Brian described on the show.

  Just thought I'd word it along.

  Thanks for the great show

  John G

  
  
• [4] Chris from New York, NY April 17, 2008 - 11:52AM

  Williamsburg represents easy money for the city. The cops are constantly cruising around looking for tickets to write.

  Last summer I was at a bar with everyone smoking by the front entrance, and 2 cars full of undercover cops pulled up and wrote everyone tickets for open containers.

  
  
• [5] Chris from New York, NY April 17, 2008 - 11:57AM

  Julie - The Automotive High School was there long before the $500k studios. I've lived in Williamsburg for 7 years, one block away from this school, and never had a problem with any of the "lower income kids" as you put it.

  This isn't Manhattan, despite what the developers and brokers want you to think.

  
  
• [6] CJP from Williamsburg April 17, 2008 - 12:20PM

  I walk home from the J train toward Metropolitan around midnight most nights, and have noticed cops on footposts that weren't there about a month ago. Their collar brass is for Brooklyn North Task Force, which leads me to believe that they are Impact cops (which are rookies used to flood high crime areas). As hjs said above, look online at the NYPD website, and look at the crime statistics for the 90 and 94 precincts. If there is a spike in crime, that would explain the increased police presence.

  
  
• [7] Todd from Williamsburg April 17, 2008 - 12:22PM

  Julie your comments are classic. totally points to why this little experiment isn't going to work. they've sold yuppies on the dream that living in W'burg, in one of these condos with the buzz names like "The Edge on N 7th", is like living in a boutique hotel not an active urban environment. These people like Julie thought they were getting personal concierges and spa like amenities. they sold people on and prepared them for a vacation/hotel type experience instead of an active city neighborhood existence. "we paid manhattan prices", I love it. Surprise you're not in Manhattan. The L train sucks, there are low income people living among you and you don't have access to the amenities you're used to in Manhattan or the 'burbs. It's funny she thinks that the "bused" in kids ruin the neighborhood. It's her group that ruined it. They totally bought into all the marketing hype and now have buyer's remorse and will surely move out of the Burg shortly. Thanks though Julie for making Williamsburg unaffordable for those of us who moved here years ago and appreciated that the neighborhood wasn't "Manhattan".

  
  
• [8] hjs from 11211 April 17, 2008 - 12:29PM

  todd 7,

  L train doesnot suck any more.

  other than that, right on brother!

  
  
• [9] CJP from Williamsburg April 17, 2008 - 01:17PM

  Year to date crime is up in both precincts:

  90: http://nyc.gov/html/nypd/downloads/pdf/crime_statistics/cs090pct.pdf

  94:

  http://nyc.gov/html/nypd/downloads/pdf/crime_statistics/cs094pct.pdf

  The precinct commanding officers probably got yelled at, and the reaction is to flood the precincts with cops. It's called COMPSTAT.

  To Julie: if packs of savage teenagers concern you, you're going to love the neighborhood when they re-open the McCarren Park pool!

  
  
• [10] Heidi from Williamsburg April 17, 2008 - 02:56PM

  Responding to Julie, I'm a parent living in Williamsburg now for eight years, my husband has been here for twelve years. I've never had a problem with the kids from the Automotive school. Nor have any of my friends complained about them. Another poster pointed out new W'burgers have been sold a bill of goods, no one told them about the crowded trains and other inconveniences, it's still Brooklyn after all...

  
  
• [11] name withheld April 17, 2008 - 04:02PM

  Julie's comments are hysterical. I remember back in 94 my friend rented an entire loft for $200 a month in Williamsburg. She was really excited, and all I could think was: why the bleep would anyone live in W'burg? The industrial pollution levels alone creeped me out. We went to a party there in the early '90's, the neighborhood looked like Beirut in summer 2006. I don't think we even made it upstairs into the party, we just turned around and went home. A decade later, the reason not to go to Williamsburg was that it was too trendy. Glad to hear it hasn't totally yuppified.

  
  
• [12] DMS from Earth May 22, 2008 - 07:19PM

  Call your neighborhood anything you like, but it's still Brooklyn. Crime goes where the money is and you people seem to have it in abundance.If you think the students of Automotive High School are the problem what about their friends that aren't in school?

  NYC isn't immune to the economic problems affecting the rest of the country. When it finally reaches here, watch out! You haven't seen anything yet.

  You can't polish a turd. I bet your realtor didn't tell you that.