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June 24, 2009

Police Tower Now on Nostrand

police-tower-0609.jpg
Biking down Nostrand Avenue on Monday, we couldn't help but notice the police surveillance tower that had been set up at the corner of Lexington Avenue. A tweet from @FreshDotDaily yesterday reminded us that we'd snapped a photo. (The official name for the tower is Sky Watch. It was set up in Dumbo last year.) Anyone know when this was set up or why? Was there a particular incident recently that might have caused NYPD to take it up a notch on this corner?




Posted by Brownstoner at 10:44 AM | Comments (25)
Categories: Bedford Stuyvesant, Crime, Quality of Life

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Comments

Damn. Is this where they put the Serpicos?

***Bid half off peak comps***

Posted by: Brownstones Half Off at June 24, 2009 11:01 AM

A cute prostitute was trying to get my attention at that corner not too long ago.

Posted by: Art Salt at June 24, 2009 11:02 AM

It looks like something atop the Berlin Wall or a maximum security prison.

Posted by: daveinbedstuy at June 24, 2009 11:11 AM

That's the cheapest Patriot Act Domestic Spying I've ever seen. All you have to do is close the blinds.

Posted by: Joe from Brooklyn at June 24, 2009 11:15 AM

They had one of those in Williamsburg for a while (Marcy and Broadway vicinity)

Posted by: christopher at June 24, 2009 11:18 AM

We had Skywatch on Flatbush Ave in PLG a while back - lasted a few days, ruffled a few feathers and then disappeared. Now that's effective policing!

Posted by: FlatbushMan23 at June 24, 2009 11:19 AM

I think SkyWatch is part of SkyNet. The cops come from Omni Consumer Products, which is a separate company.

Posted by: neilw at June 24, 2009 11:27 AM

the skywatch on flatbush & parkside in PLG was in early december 08 after 5 violent crimes happened within the span of a week in late november.

Posted by: winthropst at June 24, 2009 11:33 AM


They're after Art Salt.

Posted by: East New York at June 24, 2009 11:48 AM

I need to ask everyone here a question- Why was Dave allowed to use the "N word" without any repercussions from the Brownstoner readers???????!!!!

I will await your answers...


The What (Reaches for the Rocket Launcher)

Someday this war is gonna end...

"Yes, Kens, "faggot" is as bad as "nigger." Both are typically used in the same tone and for the same effect. Both will get you an upgrade to a hate crime when assault is involved. Oddly though, both are used by repective members of both groups amongst themselves.

Posted by: daveinbedstuy at June 23, 2009 11:25 AM"

Posted by: Return of The What at June 24, 2009 11:59 AM

WHAT that is partly my fault. i was reacting to rob using the word wigga. i think dibs was just being clinical there.

Posted by: randolph at June 24, 2009 12:09 PM

I used to walk by that corner every day on my way to the G train. There's nothing terrible going on as far as I know. The tower is hideous and of course there's a police van or car 24/7 below.

There has been a police presence on the street--cops on the beat--for a while around there and near my house which is a few blocks south, closer to Fulton St. and one block east on Marcy, but the cops tend to congregate in groups of 3 or 4 or 5 which of course limits how much they can circulate. There are a couple of low-rise projects (parts of Louis Armstrong scatter-site buildings and a newer and better-looking set) right around the corner, but I've never seen anything awful going on there.

Aside from being an eyesore, the dark windows are awful and definitely reinforces the us vs them thing, that I assume the cops on the beat are supposed to be mitigating.

There's a hipster coffee shop--Tiny Cup--a few blocks down at Nostrand and Clifton--wonder what the clientele there thinks.

Posted by: rf at June 24, 2009 12:42 PM

You're a real child what. I told you we would discuss this in the OT when you brought it up in the garden thread.

Such an immature human being.

Posted by: daveinbedstuy at June 24, 2009 1:18 PM

We had one on Franklin Avenue for a couple of weeks last summer. I don't know if it was touched off by a specific incident or just by the rampant drug activity on that particular corner. Such activity abated while the tower was there and then quickly recommenced once it was removed. Well, I'm sure they have their reasons.

Posted by: supersleuth at June 24, 2009 1:47 PM

"WHAT that is partly my fault. i was reacting to rob using the word wigga. i think dibs was just being clinical there.
Posted by: randolph at June 24, 2009 12:09 PM"

Your beef is your beef! You handle it but Dave went over the line!!!!!

The What (Dave gets a pass right)

Someday this war is gonna end...

Posted by: Return of The What at June 24, 2009 1:48 PM

"the skywatch on flatbush & parkside in PLG was in early december 08 after 5 violent crimes happened within the span of a week in late november."

Missed that one - I was referring to Skywatch on Flatbush and Lincoln before that. The larger point is that it is, IMO, a totally useless piece of police work and waste of money that could be better spent in a myriad of other ways.

Posted by: FlatbushMan23 at June 24, 2009 2:02 PM

I am incapable to tellnig the difference between a slur and the use of a word in a "clinical" sense, since all of my words are intended as slurs. I don't deserve a pass on my covert racial comments, but Mr. B gives me one alomost every day.

Posted by: ghettoazzpnkbtch at June 24, 2009 2:07 PM

While riding my bike, I heard gun shots near this corner last week. Later, I confirmed on Gothamist Newsmaps that shots were fired at Clifton and Nostrand (1 block away). Perhaps there's a correlation.

Posted by: Stiggaman at June 24, 2009 2:27 PM

What, you know that the word can be used in a quote like that and especially in the context that he did. We don't have to refer you to Randall Kennedy, do we?

Posted by: denton at June 24, 2009 3:16 PM

The skycop thingie was also parked in the Red Hook projects for awhile a few months ago; I saw it on my way to Fairway and wondered about it, specifically, how the project residents felt about it. Folks in rough nabes seem to swing between accusing the city of neglecting them and their crime problems and harassing their youth in a "police state"; this one felt a bit more like the latter.

Posted by: Brenda from Flatbush at June 24, 2009 4:15 PM

Personally I usually safer when I see police presence in the streets.
If you have done nothing wrong why would you be worried?

If a shooting happens in your neighborhood and you don't see cops around the next days, wouldn't you feel neglected?

Posted by: lostintranslation at June 24, 2009 4:36 PM

If more anonymous law-abiding Brooklynites had guns thugs wouldn't be able to just randomly shoot-up neighborhoods, they would be afraid some old lady would pull out the dillinger. I'm sick of all these "anti-gun" politicos with their armed bodyguards telling the storeowners in high crime areas they have no right to defend themselves.

Posted by: Joe from Brooklyn at June 24, 2009 4:45 PM

It was placed there because the savages that live there can't behave themselves like normal human beings.

Posted by: Xander Crews at June 24, 2009 5:11 PM

A police van was driving through our neighborhood with a loudspeaker asking for tips regarding a shooting of a detective on Saturday (6/13?).
I think it's very likely that the tower appeared there as a result of that but also because that corner has been a corner for dealing drugs from my observations.

The tower seems to have changed that for now. But it's presence is intimidating even though I haven't done anything wrong.

Posted by: flashfocus at June 25, 2009 9:00 AM

Anyone ever saw someone going into that thing?

How do they go to the bathroom?

Is there a weight limit for that thing?

What if you eat your lunch and you get stuck in there unable to come out? Do they call the FDNY to get them out?

If you pass some gas, does it become heavier or lighter, and is it more or less likely to tip if there is a strong wind blowing?

Posted by: supereks at June 28, 2009 2:42 AM

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