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This is getting really old. In what seems to be an annual occurrence, there was another shooting on the corner of Grand and Putnam last night. The 88th Precinct won’t confirm a thing, but according to several people standing around on the corner this morning, a car drove by last night at around 10:30 and sprayed an empty parked car with bullets, and in the process hit a female “innocent bystander” in the leg. She was reportedly not killed but, as the photos show, she lost some blood; as you can also see, a number of bullet holes are visible in the side of the building. As most people in the neighborhood are aware, this corner has been a hotbed of illegal activity for years. Two summers ago, after a young man was murdered for saying something insulting about another man’s girlfriend, the block was put on lock-down for the summer, which did temporarily push the drug activity a block or two away—not exactly an ideal solution for the people who lived on those blocks. In the community meetings that always follow, the police act sympathetic and talk about how difficult it is to put drug dealers away, but at a certain point it all rings hollow. If this were happening on the Upper East Side, you can be sure it would have been shut down long ago.
Turning Up The Pressure on Grand and Putnam [Brownstoner]
Murder on Putnam: Will The Cops Show Up Now? [Brownstoner]


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  1. And 12:50 – 1st of all who is “innocent” – people generally dont sell kilos of H or murder people in the middle of the street – so the tactic that the NYPD has successfully used is to go after the petty crimes b/c then you find weapons, people, cooperators, evidence that links to the big crimes you want to stop.

    So what happens – people complain that the cops are discriminatory b/c they are summonsing/arresting/frisking or questioning people for things like drinking in public, marijuana pos etc…. b/c they dont do as many such actions in low crime (i.e. white) neighborhoods – which is true but also necessary to reduce crime – and the truly “innocent” aren’t being harrassed.

    2nd – dont you think the criminals also say they are just “innocent” people being harassed? Funny how no one in “the community” comes out to protest, express outrage or even support when a cop gets shot by someone who actually might be a criminal.

    3rd – You can try to perpetuate the myth that all these cops are all a bunch of whites from LI – but the truth is far different – the majority of rookies are non-white, and the overall %s match NYC population almost identically

    and finally do you really think that a community that has a widely accepted (and little critisized – within the community) creed of “dont snitch to the police” – really has much to complain about when crime is out of control?

  2. “So 12:27 please give us the ‘tactics’ that will work to stop street crime, protect police lives , AND protect the innocent people of color from (what you describe as) harassment.”

    See 12;50 #1, for starters. We need more people of color on the police force and particularly in the upper ranks. Only then will be begin to see some change and have CRIMINALS targeted instead of residents.

    As Brownstoner pointed out, the attitude of the local police is, let’s say, less than urgent. Would the attitude be the same if 50% of the precinct’s officers and commanders were people of color (which I’m pretty sure it is NOT)? I don’t think so.

  3. I don’t see how white gentrifiers walking around with a reflective vest and a flashlight is going to help the neighborhood. That sounds like a good way to get shot.

    Residents need to get involved with the police dept, and demand more manpower on the streets. Since many NYPD newbies are commuters from the suburbs, and the higher ups are old timers, they may not realize the area is no longer “ghetto” necessarily.

  4. take a look around that block: there are several families with young children, as well as single men and women, and retirees, all ages, all races, many different classes.
    i don’t think this area is any more or less safer than most of brooklyn. every month a bystander is shot in the borough, so let’s stop trying to figure out of clinton hill is ghetto or not. do you feel comfortable here? no? then do what you need to do, talk to the 88th, ms james, leave. just stop comparing this area t o park slope or the ues.
    the residents i see, long- and short-term, have a strong sense of community, and, grand-street lock-down be damned, they still have their sunday bbqs. the people on this blog represent a small portion of those living in clinton hill, and it’s extremely unfair to make blanket statements against the residents based upon what you read here. the fact that we all get fired up over a few comments goes to show the commitment we have to this neighborhood.
    that’s what will make this place better–sticking together. so champion your cause, get involved with the community, politically or not, but don’t raze others if they deal with clinton hill’s ‘issues’ in a different way.

  5. That is utterly ridiculous of the 88th Precinct to refer you to a Manhattan precinct, Brownstoner. They seem to only want to tell us “we know there’s a problem over there” — they don’t seem to want to step up action or even reassure neighborhood residents that they plan to react to an event like this.

    I just called them and was transferred to three different people and then eventually disconnected. When I called back I got a machine and I couldn’t leave a message.

    If people in the neighborhood want to reach them to voice their concerns, here’s the number:

    88th PRECINCT: 718-636-6511

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