Overheard in Twitterland
From a resident of Quincy Street in Bed Stuy: “Spent hours last night convincing cops that men breaking in to house next door were not owners – no arrests but they all left.”
From a resident of Quincy Street in Bed Stuy: “Spent hours last night convincing cops that men breaking in to house next door were not owners – no arrests but they all left.”
We have a word for you in my country The What
total tosser
I’ve lived here for the last ten years, four of them in Bed Stuy, you say so much and seem to know so little
“I used to own a flat in a victorian house in London and squatters moved into the vacant next door and we thought nothing of it. Until it became a heroin shooting gallery and a brothel and we found a dead guy in the front yard one morning.
Ahh London, the memories”
Ah the Eurotrash descends in Brooklyn. Nice going and one more thing, be careful..
The What
Someday this war is gonna end…
don’t get me wrong, the police did come, and did get the guys to leave, for that much we were grateful. But there were several points where the cops lost interest and were ready to go. And it took two hours to resolve.
But more importantly there seems to be a gap in the police department’s perception of what does and does not constitute a crime. Breaking into a house that does not belong to you is a crime. period. But they did not react like it was a crime.
The real problem lies in the fact that this sort of situation is rife with ambiguities — which is where confidence tricksters and frauds thrive.
I asked myself on Friday night, how would I react if a stranger came up to me as I was opening my front door and said “stop, that house does not belong to you, I am calling the cops.”
Pretty absurd right?
But this is something we will see more and more of. There are many vacant properties around at the moment and I assume this group of — lets face it pretty rubbish — thugs are not the only ones scoping out houses with chains on the door in an effort to take possession of them.
We now have a process in place with the realtor and the bank’s agent to quickly and easily check if anyone with access to the house is legit or not, the cops are aware and we should not have any further problems. If you have a vacant property near you it would be worth contacting the owner and establishing something similar.
I used to own a flat in a victorian house in London and squatters moved into the vacant next door and we thought nothing of it. Until it became a heroin shooting gallery and a brothel and we found a dead guy in the front yard one morning.
Ahh London, the memories
Sounds to me like a good thing James and his neighbors took action and were not intimidated.
wine lover, can i hazard the guess that you don’t live in bed stuy? sadly, that may be your answer right there.
Keep us updated on the happenings, James , sounds like a Law and Order episode..
I am actually really really surprised by the police action. Recently we called the police because our building was being hassled by those energy scammer guys. Not only did the police come immediately, but they took what we had to say very seriously and gave us a good way to handle them if they came back. I thought that they were supportive and empathetic. sorry to hear this.
That’s in the links.
Isn’t that story on the links thread?