Pratt: Not In Our Front Yard
Yesterday, the Local blog broke the sad news that as of next month Pratt will begin enforcing its longstanding-but-long-ignored rule against loitering by non-school-related people. (Like one of the Brownstoner progeny above shown in happier times on a campus-trashing wilding spree.) Community members will still be able to cut through the campus on foot but…
Yesterday, the Local blog broke the sad news that as of next month Pratt will begin enforcing its longstanding-but-long-ignored rule against loitering by non-school-related people. (Like one of the Brownstoner progeny above shown in happier times on a campus-trashing wilding spree.) Community members will still be able to cut through the campus on foot but they won’t be able to sit and admire the sculpture. A spokeswoman for the school said the policy does not allow the use of the campus grounds as a public park or playground. Most of the commenters on the Local aren’t happy about this and we heard from one community resident that a group called the Clinton Hill Action Committee is forming to try to get Pratt to reconsider its decision; if you are interested you can contact the organizers at clintonhillac@gmail.com.
Pratt Rolls Up the Welcome Mat [NYT/Local]
Geeze, sorry for the typos…
“Now, the area has changes, crime has drooped”
“changed” and “dropped”
Enough for tonight…where’s my drink!
“Action, how was it in your day? And what do you think of on campus security now?”
Well, it has been a few years since I lived in the ‘nabe, after being there almost 20 years. I too used to walk the campus (hell jog at times) after I graduated with my better half and explore the campus to tell her about “those days.”
I thought the security guards were overzealous dicks at times, but I also know when I was a student there, I felt safe.
I came to Pratt, rather than going to SVA, Parsons, Maryland Art Institute or Chicago Art Institute (yes, smugly, I was that good…though not for Cooper Union!), because A. it was in NYC (and more over Bklyn) and B. it had a closed campus, unlike the city-schools I had looked at with no central meeting place (my pov).
I had a great experience, during and after, but never felt has safe as I did on-campus (heck, we used to have to go in groups of 4 or 5 folks to hang out at the Alibi on Dekalb Ave…let alone heading to the G into the city).
Now, the area has changes, crime has drooped, gentrification happened (in all colors and shades) and I left Ft. Greene/Clinton Hill to go farther South (Bklyn).
So, while times change, things always stay the same. There will always be bad apples that ruin the pie…or campus for that matter. Ultimately it is the school’s MO as to what they want to do and how they do it.
When they feel their students/faculty are at risk (real or imagined), they’ll tighten the rules…under a different school administration, they may loosen them.
It has been done before (as far back as the 1940’s if you research online), and it will happen again, depending on what the issues are.
But that’s Brooklyn. My 2 cents.
What makes you so sure people aren’t enraged at the thugs? That’s an assumption you two are making – erroneously as it were.
But if Pratt is serious about making things safer, there are far better, much more pro-active ways to do it that don’t involve cutting themselves off from the community it resides in.
The conversation here is about Pratt’s response to an awful crime. It goes without saying the criminals are the scum of the earth and the other reality is, this response will have as much effect on making students safer as sticking a band aid on your knee when you’ve been shot in the arm.
“instead of being outraged at pratt – why not be outraged at the thugs who are using these kids as walking ATM machines?”
Indeed. Almost every ‘crime’ related discussion on Brownstoner seems to touch on every single issue related to the subject except “dammit! who are these people doing this stuff in our neighborhood and what do we have to do to stop them!”
More often it’s like “well, if it rains, take an umbrella — if there are street criminals in your neighborhood, don’t use your iPhone.”
“how does this solve anything or fix anything?”
has anyone said this will solve anything? this is a PR, cover their own asses, make mommy and daddy who sign tuition checks feel better.
when parents ask the school what they are doing to protect their students due to the uptick in incidents – “nothing, they all happened off campus” is not an acceptable response. Mommy and daddy will probably respond by not sending their child there.
instead of being outraged at pratt – why not be outraged at the thugs who are using these kids as walking ATM machines?
“The wonderful sculpture that has become an important part of our campus enriches the lives of our students and provides an oasis for the general public and the Brooklyn community,†Pratt President Thomas F. Schutte says on the school’s Web site.
Best part of the Local coverage….An oasis for the general public, huh? Hopefully as people say elsewhere, they make a noise about it for a little while and then ease up.
northsloperenter- be that as it may, but since their students live off campus, and that’s where they were attacked, how does this solve anything or fix anything?
Wow–achildgrows–thanks so much for your link. Pretty amazing that they would go to all that trouble to harass you.
That being said it does show that they were concerned about this previous to the Eddy Sanchez assault….perhaps they just need to do a bit of community outreach/PR to explain what’s going on so that they don’t come across the way they are now.
Please!!! Those streets were demapped – FIFTY years ago!
You know at one time that land belonged to the Indians too.