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]
“can you imagine the NY Post headline if some coed got raped on Pratt’s campus by some parolee and they discovered that it was a totally open campus”
Um, welcome to 1988. That is what happened!
“And with charming people like Action Jackson and Orestes speaking for them I am sure Pratt’s public image will emerge from this mess sparkling.”
Wasder, How very snarky…and unnecessary…I was just adding my experience and pov to the mix. Shame on me!
fsrq–I was just reacting to people stating that this policy was likely in reaction to the Eddy Sanchez situation. I have not heard of concerns like the ones you have raised. Certainly they are legitimate, as they would be to any campus, and yet this is new information to me.
wasder – You assume that Pratt is trying to reduce the number of “Eddie Sanchez situations” with this policy…which ignores the way most people/institutions work.
The policy is designed to do one thing – protect Pratt;
The administrators at Pratt dont want:
1. To be sued for crime, accidents, etc… by people that they have no relationship with
2. To be the subject of some horrible headlines if god forbid something crazy involving a non-student occured – remember Virginia Tech and how much $hit they took and that WAS a student. (can you imagine the NY Post headline if some coed got raped on Pratt’s campus by some parolee and they discovered that it was a totally open campus)
3. to be second guessed if inthe event of 1 or 2.
Most decisions in life like this are essentially CYA – and in this case a very ligitimate CYA if you ask me.
“i go to pratt, aand recently found out that they are closing the campus to the public. i feel that this is unnessacary, i have never heard anyone complain about people from the neighborhood coming here and hanging out with their kids or anything of the sort. they are also going to lose funding as a sculpture park, which will suck. people get mugged all the time in this area of clinton hill because it borders a whole complex of projects on the edge of bedstuy. this particular case took place at least 5 blocks from campus. you have to be aware of your surroundings no matter where you are. pratt punishing the neighborhood because of this is not going to make anything better.”
You my friend are a Godsend to this thread. Thanks so much for your perspective. Glad to know that you are not burdened by visitations from locals. I would think it would enliven the campus in a positive way but that is just me and my sunny outlook talking.
“I think rob is referring to the fact that NYU is in downtown brooklyn now – polytechnic is now part of NYU I think…”
1842, if that’s what Rob meant, then I’m Abe Lincoln!
Say what you will but this decision is not going to make situations like what happened to Eddie Sanchez any less likely to occur. And with charming people like Action Jackson and Orestes speaking for them I am sure Pratt’s public image will emerge from this mess sparkling. Sure they have no official “debt” to the surrounding community but they have provided a very appreciated space to local residents and to change that policy with no commensurate improvement in the safety and security of their students is short sighted. One suspects that when the furor over the Sanchez situation dies down they will revisit this policy. Certainly if parents are letting their children run roughshod over the grounds that needs to stop. I have never witnessed this but it doesn’t mean that it hasn’t happened.
i go to pratt, aand recently found out that they are closing the campus to the public. i feel that this is unnessacary, i have never heard anyone complain about people from the neighborhood coming here and hanging out with their kids or anything of the sort. they are also going to lose funding as a sculpture park, which will suck. people get mugged all the time in this area of clinton hill because it borders a whole complex of projects on the edge of bedstuy. this particular case took place at least 5 blocks from campus. you have to be aware of your surroundings no matter where you are. pratt punishing the neighborhood because of this is not going to make anything better.
Bxgirl- I used pejorative language because that is what the circumstance called for. It is clearly an overprivileged and over-entitled position to rant against a school because it has decided to use its PRIVATE property for its own use. To complain as if you have some right to the enjoyment of someone else’s property is the view of an overprivileged person. I bet you the non-gentrifiers in the neighborhood would give this little consideration- because they would have respected that this is private property from the start.
Your overreaction to this- Pratt is all of a sudden “turning its back on the community” because it’s tightening security on its campus- is ridiculous. I would bet you money that Pratt has been busily engaged in crime fighting in the community, working with police, politicians, and neighborhood groups. It is in its best interest to do so. But you couldn’t possibly see this because- heaven forfend- I can’t prance around the campus like an overaged co-ed, so Pratt is turning its back on the entire community. My language may be strong, but it’s a reaction to the sense of entitlement some have expressed in this thread, coupled with a willingness to condemn Pratt because it is not putting MY [commenter] interests first. From the outside, those views are quite offensive.