Wild Teens Trash Court Street B&N, Assault Manager
A reader sent in a disturbing account of a visit yesterday afternoon to the Court Street Barnes & Noble. While she was on the second floor, she noticed a large number of teens she believes were from one of the nearby public schools. In addition to being loud and disorderly, they were also purposefully knocking…
A reader sent in a disturbing account of a visit yesterday afternoon to the Court Street Barnes & Noble. While she was on the second floor, she noticed a large number of teens she believes were from one of the nearby public schools. In addition to being loud and disorderly, they were also purposefully knocking books off shelves. A few minutes later, as she headed down to the first floor, she witnessed an altercation between the manager and one of the teenagers. The manager had asked him to leave the store. “You disrespectin’ me?” the teen shouted back. No, that’s why I’m asking you nicely to leave, but you need to leave, reiterated the manager. Then, wham, the teen wound up and socked the manager in the face, bloodying him and knocking him over, and took off down the street. Rather than stick around to help i.d. the assailant, whom our tipster overheard some of the kids saying they knew where he lived, the rest of them took off as well. No word on whether the cops caught the guy. Update: Turns out that someone did call the cops and they came very quickly, but the assailant had already fled.
Photo by joearchitect
I don’t think “jurist” meant that the physical actions of the assailant and the verbal actions of the postings are equal. Just the mentlity behind them.
The beauty of freedom of speech is it’s fundamental principle. The concept means nothing if we all agree. So, just as people on here are free to toss their racist bantor around, which is terribly unfortunate at this day and age, people are free to comment on how vile they find these words, diatribes and verbal assaults.
“The kid who assaulted the manager should be arrested. The other kids should face some kind of action for the destruction of property.”
“The kids in this situation were wrong and should be pursued and prosecuted accordingly.”
There you go. All true. But is it news – as in an unusual or notable occurrence worthy of a post on a blog about real estate? No, not in my opinion. But hey, that’s why we live in America.
DIBS, I am not missing your point; I am making an entirely different one. Of course, people have the right to free speech (within the limits of the Constitution) and there is no corresponding right to make an unprovoked assault on a bookstore manager. That said, those taking advantage of their right to free speech by propagating insensitive, racially charged commentary need to look in the mirror when using the word “animal”.
Jurist, you beat me to it. Well said, indeed.
PropJoe, you only show up when the discussion is of a racial nature, and then only to throw gas on the fire. Whether you are a sock puppet for better recognized handle here, or just a troll, you add nothing of worth.
There is nothing in the original story to assume the racial makeup of these kids, yet most people assume they are black, as per many of the comments. The behavior of these kids, unfortunately, is not confined to any race or income level, I’ve seen delinquent behavior in just about every group of kids in this city. No child is an “animal”, no matter what they do.
Lest people think I condone this, in some bleeding heart way, I don’t. The kid who assaulted the manager should be arrested. The other kids should face some kind of action for the destruction of property. Such behavior is not acceptable from anyone at any time.
“a misguided teen”? lol
Tolerance of this sort of behavior, or marking it up to “the way teens act” is offensive and destructive. If you think this is the norm and/or excusable/explainable, then you have larger problems.
sorry…don’t know why i can’t spell speech correctly today.
Are there security cameras in the store?
This punk needs to be caught and punished.
jurist…read my post at 10:47…you have missed the exact point that you are talking about…the difference between free speach and assault. There is a difference between speah (and keyboard) and assault. As far as respect fro blog readers! Come on.
Your last paragraph is correct though.
Those of you using inflammatory, race-baiting language are no less ANIMALS than the delinquents that are the subject of this thread. The fact that your weapon is your keyboard and not your fist is of limited distinction. Your words have a deep impact on not only the readers of this blog, but those persons with whom your comments are shared. Perpetrating prejudice is just as animalistic as perpetrating violence. It’s ironic that you can mock a misguided teen for thinking that he is entitled to respect from a stranger, but no doubt feel that your simplistic and arguably racist commentary is worthy of reverence by the strangers who read this blog.
The kids in this situation were wrong and should be pursued and prosecuted accordingly. Frankly, I don’t know why anything more needs to be said.