Playground Jail in Bed Stuy Sparking Outrage
The emergence of a jail-themed jungle gym at the Tompkins Houses in Bedford Stuyvesant has the community in an uproar. Black and Brown News, which ran this image earlier this week, did some homework and found that NYCHA was responsible for ordering it earlier this week. I don’t think they should put that there in…

The emergence of a jail-themed jungle gym at the Tompkins Houses in Bedford Stuyvesant has the community in an uproar. Black and Brown News, which ran this image earlier this week, did some homework and found that NYCHA was responsible for ordering it earlier this week. I don’t think they should put that there in a neighborhood where many Blacks and Latinos go to jail,” one resident of the public housing complex told BBN. “My son will ask me, Mommy, if I go in there, will I go to jail. As of yesterday, NYCHA had told BBN it was “looking into” the matter and there had been no response yet from the mayor’s office. Pretty mind-boggling and offensive, no?
Jail Playground’ at NYC Public Housing Property [BBN]GMAP
Photo by Monifa Bandele
Sounds like you need to see a therapist for your issues because that has nothing to do with what’s really going on. Like I said…let’s put a big green penis at the Promenade Playground and a Coochie Cave at PS 321. Let’s see if your experiences at the projects have anything to do with that. Nothing…that’s my point.
on the OTHER side of the coin (just heard this this week btw). more total money goes to tax breaks for homeowners than does for the combined amount for any housing subsidy in the entire country!
*rob*
Joe was saying wine lover’s point about entitlement was good, not explicitly “beggars can’t be choosers.” What wine lover said is no different from what many people say here frequently – entitlement leads to bad behavior.
quote:
again, you bozos blame the people
oh my bad… it must be inanimate objects that cause the problems in the projects. :-/ i lived in the projects from about 10 years old to 18 years old so im not hypocritical with my opinion.. two different complexes. one complex almost EVERYONE there was absolutely gross and dregs on society, and other development only slightly better (because it contained lots of senior citizens as well). not that it’s relevant but these projects were mostly white and hispanic people, so race is almost irrelevant in this discussion. and yes before some know it all asks but you COULDNT have known EVERYONE in the projects.. blah blah blah, it was pretty obvious growing up in them. also in the second development my grandparents were totally scamming the system (our rent 35 bux a month. a garage! 2 bedrooms, newly renovated! sweeeeet deal)
projects apologists are the WORST
*rob*
Kids have amazing and vivid imaginations. In their eyes, an empty box can become Alladin’s cave, a spaceship, a clubhouse, and yes, even a jail. As several people have astutely mentioned, there is absolutely nothing wrong with kids, ON THEIR OWN, turning that part of the playground into a jail in one of their games. Having someone else do it for them makes it harder for them to see the space as anything else, and it DOES make a negative connotation towards a serious social issue. Anyone who deals with kids, and any toy/children’s recreational equipment company ought to know that as well.
This was just stupid thinking on the part of whoever signed off on this. Whether or not they harbor racist thoughts, or not, the result is hurtful to the community, and more importantly, the kids. The door needs to be replaced immediately, apologies need to be issued, and some thought needs to take place at the office where this originated, so it doesn’t happen again.
winelover, we will all be waiting a very long time to read a more ignorant post than the one you have provided to us today. Congratulations.
Posted by: bkhabitant at March 24, 2010 12:11 PM
No, he’ll probably post again today!!!
Now this is a debate about the projects? And the people that live there? Yawn…typical frownstoner debate. Corny and played out. Instead of being outraged about what’s going on…again, you bozos blame the people.
quote:
and most are doing the best they can for themselves and their families.
that line is PURE bullshi+
*rob*
I’m totally shocked and outraged by the comparisons to “cops and robbers” and “Monopoly”. People really don’t get it! Children are like sponges. They learn from their surroundings and also through play. It’s bad enough that many of these children are exposed to living with parents/family members in jail. To reinforce the existence of jail through play is incredibly insensitive and absurd! Like A CrownHeightsLady, I too am interested in seeing just how long it will take the city to take it down.