8.26.07

Once again, it seems like a shipment of some kind has come in: the people from Red Hook are here, loitering in front of 2xx with two double-parked cars. Calls to the 76 result in ... well, eventually the crowd dispersed and the rest of the night Friday night and Saturday night involved only minor incidents. There were many photo ops, however -

Nothing illegal here, but the guy with back turned is one of the suspected movers-and-shakers; the other man is a regular resident.



And this, another glassine bag, which wasn't here the last time we looked:



Double-parked, idling cars with booming stereo - all night, different cars....





And a group in front of the idling cars....



Interesting story, too: we were talking with a friend of a friend and it was mentioned that we live on the 200 block of Sackett Street, and this person, who lives in the neighborhood but not on the block, knew all about it - apparently, it's a block with a reputation, a reputation for revelry. According to the friend of a friend, "Yeah, it's a weird block. Noboby ever seems to work, everybody just hangs out all day and night smoking pot on other people's stoops."

8.20.08

A crazy, crazy night on the 200 block of Sackett Street - and all calls to the 76 were either not responded to or responded to but to no end: we didn't see any PD presence, and didn't see anyone stop by, but were told cruisers would be sent.

It started with a gang in front of 2xx, the usuals but also a few others, the one girl who always seems to draw the hoods from Red Hook (or elsewhere), and continued into the night with more coming and going, and cars - half a dozen of them, by our count - coming by and double-parking.

Then, the real party started: two of the (we've surmised) main drug dealers came by in matching minivans and were hanging out with the one dealer on our block who rumor has it is moving and - and over the course of the night, they ended up opening up the back of the minivan and pouring whisky shots from a cooler in back, then drinking them in clear plastic cups on the sidewalk in front of 22x and 22x. Calls to the 76 resulted, of course, but despite giving license plate info and specific details and descriptions of both the offenders and the vehicles, we were told a PD cruiser stopped by but "no illegal activity occurred." We asked that they return, and check out the minivan and/or smell the breath of the drunken dealers. Well, hours later these by now drunk dealers drove off into the night.

8.20.08

Here's a photo of one of the many cars that came by and double-parked all night, quick deals, drug deals:



And then here is the photo of someone getting whiskey shots from the back of his minivan - dark, we know, but you can make out the cooler in the back:

8.16.07

We spoke with the 76 the other day, and were assured there'd be runs and more surveillance; we have noticed there's less activity, but also that persistent offender who beat up the young girl the other week has been out on other stoops not her own, though not long enough to warrant calling it in.

And there have been double-parked cars and, last night, this creepy van sitting outside for almost an hour (why is it that every time we see one of the offenders in a car, they are in different cars?):

8.12.07

The craziness continued into the night - on our stoop, on other stoops, across the street at 2xx, where they set up lawn chairs. Repeated calls to both the 76 and 311 yielded no resonse; and cruisers drove by more than once without doing anything.

8.12.07

More craziness as the night continued: the local drug dealers, all the others, on our stoop, on the neighboring stoop, and double-parked cars galore. And still, at 2xx, people with picnic chairs set up outside.

All night, 'round these parts...

8.12.07

Today, as it happens, warrants two posts (and a call to the Councilwoman and the local Community Board tomorrow).

So, we were out and about and walked past 2xx, where the local ruffians were gathered, not smoking blunts at the time but since that is what normally goes on you can put two and two together, when a resident of 2xx came up and double-parked her car while she unloaded luggage after, it seemed, a weekend away, and she asked the hoodlums to move and one of the stoopers, the girl who threw things at us once upon a time, the one who has screamed at people randomly, who does live at 2xx also, started screaming at the woman who'd asked them to move.

The screaming continued for over twenty minutes, and an NYPD cruiser passed by but the lady who'd asked them to move had moved inside, and the cruiser just passed by.

We called again to complain that at least they should have gotten out of the car and assessed the situation, and perhaps ask those who do NOT live at 2xx to move, and after a circuitous conversation we talked to a Supervisor and she said she'd send another car over. To their credit, this is exactly what happened, but as of now the stoopers who violently yelled at the resident are still out there, passing marijuana cigarettes.

8.12.07

Here's a few pics from today - a stooper on our stoops, and a suspicious, too-short-to-be-just-chit-chat and too-long-to-be-asking-for-directions:

8.11.07

We had a nice and relatively quiet Fri night on the 200 block of Sackett, though this morning we woke to this site off to the side of our stoop: a glasine bag, which is commonly known to contain marijuana and/or cocaine. Judging by the size of this bag, it looks like a coke bag to us:

So, it seems that the sting operation never existed, or if it did, wasn't very successful.

8.7.07

Last night, we sat on our stoop observing what a typical weekday night is like on the 200 block of Sackett Street. Well, the big drug dealers, the people in charge, were hanging out - e.g., loitering - on the 2xx stoop all night, and a number of cars stopped in our block and people got out, hands were shook, that's it, then the drivers of the cars took off. Hmm, looked like drug deals to us.

8.4.07

What a day! We saw the girl who beat up the her friend's thirteen- or fourteen-year-old sister, the one who wasn't arrested, milling around - improbably - taking care of a toddler.

Again, at approximately 8 pm we hear this savage screaming midway through our night-in of R&R only to look and see the same half-dozen screaming kids and their gangsta caretakers crowding our stoop.



It seems a shipment just came in.

8.3.07

Either we stepped into a time traveling machine of some kind or the good ol' times on Sackett Street are back, with a vengeance. We returned home after a long week only to find half a dozen screaming kids and their gangsta caretakers crowding our stoop. Too tired to ask them to move, and confused, frankly, as to where they came from - and since this hasn't been that big an issue in a while - we just went inside. They were there for hours, and when we returned from dinner we asked them to move and they did, without a scene. However, the block by then was alit with at least four double-parked cars of suspicious circumstance - very expensive, brand new, no-plates, driven by gangstas wearing diapers, otherwise known as low-slung jeans - and the normal drug dealers, both the one at 2xx and at 2xx, out and "meeting" the cars. We were about to call the 76 precinct when it thunderstormed; checked in later and a few were out, but nothing warranting any calls.

8.1.07

Well, this is why we have been so adamant about some of the problems on our block, even when they have not been life-threatening.

Last night, K. - she should be named - one of the regular girls who is always smoking pot and drinking out in public, on our stoop and others' stoops - and the one who harrassed our friends - well, she finally snapped. She attacked the younger sister of another resident of our street, and four cop cars, one van, showed up, their mothers were getting into it, there was screaming and shouting... but, unbelievably, K. wasn't arrested in the end.

Why? We called the 76 to inquire, but were given the runaround.

If anyone is reading this, please be careful walking down the 200 block of Sackett Street.