City mum on Sumner Armory
The city Department of Homeless Services (DHS) issued a terse “No comment” regarding their intentions of use for the Sumner Armory on Marcus Garvey Blvd.
Currently, DHS contracts out a small part of the armory to a local nonprofit organization to house a 200-bed homeless shelter for men. The community would like to see part of the armory have community use like the Park Slope Armory.
Community Board 3 Chair Henry Butler said the community would probably have to wait for the Bloomberg Administration to leave office before they can again approach the subject.
Stop-and-Frisk set for federal court
Manhattan Federal Court Judge Shira Scheindlin set a March 18, 2013 trial date to hear a 2008 Federal Civil Rights lawsuit alleging the city’s NYPD used racial bias in its controversial stop-and-frisk policy.
Last May, Scheindlin ruled that there was “overwhelming evidence” in granting the lawsuit to become class action due to the thousands of stop-and-frisks of people of color.
Last year, police conducted 685,724 stop-and-frisks. According to the lawyer for the plaintiffs, 85% of the stops were black or Latinos.
Prostitution in Clinton Hill park
City Councilwoman Letitia James said her office has been flooded with calls that prostitution and drug use is running rampant in Crispus Attucks Playground on Fulton St. and Classon Ave. this past Monday.
The NYPD has arrested 18 hookers in the area over the past two months, cops said. “In the morning there’s condom wrappers that are lying around,” 88th Precint Police Capt. Scott Henderson told reporters.
Parks Department employees are supposed to lock the park’s front gate each night at dusk but that doesn’t always happen, community activists said.
“I’ve seen it open at 9 p.m., and I’ve definitely noticed an uptick in drug paraphernalia,” said John Katsos, who heads the community group Friends of Crispus Attucks Park.
Public Schools open next week
The city’s public schools are set to open on Thursday, September 6 with regular school hours.
Several of the city’s CUNY colleges already opened this past Monday.