Remember, if it's murder it ain't Clinton Hill...

Unfortunately a young man was shot and killed in the late afternoon, just around the corner on Fulton St. near the corner of Clinton Ave.

I came out of the subway on the way home and knew immediately from the yellow tape and blocked streets that someone was dead. In the next glance I saw the towering microwave antennae of the local news trucks.

So when 10pm rolled around I tuned in to see what exactly went down. A young aspiring hiphop performer was the victim apparently after a verbal altercation.

What I found consistent and disheartening, in addition to the killing, was the fact that on each news program, wabc, wpix, channel 9, (whatever that is these days) they referred to the neighborhood as Fort Green. Terrible, even back in the day this wasn't Fort Green, the real estate device that is Clinton Hill (as opposed to the actual Clinton Hill, which is the intersection of Clinton and Layfayette Avenues) was previously known as Bedford-Stuyvesant. of course once crime became an out of control issue and brownstowns got hot, people pushing the neighborhood pushed Clinton avenue out of Bed-Stuy and into the more affluent sounding Clinton Hill.

That's fine I guess. We do live in a capitalist society and whatever sells wins.

But the fact that the name of the neighborhood reverts away from Clinton Hill (whenever there is a crime often with people of color as victim) is something I find troubling. It makes me wonder if its just a perception dating back from the 70's and 80's that these horrible things only happen in Fort Green and Bed-Stuy. It also makes me wonder if it is a consideration, is there an intention to this reporting. I guess it would be hard to sell million dollar condos and brownstones if there are murders happening nearby.

It just feels like marginalizing to me. And it's an additional shame added to a senseless killing.

(Note: I just read the NY Times at 2:58am and the have filed the story accurately detailing the neighborhood as Clinton Hill, although they listed the location as being Fulton Near Vanderbilt, when the shooting occurred just as close to Clinton Avenue as Vanderbilt Avenue.)

Smile! You're on Atlantic camera

Just found out there will be a gathering of photographers in the area of the proposed Atlantic Yards "footprint" today. The gathering is to show solidarity and express the rights of photographers in light of an incident between a photographer and an MTA police officer last week.

I was headed out the door anyway, so I'm going and I'll be back with my impressions.

Back!

WTF is the deal with the weather?!? (y'know besides adverse effects brought on generally by global warming) Intense snow flurries and freezing winds followed minutes later by bright sunlight??

Well anyway, those conditions I guess, were a means of testing the mettle of the souls intrepid enough to gather on Pacific Street, to exchange anecdotes of law enforcement interrogations as well as hearing from the young woman,Katheryn McInnis who had a similar interrogation last week while taking pictures at the Atlantic Yards site. For more on Katheryn's story check out BritInBrooklyn's blog.

The group walked along Pacific Street, passed the now blocked and soon to be destroyed Carlton Avenue bridge up to Vanderbilt Avenue. Then the group turned and headed back on Dean Street. It's remarkable to walk these long blocks, a space larger in acres than the World Trade Center site, and imagine the overbuilding proposed for this area. I have a lot more thoughts about the experience, the fellowship of the community and the activities of the photographers which was benign and jovial despite the weather-insanity. But I'm still too numb from the cold to process. So thoughts, soon come, for now here's some choice photos I took of the moment.

"You could be shopping" was one of the comments an MTA officer made to Katheryn McInnis (above) when asked why she was taking pictures of the Atlantic Yards proposed site last week.


The fate of the this part of Prospect Heights hasn't been decided yet, but that hasn't stopped the bulldozers

The group was shadowed during the short walk by uniformed officers,
because of course nothing is more threatening than people with cameras

Do you smell a rat?

The protesting rat and the building under protest at 525 Clinton Ave.

As you may know (and was mentioned previously in this blog) a worker was killed last week when the scaffolding of the luxury apartment building he was working on collapsed dropping him twelve stories at 525 Clinton Avenue in Brooklyn.

This morning I saw the rat, specifically the inflatable rat that many New Yorkers have encountered at the site of various forms of usually labor related protest.

According to the men who summoned the rat (self-described members of Local 73 a construction union) they wanted to draw attention to what they say are unsafe conditions on the site, low wages paid to the workers, the fact that construction was not halted the day after the accident, as well as their contention that a local church picked up the cost when the planned building owners took no action toward the funeral of the worker who died on duty.

More to come, I'll keep you informed.

Alas no voting, parade for me...

It's noon in NYC and the ticker-tape should by coming down in buckets by now. It reminds me of my amazing tickertape experiences especially from 1999 when I was IN the parade with the Yankees, but that's a story for another time.

I had an energetic moment when I thought about grabbing the camera and heading to the "canyon of heroes" to do a first hand report, but work calls, and besides a tickertape parade is not something to enter into lightly. The Atlantic Avenue train station this morning was proof of that with what looked like 1 out of every 5 people dressed in some sort of Giant garb headed off to show support.

I remember after that 98' parade (and probably others) there was a ripple effect of fans migrating uptown from the parade route so that hour by hour each manhattan neighborhood was awash in a sea of team spirit and humanity. That being the case and me being in midtown, I expect to see the big blue wave up here around 2:30pm. Go Giant's!

And nope I won't be voting either, as I am a registered Independent and New York's Democratic party is closed to the likes of me.
Why is it that Indies get the snub in NYC? Anybody know why besides the fact that political parties choose their own rules?