Do Not Park Here

Corner of Argyle and Cortelyou is not always this peaceful, and you may wish to keep the following in mind when choosing whether to park your car or bike on Argyle in front of the library (both sides of the street).

For the last couple of weeks, the number of incidents of vandalism and property damage by youths hanging out there in the afternoons into the evenings have been spiraling out of control. Here’s a list of what was observed last week by neighbors, by no means complete:

• Peeing on cars (especially vulnerable seems to be whichever car is parked  just south of the small alley behind the library).

• Ripping off windshield wipers from parked cars in broad daylight.

• Jumping on car hoods, and flinging other young men onto car hoods denting them. That’s on top of just routinely sitting on car hoods.

• Pulling garden hose from a neighbor’s yard to spray into open windows of passing vehicles, causing altercations.

• Several groups of kids at the schoolyard and library harassing each other and perfect strangers in a disturbing way.

• Fights weekly, often with kids filming it on their phones, with some kids laughing and others fuming with rage, looking like they’re out to seriously hurt someone.

• They get on the roof of the school daily and throw rocks and trash–including bottles–at each other and at passersby, including parents with kids. Ripping up open garbage bags put out by the school.

• Boys chasing someone down the street who seemed scared.

• Boys shoving and harassing a guy selling shaved ice.

• The wheel that remained of the stolen bike locked to the new bike racks was torn off and used as a frisbee in front of the library.

• And finally there were kids banging a propane tank on the concrete in front of the library, and they only stopped when a woman came out of the library and took it from them.

Neighbors have been stepping up and breaking up fights, defending street vendors, and calling the police on occasion–who sadly either don’t come at all or show up 30 minutes after a call was made. So while we all hope that it will ease once the school is out, school is not out until next Wednesday, so you may wish to keep the above in mind.