Rowdy Skateboarders in Windsor Terrace Exploit Police Precinct Gray Area

Some Windsor Terrace residents say they're fed up with the NYPD's failure to do anything about the late night cacophony from skateboarders in Bartel-Pritchard Square, at the intersection of Prospect Park West and Prospect Park Southwest. So they reached out to City Councilmember Bill de Blasio, who held a community meeting last night in an attempt to resolve the age old problem of skateboarding, adolescence, and rowdiness. Local resident Jim Rallis tells YourNabe that on the night of June 13th, the teens were so obstreperous that he called the police. When they didn’t respond quickly enough, he says, "I went down there to tell them to be quiet and one of them pulled a box−cutter out and put it against my body."

Rallis says cops let the Carroll Gardens teen go, and he "just wants the police to do their job." Part of the problem is that Prospect Park is covered by the 78th Precinct, while Prospect Park South West is patrolled by the 72nd Precinct. Rallis tells YourNabe, "You call and one command thinks the other command is responsible." Another part of the problem is that, as an unidentified officer at the 78th Precinct puts it, "There’s not a lot you can do about kids riding on skateboards." But Rallis insists, "My complaint is not about the skateboarders — it’s about my quality of life." He says drinking, drug use, and drug-selling is widespread in the square, which is where 17-year-old Sharif Abdallah died earlier this year after a brawl in the park.

According to the Brooklyn Paper, 78th Precinct Deputy Inspector John Argenziano told residents, "We will put more people there, we will look at the situation," but he noted that since January his precinct has issued 47 violations to individuals caught inside Prospect Park after the 1 a.m. curfew, and 17 of them were in the Bartel-Pritchard Square area. In defense of thrashers, skateboarder Dylan Jones says these parents just don't understand: "We skate here all the time and we never mess anything." He says the skateboarders are the ones being antagonized, and claims someone poured syrup on the steps of the monument in an attempt to discourage skaters. But according to Dylan, that just resulted in bee stings for a non-skater and a dog.