Bethesda Terrace Vandals Strike Shitty Plea Deal

Photo by Jen Chung/Gothamist

Last February Bethesda Terrace was vandalized! The taggers were promptly arrested for spray-painting on the murals and pillars — damages that would cost around $40,000 to repair. Now the NY Post reports the graf-happy trio struck a plea deal yesterday. They won't be going to jail, but rather they'll perform 200 hours of community service cleaning Central Park's horse stables. The lawyer for one of the teens, Victoria Beniaminova, told the paper: "The Central Park Conservancy insisted that their community service be shoveling shit in the stables. It beats going to prison."

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By Jen Carlson in News on January 12, 2010 10:15 AM

Comments [rss]

Think2wice

Pearls before swine.

I wonder how the Central Park Conservancy is going to keep this from happening again.

Guest

now if the authorities force the kids to eat the shit...

Sparafucil

What a bullshit sentence. They should be serving time.

SighR

Do I smell an upcoming solo art-show at 3rd Ward??

harrisgraber

They should be liable for damages, too. Why shouldn't they be responsible for the cost of the cleaning? Maybe then their parents, who would be responsible, would keep better tabs on their spawn.

I also agree with Politburo: $40,000 / 600 man-hrs = $66.67 per hour.

I'd cleans stables for that pay!

If those kids aren't going to be responsible for one cent of the damages, then let the punishment fit the crime, that is, more hours.

Angelheaded Hipster

its a good sentence. when it happened i would have whipped them with a chain

they did an awesoem job cleaning it up, too, its mostly invisible and only faintly so in some spots

pd2009

Having horses in my family as kid, shoveling horse shit is a bullshit sentence. It's not a big deal, especially in the cold.

GOP

WIZ SH WIZ SH WIZ SH WIZ SH WIZ SH WIZ SH WIZ SH WIZ SH WIZ SH WIZ SH WIZ SH WIZ SH WIZ SH WIZ SH WIZ SH WIZ SH

charshiu

I just hope they actually fulfill all 200 hours of service. I have doubts about the enforcement and suspicions that they'll never show up.

Politburo

$40,000 / 600 man-hrs = $66.67 per hour.

Manitoba

I was thinking the same thing. Seems like it should be more like 1500 hours each. Basically, half a year of 8 hour days/7 days a week.

Mr. Shankly

You don't want to piss off the unions with cheap prison labor.

books

since when does the victim get to choose the punishment?

unfortunately as teens they were going to get off easy. they should sue the parents in civil court. destroying public art in a public park is pretty vile.