The NYPD rescinded a permit for an annual block party between Amsterdam and Broadway on 152nd street in Harlem days before it was scheduled and after organizers spent $20,000 on its preparations. "The block worked hard to put this together," one of the planners tells the Daily News, "We had a deejay. We had a band…we're not going to get our money back." Despite city approval of the event on July 7, the gathering was shut down because of concerns that a neighborhood gang—the Original Young Gangsters—would show up and pose a threat to public safety.
Sources in the NYPD tell the paper that the "OYGs" are "16 to 20 years old, and they're violent." They also use Twitter to communicate. "Block parties get crazy," a source says, "There's going to be drinking…People show up who aren't invited, and you have problems." The "OYGs" have posed for photos with firearms in front of police vehicles in the precinct, and gangs have been occasionally menacing the neighborhood for some time. But residents feel that the NYPD's reaction is overblown: I haven't seen any fights, I haven't seen any arrests. I haven't seen any drug use. Why do we keep getting penalized," one neighbor said.
Last year, the event was cancelled because "the block was overrun with rats." This year will be another washout. "You invite your family," said one woman who has lived on 152nd for 47 years, "It's not like you have a backyard where you can grill. It's so sad that it has to end."
