A story in this week's Chicago Reader chronicles the controversial removal of the basketball hoops at Broncho Billy park. As Uptown Update reported in June, Alderman Cappleman, with the support of the 23rd District police officers, had the hoops removed to allow the the playlot to be restored for use by children and families.Here are some of the key points from the Reader article:
The response has been mostly positive, Cappleman says. "I'm hearing the number of children 12 and under utilizing the playlot has gone up significantly, and parents over there are delighted."
But many longtime residents believe race is at the heart of the issue, since most of the kids who played at the park are black. "This is real clearly an attack on low-income and black families," says Miglietta, who, like Cappleman, is white. Removing the rims "obviously hasn't ended the problems, and we've told Cappleman that it will get worse because kids don't have a place to play."
The alderman hasn't yielded. In a face-to-face meeting with Miglietta, Hobbs, and other residents, Cappleman rejected the alternatives they proposed, such as installing a security camera in the park or organizing residents to patrol it.
The group is now recruiting other community leaders to join them in pressing Cappleman to reinstall the rims. They've received a letter of support from the principal at Stockton School, which is next to the playlot, and are asking Park District officials to back them as well.
Broncho Billy playlot has been the source of several shootings prior to the removal of the hoops, including this past April.
UU Readers - What do you think about the removal of the basketball hoops? Has it been positive for the safety of our neighborhood?
It has absolutely been an improvement in that area since the rims were removed. The little kids can play and run around without fear of being run over by older kids. Also, you don't find the local gang members loitering and drug dealing in there now in such close proximity to the children.
ReplyDeleteNow this I found interesting. The group is now recruiting other community leaders to join them in pressing Cappleman to reinstall the rims. They've received a letter of support from the principal at Stockton School, which is next to the playlot, and are asking Park District officials to back them as well.
First off, Stockton school isn't next to the playlot. It is two streets over between Beacon and Dover. I believe it is just a daycare or preschool next to Broncho Billy Park.
Second: If the Stockton school wants to help out, how about they reinstall the rims on the basketball backboards in their parking lot so the kids can plan basketball over there? Leave Broncho Billy playlot for the little kids.
Check it out on google street view. A full size basketball court on the black top back there on Dover if Stockton School wants to replace their basketball rims. Why isn't anyone calling for that?
It's refreshing to walk past Broncho Billy and not smell weed or see teens having boxing matches in the playground. Plenty of families of all colors still use it.
ReplyDeleteI agreed with removing the hoops. In the town hall meting, Ald. Cappleman gave statistics regarding what style of playlots provide a safe environment and which don't.
ReplyDeleteThis was not a racially motivated decision, it was a crime based decision. The issue with the basketball court is the layout. A solid wall was never set up between the playlot and the alley that runs behind it. Gangs would use the courts to conduct business and would alter the chain link fences so that they would have an easy escape into the alley.
Ald Cappleman talked about how the best environments for kids to play basketball in are indoor facilities with supervision and age grouping. We have basketball courts at Chase Park and Clarendon Park that can provide those types of services. I believe Ald Cappleman said that he was looking into that.
It does seem like we are very quick to provide resources for the 12 and under set of kids because they tend to not cause as much trouble. We do need to provide programs for teenagers that gives them an alternative to gangs and simply loitering. I do not believe that the Bronco Billy park was the proper program for that.
Safe haven? For whom?
ReplyDeleteHere's a previous UU listing showing the chain link fence, which was always being cut by the gangbangers to use as a quick escape route.
Happened every time the city spent money to fix it. Yeah, Broncho Billy was a real safe haven -- if you wanted to run from the cops or flash gang signs.
I am so sick of hearing about this park, I wish the park district would sell the land off for market rate development - something that block desperately needs. I'm sorry, that's just my opinion.
ReplyDeletePeople complain and throw the race card around anytime they can. Its really sickening. This was done to deter crime plain and simple.
Interesting that The Reader:
ReplyDelete- completely ignores the fact that the playlot is for kids 12 and under
- quotes Anton Miglietta, who used Helen Shiller's address on Carmen as his voting address for years, as a spokesman for the people who want the rims back
- throws away the line about "a slight increase in homicides"
- implies that Cappleman made up the gang territories map, when it came from CPD gang literature
- absolutely ignores that the basketball rims at Stockton School and Disney School were removed ... wow, when Helen Shiller was alderman. Where was all the outrage then?
This is the clearly "birth certificate controversy" of the Shilleristas.
Interesting comments in the article that Boohoo linked to. Shiller and Anton Miglietta pushed for basketball courts in a playlot over the objections of the Park District personnel and people who lived near Broncho Billy. Of course Anton never saw any problems with the playlot! The comments also detail the drug dealing and gangbanging that residents saw taking place in a playlot intended for kids under 12.
ReplyDeletePeople, make some of these comments on The Reader's website to balance this issue. this one sided story has prompted predictable comments. Please go on there and help balance things out.
ReplyDeleteI wish they would also take down the poles and the backboards. Looks like crap that way.
ReplyDeleteA quick search produces this information from Wiki: Jeri Miglietta was Helen Shiller's assistant. She directs the Uptown Learning Center in Chicago, a Fair Share International project. She was affiliated with the Uptown Chicago Commission. Her son is Anton Miglietta
ReplyDeleteHere is a link related to some remarks by Anton, which may indicate that Anton is a bit self-serving (even if it means making things up): http://m.chicagoreader.com/chicago/fed-upp/Content?oid=900969
This article describes Anton as growing up in the "ghetto" (wonder if he said that): http://www.gwtp.org/WTA/images/Newspaper/vol7-NO6.swf
I left the following comment on the Reader for what it's worth.
ReplyDeleteThis article is another example of the long downward journalistic skid of the once great Reader....sigh.
"I live in Uptown about 3 blocks from Bronco Billy. There are two valid and opposing arguements for these hoops. This has been a divisive issue for some time and needs to resolved, if the hoops are re-installed it will continue to divide our community right or wrong.
Thefact is this: Bronco Billy is not a park...it is a PLAYLOT. I cannot think of another CPD property that small, built for 12 and under with a basketball court. If anyone else knows of one please speak up.
To resolve this issue we need to move on and find an alternative. I know Ald. Cappleman is talking to the folks at Truman College about opening up their facilities to some degree for the neighborhood teens. That is easier said then done but worth a try. Indoor basketball is year-round basketball.
We seriously need to find something for teens to do in this part of Uptown, I hope we can agree on that much.
An alternative location for a B-ball court? Maybe the extreme north end of Challenger Park...I don't know. But a solution will hardly be found if we keep on bickering about this."
I hope we can move on, work together and find a solution.
There should have been a plan in place for these kids to play basketball somewhere else before taking the hoops away.
ReplyDeleteI'm all for getting the hoops back. Maybe a survey should have gone around on that block to see how many people wanted the hoops or didn't want them. Instead of a few people making the decision for everyone.
Miss Kitty...you are extremely sour. Do you have kids?
No Mindy, I don't have kids - but do like kids, believe it or not. The sense of entitlement though to these basketball hoops just astounds me. They were taken down to prevent crime, but people still complain. Should Cappleman buy all the kids in Uptown a basketball hoop so everyone shuts up?
ReplyDeleteThis park is constantly in the epicenter of problems so I personally would not mind seeing it go away. That's my opinion - that doesn't necessarily make me "sour" - thank you very much.
Has anyone noticed how much cleaner it is now? Hardly and empty Cheetos bags and little plastic juicy cups!
ReplyDeleteBy the way, if James can get Truman to open up I'll go volunteer to coach!
ReplyDeleteMindy, are you aware that the Black P-Stones have been using Broncho Billy to play basketball and recruit gang members? Does that concern you?
ReplyDeleteNot to kill anyone’s social justice buzz, but since when is it the alderman or park district’s job to “keep kids out of trouble?” Perhaps I’m confused, but I thought it was the parent’s job to be aware of their kid’s activities, basketball, science fair or gang banger? I know this comes off as a bit reductive, but if organizations agitating over something as trivial as basketball hoops spent a little bit more time on working with parent, less time slinging mud at the alderman over hoops and shrubs, we might not be having this conversation.
ReplyDeleteThe Reader, in its typically purple Trotskyite prose, once again trots out the tired old war horses of race and class warfare. Of course they did, which is why the Reader, consistently preaching to the ever shrinking choir, continues to teeter on bankruptcy. The 70s called, they want their politics back.
Yes, it’s all an evil axis of condo owners and white people, basically anyone with a job really. These would be the same people who, having lived in, or moved into, the mess that is Uptown, are actually trying to make the things that everyone wants to see changed (guns, crime, gangs, safety, education, services) happen. Considering that everything else has failed, perhaps the simple act of taking down 2 basketball hoops is a step in the right direction? Oy, enough with the henny-penny stuff, it’s not like we can’t ever put them back up.
The ward elected the alderman to do a job. Considering the Flying Dutchman that he inherited, let’s save our righteous indignation for something big, like kicking the bangers out of public housing, closing down the methadone clinic, or forcing the sale of Lawrence House.
Which reminds me, I need to pick up my sheet at the cleaners.
Mindy,
ReplyDelete"This isn't Helen Shiller's domain anymore, sweetie."
Gawd, I do crack myself up sometimes.
Mindy, you're extremely sour. Have you found another gig yet since Helen departed office?
I also find the idea of an aldermen seeking community input amusing coming from a hardcore Shillerista.
I guess "input" depends on what the "output" will eventually be.
Hoops are not appropriate at that location. The Stockton parking lot just east may be a solution.
I hate to agree with Jeffittelton, but that lot is for those under the age of 12.
As a parent with small children living within a block of Bronco Billy, I agree with removing the hoops. My sitter was afraid to take the kids there. She’d rather walk 4+ extra blocks to another park. My wife hated the place, my kids were afraid of the “big kids”, and I was sick of finding broken liquor bottles, spent condoms, graffiti, cursing, and being afraid of getting shot. The simple act of removing basket ball rims has made an incredible improvement.
ReplyDeleteI agree older kids need something to do, but even if I had teenagers I wouldn’t allow them to hang out at Bronco Billy with the element that was there. I can’t believe other parents would allow their young kids to affiliate with and risk being recruited by gang members.
I wouldn’t be surprised if a side effect of separating teens from kids under 12 (by removing the hoops) that gang recruitment goes down.
The argument that removing the hoops is racist reminds me of an argument at a CAPS meeting years ago. The discussion was around decreased drug dealing on CHA property (4510 Magnolia) after the wrought iron fences were installed. Some might remember that drug dealers would sit in the yard on milk crates in the yard at 4510 N. Magnolia dealing. They’d go inside when the cops came by.
Someone opposed to the fence at the meeting was screaming in the meeting that “We’re not animals. We should not have to be caged in our yards!” I think she moved out shortly after.
I imagine those pulling the race card feel they have something to lose by cleaning up the neighborhood or didn’t see anything wrong with the conditions at the park. They might be afraid of increasing property values costing them their homes, or benefit directly by the crime.
OK. Reality check!!!!
ReplyDeleteI am an evil condo owner. However, the delusion that property values are going up anytime soon in this area is bugging me.
The poorer members of our community have nothing to fear from that. That is for sure!
IP- I'm doing really well. Finishing my last year of Grad School. Working for an organization that helps preserve affordable housing; we also run about 7 after school programs. Sadly, I don't work in Uptown anymore.
ReplyDeleteMake yourself useful, go get drunk.
Mindy,
ReplyDeleteMiss you...
The 70s called, they want their politics back.
ReplyDeleteWinner.
Mindy, I'm glad you're working at preserving affordable housing someplace other than Uptown! About time!
ReplyDelete@ IratePirate
ReplyDeleteDontcha feel so bad about agreeing with me....even a busted clock is right twice a day.
@ Mindy
Your right, a plan should have been in place first, absolutely. But this is a done deal and it is a playlot. This has been an issue for a longtime, Helen ignored it and did nothing to mitigate the concerns. Lets be realistic, and talk about going forward with alternatives.
A question for everybody....
Is there anything we can do as a community to back up Ald. James and pressure Truman to open up?
Media Critic's offer to coach is encouraging, such an offer would never happen at Bronco Billy I suspect. What does that say?
What are the liability issues that are sure to come up in talks, does anyone in the area have skills in that area to contribute?
I hope Mindy is working for the bond holders who really control affordable housing because she will be rich!
ReplyDeleteTaking down the hoops was ridiculous. And I have a small child who I take to the park. The basketball hoops weren't the problem, the park isnt the problem. same with the ridiculous post about sunnyside mall - the bushes werent the problem and cutting them down isn't making the place safer, just like taking the basketball hoops down isnt making the playlot safer. It's an illusion, though. And if it helps you all to believe, then fine for you. Taking a place away from the kids, something that could be productive, isnt helping. And yeah - I've seen what goes on at the playlot - as i said, Ive been there probably more than most of you. But taking the hoops away was stupid.
ReplyDeleteUsing the race card for removing basketball hoops seems like a last resort. Not based on any fact, just the same old white guilt, not based on public safety regardless of race. These local play lots are dangerous not only because overage kids are around dealing drugs, but the equipment is a disaster. Frankly, moving hoops based on changes in gang territory is ridiculous.
ReplyDeleteMindy, your drunk comment towards IP a definite reflection of the prior alderman. Without class!! Not very respectful and speaks volumes about you. I would hope working with organizations such as you describe, you are acting with class and integrity. Mentors should have those qualities to pass them on. Grad school must not offer tolerance or class.
Michele-
ReplyDeleteYou must be new. IP and I tease each other all the time. Believe me, I didn't offend him.
The only thing that offended me about Mindy's drunk comment is that she assumed I was sober when I made my comment.
ReplyDeleteThere are only 24 hours in a day and an hour is a terrible thing to waste........sobriety wise.
Right now I am sitting at my computer butt naked with a Guinness in front of me. The unbearable ennui that has seized me only lessened by the fuzzy feeling I get knowing Mindy suggested I get drunk.
The hoops came down and the vast majority of people who visit or pass by the playlot or live on Magnolia are much happier to see them gone. Period. Did the hoops make the area safer or better? Of course not. Would you want that element in your backyard/front yard? Of course not. Additionally, if you were Truman, would you want that element in your building? I can only imagine the headaches that would cause them. Who is going to pay for the security that most certainly will be needed?
ReplyDeleteLMAO Irish Priate
ReplyDeleteTMI, IP.
ReplyDeleteTMI.
Until a new hoops location is worked out at Stockton or Truman I suggest Bronco Billy BB players come on over to Clarendon Park. There’s a great BB court outdoors as well as a one inside Clarendon Park gym. Lots of kids play there and I’m sure new players will be welcomed.
ReplyDelete@Mindy, and to anyone else who complains that their kids no longer have a place to play basketball, there is a court with hoops behind the Stockton School at Montrose and Dover. There is no need for a 'plan' to find somewhere else for the kids to shoot hoops because there are plenty of places already. And aren't there courts inside the park district building at Chase Park too?
ReplyDeleteBroncho Billy Playlot is being used much more now by parents with kids than I've ever seen it before. Pre hoop removal, parents with small kids would only come to the park in the mornings. In the mid to late afternoons, not a parent with a small child to be seen! With the hoops gone, like it's been said before, parents seem to feel more comfortable bringing their smaller children, even in the afternoons, since it's less likely they'll be exposed to the pot smokers, foul language and drug deals.
And before the hoops were taken down the park had so much litter that it was disgusting. There's still trash now but nowhere near the amount there was before. Pre hoop removal, the cops would come almost nightly to kick kids out of the park after 9pm. Post hoop removal, there are fewer ‘kids’ loitering in the late evening. Bottom line is that this is a ‘playlot’ for kids under 12.
IMO, having the hoops removed was the right thing to do for the playlot and the neighborhood. Hoping they are never put back.
Thanks for the info Ben Dover Uptown. I've only lived here for 33 years.
ReplyDeleteLike I said, it'a all an illusion. Sure there may be more of a certain type of parent at the playgound than before, but why weren't they there before? because they didn't like the people who went there? Those people are still around - and the playlot is no safer and you are no safer there than before. You still have to walk to the playlot, right? Illusion and delusion.
ReplyDeleteAs many of you probably don't realize, a lot of the people who were at the basketball court, playing basketball and sitting around, are parents who were there with their young children. Of course, many were not - but usually a lot of parents were at Broncho Billy.
Removing the hoops is about as useless as positive loitering.
@Bob: Why is it so important that the kids be able to play basketball at Broncho Billy Park? Why can't they play at one of the other nearby locations? I'm honestly asking.
ReplyDeleteAh, BYU, that little crack about positive loitering gave you away. You showed your agenda. Sometimes restraint is a good thing.
ReplyDeleteThe difference with the playlot now being for kids under 12 is that now 8 year olds can play there without the gangs recruiting them there. 8, 9, 10, that's when kids start being "auditioned."
Take the gangbangers out and it's one less spot they can recruit shorties. It's one less spot they can sell drugs. It's less likely they can use it as a hangout, cutting handy holes in the fence to escape.
You don't think the reason the P Stones and their families are so upset about the rims being taken away, and the 12-year-old age limit being enforced, is that they love playing basketball more than anything else, do you?
Uncle Bob, you just proved the point! "Sure there may be more of a certain type of parent at the playgound than before." This was the goal! People feel safer going/being there! And yes, they didn't like the people who where there before! I hardly ever saw non-gangsters playing basketball there.
ReplyDeleteWhat many of you don't seem to grasp...is that the reason the "kids" who played hoops at Broncho Billy won't go to Clarendon Park or Chase Park is because those "kids" are Black P-Stones--and those parks are in *other gangs' territories*. Twist their arms to go to those parks, and watch the already-bad gang wars explode in front of your buildings. And that's why Truman won't swing their doors open, either--why subject their students and faculty and staff to more gang violence?
ReplyDeleteUnfortunately, the problem isn't basketball hoops. It's GANGS. And we can thank the Shilleristas for fanning the flames. Maybe we can get Mindy to put her graduate noggin to work to figure out how to provide each gang with their own "affordable housing" in their own stable little gang villages and move them all out. Then we wouldn't be having to chatter about the benefits (or lack thereof) of basketball hoops in children's play lots.
gg - I have no agenda. My "crack" about positive loitering has nothing to do with an agenda. I think it's - like I said, an illusion. How is it helping? Why do you need to call it positive loitering - why dont you people just go out and use your neighborhood instead of having to set a time and place to walk/stand around. It's moronic - it's backwards thinking.
ReplyDeleteT.C. - Ive played basketball there. In fact, i found out the rims were gone when I went over to play basketball. and im not a gangster. Im a mom. I go to Broncho Billy a lot - a few times a week and I have for a number of years. And no one is any safer - why dont the efforts go into stopping gang activity on the streets instead of taking away playground equipment and feeling good about it. Look across the street from Broncho Billy. It's no safer to be there than it was before.
anyway - i've seen more gang bangers out on wilson in the last month, than ive see all summer. Whats being done about that? How many shootings have happened in the last month?
Bear60640, you hit the nail on the head with your comment about the hoop locations in other gang territories. This is the precise reason why the innocent, young, "kids on the right track trying to get out of the gangs", do not want to walk a couple blocks to any number of other places with hoops. Simple solution to this problem - do NOT join a gang. Wow, that was tough.
ReplyDeleteEven if the p stone idiots do not want to step into rival gang territory because they are afraid of getting beaten or shot, they can still play at other places nearby.
Also, "And there you have it" (aka "Robert's your mother" aka BYU) nice try with your arguments. Stellar observation that trimming back the trees/shrubs on Sunnyside did not magically eradicate all crime on the mall. It does, however, remove a significant number of hiding places for all the "tough guys" who play hide and seek with the CPD. If you have taken 5 seconds over the years to observe the action on the mall, you cannot deny that they have hidden behind various shrubs/trees. Your comment about the hoops removal is similarly laughable. It's not a magic bullet, but it is a step toward keeping the gangs in check.
By the way, I was a tiny bit disappointed that not a single person commented on the fact that the "concerned citizen" interviewed by the Reader is the son of a former Shiller assistant. Great investigative reporting Reader (not so much).
How about we all lend a hand to help make the ward a safer place, instead of taking actions to protect the gang punks.
shillsgangs - Ignorance is bliss!
ReplyDeleteare you saying that I have numerous names on this board? Ive only had one ever - Bob's Yer Uncle - and i dont post much, so who knows who else you are talking about. Maybe you think im Roberts mother or whatever you suggested because Bob and Robert are like the same? Who knows! BYU is just a phrase and a fun one at that. Calm down.
Like i said, im a mom. Ive lived here for years - i do everything in uptown. i even had my kid here and raise them here. Its my neighborhood and i make myself a piece of it, not a paranoid observer who needs schedule time to stand around with other who feel compelled to schedule their neighborhood outing.
Anyway - I live on Sunnyside Mall and have for over a decade - ive observed plenty, but never any hiding except when i play hide and seek with my kid - its not too easy doing it now.
Anyway - this is wacky!
BYU, your post made me laugh. I was not suggesting anything nefarious regarding you. Bob's Your Uncle means "and there you have it" (and some similar phrases). (Robert's your mother is poking fun at BYU). I thought you may know the meaning of your chosen name (now you will). It's okay - simmer down now.
ReplyDeleteI too live on the mall and have witnessed gang members hiding in, around, and behind the various bushes and trees. They work in the shadows so it makes sense.
I, like you, prefer to do my activities based upon my own schedule. Apparently, I see a few more things than you. Next time you're out and about, you may want to stop and take a look at your surroundings. It is not always comfortable to witness some of the things happening, but your observations and calls to the police can help quite a bit.
And...Bob's Your Uncle ;)
Bear 60640,
ReplyDeleteMy work consists of making current housing more appealing to live in and look at. Not creating more. Jeez...
SG - i know what my names means - i was just laughing at your cleverness - and its Roberts your mothers brother, you know - thats an uncle. Not hard to figure out.
ReplyDeleteI have a small child, i pay attention to my surroundings - we're outside a lot. i just find it laughable to suggest these mundane acts are are "keeping the gangs in check." Gangs are organzied crime, its a pyramid scheme in a sense - but you probably know that since youre clever and observe all the hiding and games they play in the mall.
so the bushes are cut, the rims are removed, and the gang members sit on the benches or walk up and down wilson even more or hang outside truman. walk down agatite around racine. It's just temporarily moving the problem elsewhere, its not stopping a thing.
I don't think we really know what impact hoops have on the crime rate. Suppose some peoples' perception that the hoops are a crime magnet is accurate. And also suppose that the opposing group's perception that the hoops were a diversion for children who might now get into trouble elsewhere is also accurate. Is this possible? Of course - if the hoops decreased the overall crime rate, but also condensed the crimes that did occur into a smaller geographic area.
ReplyDeleteSo aside from the crime issue, what other reasons did people have to remove the hoops? It seems that the hoops generate a nuisance to some - litter, older kids being loud and rambunctious, etc. And it seems that THAT is where the value conflict lies - what group in society gets preference when it comes to the public space.
Our alderman seems to be acting based on public opinion rather than any hard evidence. That's not necessarily bad, but we shouldn't make reference to crime when we talk about this issue because we really are just blowing smoke.
It pains me to say it, but Uptown's leading tweed jacketed libertarian, Robert the Pretentious, has a valid point.
ReplyDeleteHow will removing the hoops affect crime? We just don't know.
We do know that it already has made the park a more welcoming place for younger children and the adults who accompany them there. To me that is reason enough for the change.
It's almost like a "Broken Windows" type argument.
I'm not going to hyperlink though because the awesomeness of his tweed jacket has fried too many of my brain cells. Oh, the alcohol may have helped too.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Broken_windows
Rob, where did you hear that the alderman relied on public opinion to make his decision about the hoops?
ReplyDeleteCome on be nice to Mindy.
ReplyDeleteIf this were akin to the Iraq War we'd be handing out playing cards as we searched for the Shilleristas in hiding.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Most-wanted_Iraqi_playing_cards
Mindy wouldn't even be depicted on any card.
Nope, Shiller was driven from her spider hole and the future is bright. Sure, there will be some obstacles ahead of us, but generally speaking Uptown can expect a long slow UPturn in our Upstanding future.
Uperstand?
Stick a fork in it....its over, the hoops are gone and not coming back.
ReplyDeleteThe teens need a hell of lot more then B-ball anyway. And the kids 12 and under, white, black or otherwise get there very own space.
There is a park built for seniors in Bucktown...is that so wrong?
I know Chicago pretty well. Yhere are to my knowledge no hoops in playlots which like Bronc B are smaller and located on residential streets.
These hoops were an exception but no more. Will it reduce the overall crime, I dunno...let the academics gripe and moan about it.
Does it give the little kids their freakin' playlot back? Yes it does....so stick a fork in it.
Long night...bad mood....Lo siento.....
@IP,
ReplyDeleteIt's ok. Just let it happen. Shhhhh.
@ holy moley,
I would hope the alderman was relying on public opinion - doesn't the will of the people count for something?
I heard from a bird the hoops were back up?
ReplyDelete@ Mindy
ReplyDeleteNo
Cool.
ReplyDeleteIf the hoops are back up, and things are copacetic (ie - the neighbors don't complain - which, they may want to, I guess. They'd have every right to), then fine.
If a gang presence returns, and/or there's an incident or two of violence/open air drug dealing, then the argument's settled and the hoops should be removed, permanently.
Mindelicious,
ReplyDeleteapparently your bird can speak, but not sing.
Take it away cartoon Beatles
That's one problem in Uptown. Birds that speak, without singing.
I challenge Yo and IP to a game of lightning.
ReplyDeleteGood stuff...
ReplyDeleteAnyhow....on a related note.
At the GWNA meeting on Tuesday a the supervisor of Gill Park who oversees Bronco B was in attendance.
There was a brief discussion about what to do with the space now that it has been decommissioned as a B-ball court.
The concrete pad...the space...what to do with it?
Any ideas?
I just heard from a little bird as well that the hoops are back.
ReplyDeleteThis would surprise me, my last comment was totally true and there was no indication whatsoever from the Park District Sup whose name eludes me.
I have not been by the park in a week or so, I retract and edit my earlier comment toward Mindy from a "No" to a "I dunno"
So whats up?
Mindy,
ReplyDeleteI'm busy sitting on a cornflake.
By the way if you're going to challenge me to any physical activities Yo had better not be involved.