The first Sunnyside Mall Meet-n-Greet took place today on a wonderful sunny afternoon. We're guessing 80-100 people attended, including members of the 23rd District police force, reporters from the News-Star and Columbia College, and Denise Davis from Ald. Shiller's office. It was a good chance to meet all sorts of people (and animals!) from all over Uptown.Plans are being made for more events all summer long as the community starts to utilize the mall at all hours and for different activities. If you have any suggestions, or want to be part of the upcoming events, or just want to say thanks for a good idea, write those wild and crazy guys over at Uptown Crime Blotter, who put this all together in less than a week. Gentlemen, we salute you.
Thank you, Denise Davis, for attending this event.
ReplyDeleteIndeed; but, it would have been nice had Denise addressed the crowd and let us know what plans the alderman has to address the growing gang activity.
ReplyDeleteI was thinking the same thing, why didn't the alderman's rep say anything??? Where was Helen? Maybe she was getting ready for the Zombie Pub Crawl in Andersonville this evening!!!
ReplyDeleteI was pretty impressed with the turn out today. I have to hand it to the chaps at uptowncrimeblotter for creating this event in such a short time frame. It goes to show just how many people are paying attention and want to make a change for the better. I found it particularly interesting to see the look on the local gangbangers faces as they walked by.
ReplyDeleteI met some pretty cool people today and I am looking forward to meeting more at future events. GO UPTOWN!
BTW: The guy from Columbia College shot an interview with Denise Davis; I am curious to see the end result.
"The guy from Columbia College shot an interview with Denise Davis"
ReplyDeleteSilly rabbit, vampires don't show up on film ;)
(sorry, couldn't resist).
But, good to know that Denise will go on record in media that the general public might not see instead of just talking to us directly.
Yes, this was a good first step. Now how do we engage all our neighbors who want a safe neighborhood? More diversity, more ideas on how we can do this?
ReplyDeleteI was pleased that Denise Davis came. I actually called the alderman's office earlier this week once I heard about the event to insist that Helen or someone from her office show up. They need to know we are serious about improving the neighborhood and the safety of everyone who lives here.
ReplyDeleteI recommend that everyone call the alderman's office with anything on their mind. The more feedback, the less they can continue to ignore us. It's a lot of empty complaining if we're not calling 311, 911, and the alderman's office.
At least we can now point to instances where they have been informed about how we feel, and I agree that probably not much will happen (considering the alderman's track record), but we need to remember this when we VOTE FOR SOMEONE ELSE at the next election for alderman.
Great event and thanks to the organizers!
This event was a huge success. Thank you everyone for coming. PLEASE continue to call 911 when you see something suspicious. We need to be PROACTIVE, not REACTIVE. More of these type of events will be planned in the near future. Stay tuned.
ReplyDelete-jami
capsbeat 2311 facilitator
capsbeat2311@gmail.com
Alderman Shiller's only response to this will probably be to add 50 more "Curb your Dog" signs to the Sunnyside Mall.
ReplyDeleteWe all know how much she supports the dog haters in this ward. As I recall, the man arrested for spreading rat poison on the parkways to deter dog owners from walking dogs past his family's home told police that Alderman Shiller suggest that he do it. (although she, of course, denied it.) It was in the Inside newspaper last summer.
Happy to see this was a positive event for the people who live around the Sunnyside Mall. Hopefully, this sort of event can spread to other high crime areas of Uptown!
ReplyDeleteWhat it's going to take is residents getting out there OVER and OVER and OVER again, first in organized events, but then just day to day, using the mall all the time.
ReplyDeleteWe've ALL got to leave our homes, whether they're Section 8 rentals or condos, and make our presence known outside of our front doors. That's how to make a neighborhood "our own."