2
BROOKLYN WEEKLY, JUNE 14, 2020
Demonstrating against hate
Bay Ridge residents post messages of inclusion in response to racist fl yers
BY JESSICA PARKS
Hateful, anti-Chinese
signage posted around Bay
Ridge and Dyker Heights
sparked outrage in neighborhood
residents — who
ripped them down and
posted their own fl yers
spreading messages of inclusion.
“I want everyone in our
community to feel they are
not only allowed to, but
they are called to, be actively
anti-racist,” said the
creator of the counter-fl yers,
who asked to remain
anonymous.
When they began cropping
up on lampposts in the
southern Brooklyn neighborhoods
late last week,
the mysterious fl yers erroneously
faulted Chinese
residents for the supposed
downfall of Bay Ridge —
claiming they were allegedly
driving down home
prices, operating “dirty”
businesses, and facilitating
the spread of COVID-19.
“Sad to see racist posts
in our beautiful neighborhood,”
wrote Twitter user
Jorge Escobar.
Many of the signs did not
stay up for long, however,
as locals who came across
the xenophobic fl yers tore
them down, according to
local Councilman Justin
Brannan.
“I was thankful to have
so many people sending
photos of them tearing
the signs down,” Brannan
tweeted. “Hate has no place
in our community and will
not be tolerated. Period.”
Some do-gooders went
further, replacing the fl yers
with their own messages
condemning racism
in their diverse neighborhood
and expressing support
to the area’s Chinese
population.
“I have had so many local
friends message me saying
they are making their
own posters over the next
few days for the area,” one
resident said. “I encourage
everyone to express how
much this community truly
loves all of its residents.”
Asian residents make up
a signifi cant 24 percent of
the population in Bay Ridge
and Dyker Heights, according
to city statistics, and
were often the subject of
racism citywide at the onset
of the novel coronavirus.
The 68 Precinct is investigating
the circulation of
the original fl yers in collaboration
with the NYPD
Hate Crime Task Force, according
to Brannan, who is
also asking residents who
saw the fl yers to inform the
police of their locations for
leads to possible camera
footage.
“My offi ce is actively
working with the local precinct
as well as the NYPD
Hate Crimes Task Force to
identify those responsible
for these repulsive fl yers.
We have been asking the
public to let us know the exact
locations where these
fl yers were seen so the
NYPD can continue to canvass
for camera footage,”
Brannan told Brooklyn Paper.
“This is the most anxious
time for our city that
I can remember. Anyone
looking to further divide
us at a time like is clearly a
sociopath.”
A group of kind locals replaced the hateful signs with messages of unity and tolerance.
Young raccoons spotted in closed Carroll Park
BY KEVIN DUGGAN
With Carroll Park
closed to humans during
the COVID-19 pandemic,
at least one pair of young
raccoons have moved in,
according to one local
caretaker of the Smith
Street green space.
“I’ve never seen raccoons
in the park before
and I’ve been active there
for 15 years now,” said
the president of Friends
of Carroll Park, Gary
Dolan.
The steward of the
small lawn between President
and Carroll streets
said he spotted the trash
pandas while tending to
the shuttered garden on
the evening of May 31.
“They were just nosing
around,” he said. “It’s a
sign of a return to nature,
I guess.”
The Parks Department
closed the less-than-2-
acre park on April 2, after
city officials deemed
it wasn’t feasible to shutter
just the sports courts,
playground, and spray
shower, while keeping
the park’s monument and
sitting area open, the department’s
spokeswoman
Anessa Hodgson at the
time.
Carroll Park’s new
wildlife — which local
blogger Katia Kelly first
reported on — might be
due to the lack of people,
and Dolan opined that the
masked bandits might
have become more daring,
like rats have been due to
the lack of food scraps as
a result of people quarantining.
They weren’t too shy,
according to Dolan, who
said they only backed up
a near tree when he came
closer to snap a photo.
And while the critters
may look cute, in 2018, a
strain of the disease distemper
travelled from
raccoons in Manhattan’s
Central Park to their
Prospect Park cousins,
leaving them exhibiting
zombie-like symptoms
and dropping from trees.
But the specimens
that Dolan encountered
were only about the size
of a chihuahua, leading
him to believe that
they weren’t fully grown
adults —which are usually
the size of a large
house cat — and he’s not
sure if they have taken up
residence in Carroll Park
or are just dropping by for
a snack.
“I’m not sure where
they sleep at night or if
they just come to the park
A little raccoon at Carroll Park on May 31. Photo by Gary Dolan for lunch,” he said.