BY KEVIN DUGGAN
The city tried to close Fort
Greene Park early ahead of a
planned anti-police brutality
protest Wednesday night, before
back-tracking and keeping
the greenspace open amid
social media backlash.
Local Community Board 2
sent out a notice at around 4:45
pm claiming that the Parks
Department decided to shutter
the lawn between Myrtle
and Dekalb avenues at 7 pm in
response to “civil unrest” the
night before — when chaotic
scenes broke out nearby between
NYPD and protesters.
“In reaction to the civil
unrest yesterday night in
Boerum Hill and Downtown
Brooklyn — which was preceded
by a protest in Fort
Greene Park — the Parks Department
announced that it is
COURIER L 10 IFE, NOV. 6-12, 2020
closing the park this evening
at 7 pm,” the board’s Oct. 28
statement read.
The move came one day after
cops arrested over 30 demonstrators
marching against
the Oct. 26 police killing of
Walter Wallace Jr., a protest
that started in Fort Greene
Park earlier that evening.
The march turned chaotic
near Atlantic Avenue, with
some scoffl aws lighting trash
fi res, defacing police vehicles,
and smashing store windows
of mostly chain stores and
banks along the thoroughfare.
Footage from the night
shows a heavy police presence
in response to the protest, along
with one incident where batonwielding
offi cers smashed the
window of a car on Atlantic
Avenue near Boerum Place,
before the driver blew through
a line of bike cops.
Activists planned a follow-up
protest that was set to take
off from Fort Greene Park on
Wednesday at 8 pm, according
to NYC Protest Updates 2020, a
social media account that has
tracked demonstrations since
the police killing of George
Floyd in Minneapolis last May.
Former Brooklyn Paper reporter
Julianne Cuba tweeted
CB2’s park closure notice,
drawing condemnation from
many who said the city was
trying to stifl e protesters’
First Amendment rights to
free speech and assembly —
and likened the tactic to the
NYPD’s summer curfews.
Within two hours, the
community board issued a
follow-up notice saying the
greenspace would not close
early after all, and parks honchos
The Prison Ship Martyrs Monument in Fort Greene Park.
File photo by Caleb Caldwell
soon published a tweet
confi rming the space would remain
open for its usual hours.
When asked about the backand
forth messaging, a spokesperson
for Parks on Wednesday
claimed to have not made any
announcements about a closure.
“I’m confused by the question
— Parks did not make any
announcements about closure,”
agency spokesperson Crystal
Howard told this paper.
However, CB2’s District
Manager Rob Perris confi rmed
that he got the notice from the
Parks Department, but referred
any further questions
on the incident to agency reps.
Upon repeated further requests,
Howard declined to provide
any additional comment. “I
have nothing for you,” the Parks
rep said. “No comment.”
The Police Department’s
press offi ce did not return a
request for comment whether
they requested the closure.
City tries to close Fort
Greene Park ahead of
protest, back-tracks
Do You Suffer With
NEUROPATHY?
...Suffer No More!
WE HAVE A 95% SUCCESS RATE
CALL NOW FOR A FREE CONSULTATION
‘You will perform all treatments in the comfort of your own home’
Imagine: No more medication...
We offer a scientific, 4-step,
but a proven long-term solution
proven approach that heals
you can do at home for your:
your nerves and reverses
your symptoms by:
1.
2.
3.
4.
Get Relief with No Surgery, Shots, or Addictive & Dangerous Medications
100% NON-INVASIVE – NO SIDE EFFECTS
718.833.3327
Dr. James DiGiuseppi, DC
8214-13th Avenue, Brooklyn, NY 11228
YOUR PARTNER IN THE
STRUGGLE FOR JUSTICE
BEST ATTORNEY AND
BEST PERSONAL INJURY LAWYER
JOHN J. CIAFONE ESQ.
THANK YOU!
203 Meserole Avenue, Brooklyn, NY 11222
718-278-3900
johnjciafone@yahoo.com
NYS
Certified
EMT/EMS
BEST ATTORNEY
WINNER 4 YEARS IN A ROW!
BEST PERSONAL INJURY LAWYER
WINNER 3 YEARS IN A ROW!
link
link