A Well-Connected Neighborhood
/On May 7, my wife and I attended a tenant advocacy meeting on the Upper West Side of Manhattan. As we approached the location, we encountered a crowd of residents spilling into the streets and onto the sidewalks. With an NYPD helicopter buzzing overhead and several news trucks parked on the corner, we suspected there might have been a car accident or another demonstration related to student protests over the war in Gaza.
Walking down the cement ramp into the building, we noticed several reporters interviewing residents while community police officers dressed in their familiar light blue, short-sleeved, pocketed shirts attempted to calm the crowd. By their expressions, we feared that a girl might have been sexually assaulted or perhaps someone had been robbed. Not the case. My wife stopped and asked an older gentleman what had happened. He said that yesterday afternoon, a pair of vicious pit bulls mauled a Chihuahua and, a few weeks earlier, killed a Shih Tzu puppy while its helpless owner watched in horror.
An emergency meeting had just concluded in one of the conference rooms, where angry and concerned citizens demanded to know what the authorities were planning to do about the killer pit bulls. Not only were police officers and detectives present at this meeting, but also the top political representatives from the 12th Congressional District. I could understand the people’s concern because if the pit bulls were able to maul one dog and kill another, what would happen if they attacked a small child on the street or in the park? We overheard a woman speaking loudly to a detective, “Those pit bulls are still at large,” she said, “and they’re still menacing the neighborhood.” I saw several photos and a live clip online showing the recent attack, and it was disturbing. While people yelled and screamed at the dogs, the owner made no effort to subdue his animals. A brave man used his umbrella and struck one of the pit bulls repeatedly to no avail, as its powerful jaws clamped down on the helpless Chihuahua as if it were a rubber toy or a chunk of raw meat. Finally, after several long minutes, they separated the dogs and prevented them from eating the much smaller Chihuahua.
As my wife and I waited along the side wall for our tenants' meeting to begin, we observed firsthand how law enforcement and local politicians interact with some NYC citizens compared to others. The blue-shirted community cops answered questions kindly and respectfully, without any signs of hostility or impatience—something that often occurs when engaging with other groups of New Yorkers.
It made me wonder how a group of predominantly Jewish citizens could mobilize the press, police, and local politicians to attend their meeting simply over a dog attack. Whereas, crime-ridden areas like the Frederick Douglass Housing Project, just seven or eight blocks away, likely wouldn't receive this kind of attention unless someone had been murdered — and perhaps not even then, in many cases. However, I’m not blaming the residents of this well-connected locale; they’re merely doing what taxpayers are supposed to do. What bothers me is why others, especially the Black community in Harlem, cannot or will not do the same thing and receive the same response from the NYPD or the press. Numerous dog owners live in the well-connected enclave, yet their sidewalks are immaculate. Compare that with the sidewalks in Harlem, where dog crap is everywhere, forcing people to navigate daily around huge piles of dung. I kept wondering about those sidewalks in the well-connected zone. Did the residents actually clean up after their dogs, or did city sanitation provide that service for them?
Speaking of Harlem, I can’t remember the last time any of our politicians held a meeting or town hall to address the concerns of our neighborhood and residents. The only times you see any of these characters is during election season when their literature clogs our mailboxes or when they hold press conferences to proclaim issues that have nothing to do with the people they claim to represent.
As for the killer pit bulls, they’re still on the loose, perhaps making their way to my neighborhood. I wonder if anyone important will show up after they devour a poodle or two in Morningside Park?