Despite the fact that the publisher of this newspaper was denied a “friendship” by the administrator of the Howard Beach Moms (HBM) Facebook page, we still keep our eyes on what goes on there, checking the site at least every other day, if not every. And let us say there were no hard feelings about why the administrator wanted to keep anyone from The Forum off the page–she felt a though we may “intrude” for lack of a better word, and print something from one of the groups members.
We certainly don’t want to cause anxiety for the administrator but whatever is put up on that site is readily available to us and in this case we are actually going to print something off the page. But before doing so, we’d like to make something abundantly clear.
The HBM Facebook page actually has some very good information to offer and further, any social media outlet that serves as a community aide, we wholeheartedly support.
There is an exchange on HBM between some of the local moms about school, weather, shopping, community concerns and the like. There is even an opportunity for local advertisers to boast about their wares on select days. The page administrator also does a good job of reminding anyone who gets “out of hand” what type of behavior is appropriate and takes down posts which are deemed inappropriate.
But on occasion, there is misinformation, as on most other exchanges on the Internet, be it Facebook, Twitter etc.
A most recent ranting however, crosses the line between misinformation and that which is baseless and devise. In fact, as we see it, it can actually pose significant threat to our community.
The other night there were reports filed at the 106th Precinct concerning some auto break in’s on 91st street on the New Side. Police were called, a report was taken and all appropriate action that could be taken, was taken. The fact of the matter is that what happened there was another string of incidents where kid on bikes or on foot come down a block and jiggle the handles of parked cars. When they get lucky, and someone has left their car door open they steal change and whatever other valuables they can cart off without any trouble.
Now we HATE TO SAY we told you so, but on this very page we have time and time again passed on the suggestions of the police not to leave your doors open. Granted sometimes we are rushing out of the car, or just running in for “two minutes” and we fail to lock the doors but when we pull into the driveway for good, or park outside our homes, it is imperative that we not feed into the vandalism and petty theft that keep recurring throughout Howard Beach.
Now to the real point–over the past few days, there has been much banter and back and forth on HBM as well as on the Howard Beach Civic page about not only the incidents themselves, but about the police and about the civic association.
The “reporting” of the “facts” as some of the posters see them seem to have been distorted. We understand that you are frustrated and we understand that you feel anger over what seems like a constant siege of punks in our community.
But we find it necessary to step in when those frustrations turn the corner and point fingers in the wrong direction.
We do not have to name the posters whom we are about to discuss for you well know who you are, as does everyone else. The fact that your car was broken into does in no way shape or form give you the right to suggest to other people in this community that the police are sleeping in their cars on the corners or that they are spending too much time in Starbucks. It also does not give you the right to suggest that the NYPD manipulates the statistics in this precinct to reflect a drop in crime that does not exist. Do you really think that? Because if you do you’d better think again.
One poster actually contacted The Forum asking for help with the “sleeping on corners police force” and the Howard Beach Civic who tries to cover up for the benefit of the police to make everyone think crime is down in the 106. The poster closed her email with the following words:
“You have help in the past. Please help me again”.
Okay we would like to help you and here’s how. Let’s start with the HB Civic. For the first time in we can’t remember we finally have a civic presence in this community that watches over this neighborhood and accomplishes things as no other civic we have ever seen.
We make it a regular practice to drive around to see what’s going on in the community we’ve been covering for over thirty years. And you know what we see–police all over the neighborhood. Driving through the streets up and down the blvd. We also see them at every civic meeting, offering suggestions and help in any way humanly possible. We see these men and woman out on the street protecting our community every day and every night, despite the fact that nearly five dozen of them have been murdered at the hands of murderous animals just this year alone.
For anyone who thinks that there are enough police to watch every street at every minute, well frankly that’s just ridiculous. You have every right to be incensed over the fact that your property was invaded. But you have NO RIGHT to portray the 106th precinct or the HB Civic as anything less than dedicated to this community every minute of every day. So please stop dividing us and doing damage with your misinformation.
Let’s leave that brand of nonsense to the political protestors plaguing our city.
