Wednesday, September 8, 2010

My Morning in Gravesend


On the way out of my house this morning, I walked passed the old Asian woman that regularly comes into my driveway to look for cans and bottles in my recycling bin. I don’t think she has much luck usually because, as far as I know, everyone that lives in the house returns their bottles and cans for the 5-cent deposit that the State holds hostage.

I continued down my block to the corner 7-11 to buy a cup of coffee before my ride into work. I passed several neighbors that were also heading to their cars on their way to work. In the 7-11, a working class man in front of me in line asked the clerk for a tin of apple flavored chewing tobacco. The clerk informed him that the City has banned the sale of all flavored tobacco products (not completely accurate- they still allow menthol flavored cigarettes!) Needless to say, he was not happy and made some disparaging comments about the Mayor and stormed out.

As I approached my car with cup of coffee in hand, I see a man standing near the tree in front of my car acting suspiciously. The woman in the car behind me had a baffled look on her face and began walking away quickly as I approached. I gave the man by the tree a closer look and saw that his pants were open and he was urinating on the tree in front of my car on the corner of Avenue U and West 8th Street!

Being the polite person that I am I waited for him to finish up before going to have a chat with him. Before I could open my mouth I heard another neighbor’s voice saying “Hey Russ, what the f@#$ is this guy doing?” So we asked him in a very Brooklyn-esque way what he was thinking and he frantically apologized. That was probably a good idea on his part.

The man that came to my aid is somewhat of a friend of mine. I'm not going to name names, but he is also one of the stars in a new show on Spike TV called “Scrappers” (http://www.spike.com/show/38515). It airs every Tuesday night at 10 PM. I don’t know his political persuasion, but I do know that he is as Brooklyn as it gets and he did the right thing this morning.

Our Mayor and local elected officials are busy banning aluminum baseball bats and flavored tobacco while our streets revert back to the way they were pre-Giuliani. I live in a relatively safe neighborhood, but quality of life issues/crimes are increasingly making life uncomfortable here.

Where are the police? I see traffic enforcement agents and sanitation supervisors issuing out tickets every morning and throughout the day to hardworking residents while they are powerless to stop graffiti taggers and public urinating dirt bags.

President John Adams once said “Liberty once lost is lost forever.” Our government at all levels has gotten into the business of taking liberty from the working class while turning a blind eye toward street hoodlums and other special interest groups. When will it stop? Just because the Mayor doesn’t like tobacco, trans fat, or salt and Councilman Jimmy Oddo doesn’t like aluminum baseball bats doesn’t mean that they should use their government power lent to them by the people to ban them.

Wake up my brothers and sisters. Elect people that believe in our republican form of government and will also protect us by cleaning up our streets before it is too late.

6 comments:

  1. This is one of the best articles I have read in a long time.

    I love the show scrappers, they are the best show going on T.V. right now. (Two and a Half Men, Bones, boring, 30 Rock need not apply)

    Scrappers are the definition of hard work when the going gets tough, and they are the definition of why we love this borough so much.

    As for the bum he should have went down to the local McDonalds, and urinated.

    This doesn't surprise me while Bloomberg is telling what to eat, drink, or smoke, and taxing us stiffs to death.

    We have more graffiti, more quality of life issues, and a less safe community even the ones like beautiful Gravesend.

    It's going to get worse before it gets better sadly.

    However, make sure to tune into scrappers!!

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  2. Beautifuly put. Totally agree Gallo!!

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  3. In our lives we are accountable for who the elected government is going to be. If we truly desire change then we have to maintain a vigilant posture for within unity lies strength. The members of the 1-258FA are Army Strong, Patrick Henry said, "Give Me Liberty Or Give Me Death". -Words I live by

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  4. Russ
    Turner will Win. Rick & Anita Perry will Win. America will Win. The Republican Party is the CHOSEN PARTY. Abraham Lincoln, Martin Luther King and all the Republican Presidents since 1870, the Kennedy Brothers and please dont forget Charles Curtis for they are all sitting in heaven and are all clapping. For they were all for the little man since 1854 when the Republican Party was born.
    Thanks Russ & Gene and all The Young Republicans for believing in God and especially for we want to give a special thanks to Captain America who always fights HATE.
    Bye my friends
    Nick

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