Wednesday, March 11, 2009
Thursday Night Tussle on Avenue A ...
It all started with a comment pertaining to race that was perceived as an insult leading to a fight . It ended with the intersection of 1st avenue and St. Marks Place full of cop cars and the remainder of the evening punctuated with attempts to continue tumult and turmoil on avenue A .
On a Thursday night almost 2 weeks ago , outside Odessa Bar , a white male said something to another patron that was overheard by others . Those others took offense asking "you calling me a nigger ?"; this remark we heard . We also heard "you telling me you got a weapon?"--later some said that they saw a taser in the white males hand--but we never saw a weapon .We were perhaps 75 or so feet from this developing confrontation involving 5 people that had all been drinking when we heard these words .
We had noticed the white male earlier at Ray's when he flashed a folded handful of cash and spoke loudly ,boisterously , occasionally uttering something in Ukrainian to Ray . Clearly he had been drinking : the black and Hispanic males soon to be vocal , hot with rage and in his face out side Odessa Bar had also been drinking .
The evening's brutal contest lasted 5 minutes , perhaps a bit more , with two of the black males mostly playing with their opponent , throwing some quick punches that connected painfully and a rough tussle or two at sidewalk level . Police were called by several people including the Odessa Bar but no response was seen until perhaps 20 minutes after the fight had ended . After taking a beating the exhausted white male was pulled in off the street by the Odessa bartender and some patrons . This was not the end though .
Half an hour or so later the white male appeared on the street in front of the bar and again challenged his opponents . The two black males that he was again confronting , regulars on avenue A , retreated up avenue A to the corner of St. Marks Place and there turned and headed west on that street . The white male pursued , cell phone now to his ear .
On St. Marks Place between avenue A and 1st avenue , confrontations twice resulted in the white male landing in a pile of garbage that had been placed on the street for night pick-up . As the two black males disappeared into the night the white male continued west on St Marks Place with his cellphone to his ear . Finally the white male also disappeared ... but just as the intersection of St Marks Place and 1st avenue filled with police RMPs . An officer-in-trouble call had been broadcast .
In spite of the previous violence and all of the belated police presence there were no arrests . The only wounds that we saw were a facial cut or tear from a punch received by a very drunken Hispanic minor participant . Police for a while seemed to be every where but eventually left the scene ... and attempts to rekindle the evening's brutal discord continued .
The white male and his two black opponents both returned to avenue A several times , looking to make something happen . The white male , who claimed to be an off-duty EMS worker--thus the officer-in-trouble call--was seen peeling $5 leaves from the notably large cabbage of green in his pocket . He was paying some on the street to spot his opponents for him while he continued drinking in Odessa Bar . Somehow they all managed to just miss each other on the avenue . Nothing more came of the evening
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Instead of shooting these very compelling shots, don't you think you should have called police? This gallery would have been less compelling if it concluded with a photo of a corpse.
# posted by 
: 11:50 PM
: 11:50 PM
Actually the police were being called several times over as these photos were being made . For some reason they did not respond in a timely manner .
There were also police in a car in Tompkins Square Park--thats just across the street--but they did not seem to be aware of or interested in the fight .
Later as a radio call about the fight was received we noticed that the police in the park were not responding . they may have been involved in a problem in the park . Ultimately We do not know why the police arrived at the seen so late .
We were told by that night's bartender that much later in the evening , after the call of an officer down was broadcast , that police did enter Odessa bar and remove and question the white male who was involved in the fight .
There were also police in a car in Tompkins Square Park--thats just across the street--but they did not seem to be aware of or interested in the fight .
Later as a radio call about the fight was received we noticed that the police in the park were not responding . they may have been involved in a problem in the park . Ultimately We do not know why the police arrived at the seen so late .
We were told by that night's bartender that much later in the evening , after the call of an officer down was broadcast , that police did enter Odessa bar and remove and question the white male who was involved in the fight .
To any person who has a concern or wants to voice their gripes about police response time on Avenue A, please come next Wednesday at 7pm to the Community Council Meeting held every month at the 9th Precinct 321 East 5th Street.
It's not even summer yet, people. That's when the real fun begins...Streetfight website idea is charming, until it's on your street every night.
It's not even summer yet, people. That's when the real fun begins...Streetfight website idea is charming, until it's on your street every night.
# posted by : 10:51 AM
: 10:51 AM
Guess your Good Samaritan instincts where put to the side to take some pretty intense street fighting shots.
# posted by : 11:12 PM
: 11:12 PM
Dear photographer,
You are a pu55y. Had you a real sack, you'd have mixed it up a bit in some of these fights. Instead, you cowered like a frightened rabbit behind your voyeuristic lens and creative license.
You are a pu55y. Had you a real sack, you'd have mixed it up a bit in some of these fights. Instead, you cowered like a frightened rabbit behind your voyeuristic lens and creative license.
# posted by : 3:08 PM
: 3:08 PM
Actually the lens affords no protection at all in a figh and I'm much much too big to be a measly little rabbit .Sorry to have to spoil your dreams .
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