On the 'Jew Riot'
Ben Smith points us to a sober, matronly moral accounting of the whole affair at Orthomom.
Here's my question: When did the Orthodox and Hasid world of Borough Park get on the wrong side of the law? When, and how (politically) did these people who were so well-in in the Giuliani administration become targets of the police?
And, are we aiding and abetting the forces of discord if we point you here? NYPD Rants may or may not be a blog by police officers. But reading it gives you a sense of how they feel on the job about different communities, Orthoworld included. It isn't pretty.
Sample:They stink and they all look the same..am I profiling? you bet!!!!- Tom McGeveran
Here's the lowdown from a Modern Orthodox person.
The arrest and mistreatment of Arthur Schick is a case of Police brutality and excessive force. There are videos and photos which will come out.
The flame infested riot was a "Chillul Hashem" and if there are photos of the mostly teenage rioters, they should be arrested.
Chief Esposito has always been fair to the Jewish community and deserves a pass on his stupid comments.
Had this happened in an African American community, the police would not be at fault,the people would. WHatever happened in Boro Park was an escalation of a lie. Even Arthur said he wasn't beat, so that RIOT and it was a RIOT was completely unjustifiable.
Borough Park seems to be one of those neighborhoods that want law and order and tough policing for everyone except themselves. When they riot for no reason, the police must put on their white gloves and behave and speak like dainty ladies at a tea party. A police officer use the F word? Heavens no!
All was not happy during the Giuliani administration. Remember, the police shooting of Gideon Busch.
Old guy who was once somebody (he owned some deli) is sitting in his car, on the phone, in the middle of the street, making a phone call. The light turns green and he doesnt move, acting like a big machah. The cops pull up behind him, give him the siren to move, he doesnt and sits on the phone. They get out of the car, take his ID, go back to their car to write him a ticket. He decides that he is a bigshot and gets out of the car (every fuckin body in this city KNOWS you do not get out of your car when pulled over) and demands that they give him their names and shield numbers. They tell him to get his ass back in the car and a bunch of those crazy sexually frustrated Hasidic teenage boys start screaming on the sidewalk and a crowd of people gather. These folks love this stuff. One things leads to another and they start throwing shit around and going crazy. A huge crown builds because the community has this bizzarre trait where out of the woodworks five hundred kids will run on the streets when "something is going on" and the commotion begins. Have you ever been in the community and you see dozens of guys driving around in dark blue and black Chevy Impallas acting like cops ? These folks are wacky police buffs. They also adore commotion cause their lives are so fuckin boring.
11:46: Right about the police buff stuff. Shomrim (civillian patrols) and hotzolah (volunteer ambulance) are the two permissable outlets, in a world with too few, for expressing coventional masculinity, and relating as peers to the outside world. And in a world where the English language press is frowned upon, and TV is a guilty secret, rumors are the main means of communication, and the "Jewish Street" is the equivalent of the "Arab Street".
This NYPD hate-filled blog has been around for ages. Read some of the comments there and get SICK.
http://yeshivaworld.blogspot.com/2006/04/nypd-hates-jews.html
I find it ironic that a guy like Joe Esposito, who has spent a good chunk of his career being the best friend the Boro Park community could have, finds himself fighting for his career due to their stupid actions. It's a cautionary tale, and whether the Hasidim know it or not, this may not be a bridge they want to cross. Seems like every other car in Boro Park and in southern Brooklyn blows lights while sporting a cherry light and pretending to be on their way some emergency when they're nothing but a make believe ambulance flunky or cop wannabe. And know that their won't be many more police brass looking to cater to this community if this is how they treat their best pal.
Before you burn Joe Esposito at the stake, just know the party of NYPD indulging your community(often at the expense of others) might go up in flames with his career.And then you'll really be like everybody else-parking placards seized, the building code enforced, house of worship details declined. Be careful waht you wish for-you might get it.
I am a orthodox / modern-orthodox jew who does not live in Boro Park.
I know Arthur Shick, and he is a very, shall we say, spirited individual. He is loud, and sometimes obnoxious. I have see actual pictures of the arrest though, and the way he was treated was innapropriate.
That did not justify the teenagers and young adults rioting. It was simply disgraceful.
Joe Esposito did do a lot for the community. He helped out the Jewish people and groups in acts of incredible magnitude. His comments though were not simpley the F word, but what he said was "Get the Fuc*@'n Jews out of here". That is inexcusable.
If this was an incident in Harlem, and he subsituted the word Jews for Blacks, or another epithat, he would be immediately disciplined.
Joe is a good guy, and a damn good Police Chief, but his comment was offensive and innapropriate and can not be tolerated.
1) Since when is "jews" an epitaph ? Do you think maybe that a bunch of black kids and jewish kids were roaming around and the guy said "Get the fuckin Jews out of here" i.e. move them away before we have a bottle throwing incident like crown heights.
2) Thank you for confirming that Shick is "obnoxious." You are being polite; the guy is probably an aggressive asshole who was giving the cops shit because he thought they are a bunch of dumb Italian and Irish guys. Lets be real.
3) The cops should have gone in there and beat the shit out of those punks. Let a couple of dozen of them show up to the next prayer meeting with some bandages and things would settle down real quick.
4) I aiint black but think about the disparity that some guy is flipping out, as is the press, because some guy was pushed into a van which I am sure he was resisting getting into.
Lets all be frank here, if a cop would be nasty or phisical or talking shit about any of us or do the same to any of our loved ones, we all know that we would be calling lawyers and people who we know that are connected knocking the bastered who messed with us off the force, the only difference is that the jews actually have the power to do it, and they do excercise it, i came to relization, that us non-jews are just frustrated and jealous that we cant, so we criticise and condem them
if you think the cops were rough on Mr. Schick, you should have seen them during the Republican Convention. Not too many internal inquiries were taking place at that time, though. Best of luck to you all.
i also work for nyc in law enforcement. two years ago i happen to make an off the cuff comment about the 2004 Puerto Rican basketball team's victory over the US. i suggested that maybe the PR team should be tested for illegal drug use. (every athlete at the olympics is subject to random and non-random testing.)I was charged with making derogotory remarks, and faced a two- week suspension. eventually after an OATH trial i lost 2 vacation days. we are constantly told we are held to a higher standard than civilians. Chief Esposito is likewise being held to an even higher standard. and by the way has he apologized yet? I did. I am jewish and live in borough park.
"Chief Esposito is likewise being held to an even higher standard. and by the way has he apologized yet?"
He said that he never used the laungage that Councilman Felder, Assemblyman Hikind, and quite a few community activists say he used. Also I would like to know why Mayor Bloombergensteinky doen not suspend him from duty, when there was a person from OEM in the 66 PCT when the laungage was used and heard it.
YW Editor.