'This sort of policing makes no one feel safe,' one New York City resident argued.
from April 13 at Marcus Garvey Park that has been viewed over 246,000 times. Officers arrived on scene and a verbal exchange ensued with people at the site, one of whom said he could not afford a gym membership.
He called the park"a safe haven for kids to work out and put the guns down...not a homeless encampment." "We need our police focused on curbing violent crime instead of harassing community members that are having a positive impact on our community," Clennon said."If the tent that they used to store equipment was not in compliance parks department should have simply provided the group with a storage unit. This entire situation could have been easily avoided."
Jamel Ali, founder of the"Lion's Den," told Patch that the gym community has been meeting for around 20 years on the park's east side. It has included metal pull-up bars and other donated equipment including weights, boxing gloves and punching bags."Kids think it's a safe haven," Ali said."We've got to teach them that killing each other is not the answer. We're just giving them constructive stuff to do—I bring gloves, we bring basketballs.
She said Ali was notified on April 5 that if he wasn't in compliance by April 12, he would be in violation of park rules and regulations—including no person shall erect or maintain a tent in any park without a permit; and that no person shall, within or adjacent to any park, store or leave unattended personal belongings.