By Bob Harris
The New York City administration is working to decriminalize some quality-of-life crimes. It is felt by some people that some offenses should not be considered criminal acts. It is felt that tickets given for some petty crimes can escalate into people being put in jail, that even small bail in some cases can keep a person in jail for months until there is a court hearing. A minor infraction can escalate into a criminal record for a person, especially if they forget to go to a court hearing.
However, some people feel that quality of life is important and that minor actions can really affect the quality of life in a community. Some people feel that what others consider minor crimes really make life difficult and even dangerous.
Some quality-of-life problems are public urination with the smell that results, adults riding a bicycle on the sidewalk, smoking marijuana, drinking beer in public (even on one’s own property), throwing trash on the street, illegal ads on city lampposts and other property, panhandling, loud music, entering the subway or a bus without paying the fare, pressuring drivers of stopped cars for money to wash a window, and noise outside of bars and nightclubs.
Some people complain that the smell of urine is strong on subway stairs and on many blocks in many places around New York City. One problem is that there are not that many places for one to urinate when one is out and about. Restaurants only let customers use the facilities. Large stores have toilets one can use, but one has to find them. In many countries in Europe, there are or were when I wandered the streets of many cities, urinals built into the sides of buildings. There are places in Europe where one can use public facilities for a small coin. What happened to the plans for coin operated toilets in New York City?
Some city officials feel that tickets or arrests for these petty crimes can have results which ruin the lives of people caught doing them. Other people feel that if the police can catch people doing these petty crimes they are often finding criminals who could do more serious crimes. Some of these fare beaters and others who are stopped for other offenses are often found to have guns or other weapons. Some have long criminal records.
As the city officials decide which acts to decriminalize or make lesser crimes they have to think of the damage these actions are doing. I know of an older woman who was walking the Vanderbilt Parkway Path, Cunningham Park, who was hit by a bicycle and died a few days later. I have seen corroded iron fences on streets in Manhattan due to years of people urinating on them. I have heard people complain about fare beaters sneaking in the back doors of buses.
Yes, sometimes our laws are too harsh, but carefully crafted and enforced laws make for a serene and happy population.
GOOD NEWS OF THE WEEK: Using a provision of last year’s UFT contract, teachers in schools can create new Progressive Redesign Opportunity Schools for Excellence, or PROSE schools. These schools put aside the usual contract rules and permit the staff of a school to redesign the school. There will be 126 PROSE schools in the system.
BAD NEWS OF THE WEEK: I recently read Nicholas Kristof’s June 4, 2015 column in the New York Times on dangerous chemicals in products we use. It seems that PFAS or poly- and perfluoroalkyl substances can cause cancer yet it is used to make nonstick frying pans, water resistant clothing, stain-resistant fabrics, fast-food wrappers, fire-fighting foam and many other products. The chemical lobby has spent $190 million to stop Congress from passing laws to limit use of these chemicals instead of finding a healthier substitute.
