Christopher Street Compromise

New York Blade - August 21, 2006
http://www.newyorkblade.com/2006/8-21/news/localnews/compromise.cfm

The plan is to alleviate residential concerns about noise level at night and potential criminal activity by increasing the police presence in the area while offering more youth services on the pier and extended hours at the youth development organization, The Door.

Mayor Michael Bloomberg and Speaker Christine Quinn have created a two-pronged initiative to address the ongoing battle between the residents of the West Village and the LGBTQ youth who frequent the Hudson River Park at the end of Christopher Street in the evenings.

The plan is to alleviate residential concerns about noise level at night and potential criminal activity by increasing the police presence in the area while offering more youth services on the pier and extended hours at the youth development organization, The Door.

"The overall idea is to have a balanced response," said Maria Alvarado, spokesperson for City Council Speaker Christine Quinn. "At the same time we try to address resident and community concerns, we are using this as an effort to expand outreach and get social services to these kids."

This is the first major attempt by local officials to strike a deal between the youth and residents since discussions about changing the pier hours or diverting traffic to other piers ended in a stalemate at a Community Board 2 meeting in March.

Riccke Mananzala of FIERCE!, an LGBTQ youth of color organization which has actively lobbied on behalf of not limiting access to the pier, said he was happy to see city officials taking a more active role in finding a solution.

"The more elected officials getting involved and active in this, the better," said Mananzala. "We are just really impressed by Christine Quinn and Manhattan Borough President Scott Stringer's response to really recognizing this as a complicated issue that we should be working on for the quality of life of all people in the West Village, including LGBT youth as a part of that."

Deputy Inspector Theresa Shortell said the 6th Precinct has already increased the number of officers on duty: the Cabaret Unit was raised from 10 to 17 officers; the midnight tour (11:00 p.m. to 7:00 a.m.) now has eight officers instead of six; and a new detail with one sergeant and eight officers has been added from 9:00 p.m. to 5:00 a.m.

All officers patrolling the area have completed sensitivity training so that they better understand the youth culture at the pier. Deputy Inspector Shortell said everyone is working together to ease tensions and added that the youth in particular are making an effort.

"I see a big turnaround in the kids now," she said, noting that they have been especially cooperative about moving when the park closes at 1:00 a.m.

"I think everyone is trying to meet everyone half way," said Shortell.

Starting September 1st, The Door will provide an onsite outreach worker at the pier for 30 hours a week, and their facility on Broome Street, which is about 20 minutes away from Pier 45, will extend its hours past the current close of 8:00 p.m.

Dianne Morales, assistant executive director of The Door, said they are considering keeping the facility open until 10:00 p.m. but nothing is final yet.

"We are a youth development agency so we don't want to extend our hours such that we are encouraging young people to be out late," said Morales. "It's a fine line between wanting to provide them services and a safe space versus wanting to encourage them to be appropriate developmentally."

Morales said the services they offer will include providing health care, crisis counseling, needs assessments, information about career and educational opportunities, and referrals to additional services.

"I see this as an incredible opportunity for us to think outside of the box and do things really differently with this population," said Morales. She said she looks forward to collaborating with other organizations that provide youth outreach services at the pier, such as Callen-Lorde and The Ali Forney Center.

The initiative's approach seems to be satisfying both sides of the table at the moment.

FIERCE!'s Mananzala said he welcomes increased services as long as they are not used as a "deterrent" to keep people from coming to the pier. "In the future, I think it would be great to open a late night drop-in center in the Christopher Street area," he said.

David Poster, president of the Christopher Street Patrol and a West Village resident, said the proposal would help blunt some of the residential concerns while giving the kids a positive direction.

"I think it's a wonderful thing for the kids, and if you help the kids you can help the community too," said Poster. "It's a very good beginning," he said, adding that everyone he had spoken to felt very positive about it.

The new plan will be in effect through this November and then begin again next spring. Both the Mayor's and Speaker's office will monitor the initiative's progress to be sure everyone is benefitting mutually from it and make adjustments as needed.