Park Slope Shapes Social Distancing Controversies, Debates
PARK SLOPE, BROOKLYN — Park Slope finds itself as both a social distancing problem and solution amid the new coronavirus outbreak.
The neighborhood's lack of arrests or tickets for social distancing violations recently fed a citywide controversy as less well-off, less-white communities in New York City bore the brunt of sometimes-harsh NYPD enforcement.
And it's not as if social distancing isn't a concern in Park Slope.
Park Slopers made 373 complaints about social distancing and 63 over face coverings since a state "stay-at-home" order went into effect, according to 311 data.
People are quite rightly upset, wrote Park Slope's city Councilman Brad Lander in recent lengthy Twitter thread. He proposed replacing NYPD enforcers with a civilian "public health corps."
"The Corps would recruit from across the city," he wrote. "Orthodox Jews. Young people of color. Hipsters. Trump supporters. People who speak all our languages. They'd get training in health education & outreach. They'd work w/community leaders on creative ideas for sanctions and compliance."
People are quite rightly upset about disparities in NYPD social distancing enforcement. Let’s also talk about how we achieve better collective compliance. Because aggressive policing & Twitter-lectures don’t seem to be working. What do you think? THREAD
— Brad Lander (@bradlander) May 4, 2020
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It's an idea that the New York Times opinion page endorsed this week in an editorial called "Social distancing, without the police."
The editorial detailed Mayor Bill de Blasio's plan to dispatch 2,300 "social distancing ambassadors" into the city, but also his denials that NYPD enforcement is anything like the racially-fraught "stop-and-frisk" policy.
Lander has criticized de Blasio's take, especially in light of socially distancing enforcement data first reported in the New York Times.
"Mr. Mayor, instead of a tweet of feigned outrage (you had this data well before the NYT did), it's time to recognize that we need to stop doing social distancing compliance through the NYPD," Lander wrote in a May 8 tweet. "They aren't built to do this public health task well or fairly.
De Blasio, who himself hails from Park Slope, has maintained law enforcement should remain involved in social distancing efforts as crowds showed up at Upper East Side bars and a Crown Heights yeshiva remained open.
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This article originally appeared on the Park Slope Patch
