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I agree. It's ashame that you were the only poster that disagreed with my post. My post was the overall sentiments of many posters of this thread and many others on the Long Island board.. I did the same post on a Westchester thread, you wouldn't believe how many people were outraged and upset by such narrow minded comments. Illegal immigration and changing demographics are taking place in our northern suburbs but they are dealing with it in a more positive way than our eastern suburbs. Sad.
I drove through PJV & PJS late afternoon today.
Random observations:
Tourists walking about town in typical fashion.
Driving up the hill past the RC Church: white church goers.
Continuing up the hill: mixed bag of people walking up and down hill as I stopped at the light at the PJ Lobster house.
Tara's -- white people in and out.
Both sides of the street between Tara's and the LIRR -- mostly Hispanic men standing outside or leaning up against the store fronts, and 2 young white couples at the bench by the LIRR.
Crossing the LIRR
The deserted bar on the right -- a couple of Hispanic men with a bagged beverage sitting on the cement, leaning against the wall.
Jewelers on left -- 5 young Hispanic men, wearing a lot of red all standing shoulder to shoulder at the train barricade (barricade was up.) They looked like a wall the way they stood. It wasn't friendly at all and might have been construed as menacing by some.
A few 'residents' watching the world in front of the rest home.
Amazingly enough -- NO ONE drinking, urinating, sleeping or playing dice on the side of the old Jack's.
Everything was rather pedestrian free from that point to 347. Not even people in the yards. The big shopping center (Aboffs, PO, Seasons) is too set back to safely observe while driving.
Crossed 347
All's quiet on 112.
Turn into shopping center to head to Uncle Guiseppe's. (sp?)
It's nuts in there. Hordes of white people -- washed, unwashed, neat, slovenly, determined or dragged along by a spouse -- are filing in and out of the supermarket under the watchful eye of A HIRED SECURITY GUARD! (Is it because there are a few Spanish speaking employees? No.)
What message does this send to the patrons?
Does it say we don't trust you?
Does it say we don't trust the area and are providing this for your safety?
Is it complete overkill or is there an issue that no one is aware of?
The guard was there going in, and another was there on my way out. I've shopped in the stores there before, used the CVS, gone to the PJ Cinemas. NEVER have I felt unsafe or at risk. There's no guard at Smithtown -- what gives?
Scratching my head, I head northbound on 112 heading home.
At 112 & 347, a wobbily flurry of activity occurs 2 vehicles ahead of me. I can't make it out as the vehicle immediately in front of me has very tinted windows and is on a slight angle in an effort to merge into the right (eastbound) turn lane. The flurry is blocking him
Light changes, tinted car moves, and I see a man in Desert Storm type fatigues and cap, wearing glasses over his pirate-patched right eye. A tray (similar to those the cigarette girls used in 1940's era clubs) bearing small American flags perched upon his abdomen, and a sign affixed to the tray spells it out, "American Veteran Will Work for Food to Feed Family." Some drivers offered him paper money.
I was very torn. Do I offer money? Is he for real, or is this a scam playing on the sentiment of citizens on the eve of our country's 234th birthday?
Wrestling with guilt I continue north.
Same Hispanic men with brown bagged drinks in front of abandoned bar.
Wall of men dressed in red gone from LIRR
Gaggle of Hispanic men remained at the store fronts between LIRR and Tara's.
WT looking lady outside Tara's was trying to help someone parallel park their car.
Quiet heading down the hill into PJV.
At 6:15 I turned left onto Barnum and decided to sidetrack to see Rocketship Park. A few families were there, some white, some Hispanic. At the basketball courts there were about 30 people -- white and black older teenage boys playing ball under the watchful eye of a very stern-looking older man. A few girls stood at the side giggling as they watched. I pulled away.
Before turning out of the lot, I noticed a couple of guys -- either Italian or Hispanic (olive complexions, dark hair) milling about the bathrooms. No red or gang type clothes.
It might have been too early in the evening to have witnessed gang types hanging out, or perhaps the Village cracked down for the holiday weekend?
I agree. It's ashame that you were the only poster that disagreed with my post. My post was the overall sentiments of many posters of this thread and many others on the Long Island board.. I did the same post on a Westchester thread, you wouldn't believe how many people were outraged and upset by such narrow minded comments. Illegal immigration and changing demographics are taking place in our northern suburbs but they are dealing with it in a more positive way than our eastern suburbs. Sad.
Are you posing under another ID? According to your history, you've made 49 posts under this screen name and none of them appeared similar to this. The closest you come is discussing Carroll Gardens not being an Italian neighborhood.
I didn't see any outrage or upset posters on that thread.
Were the people in the Rochester thread upset?
Or was it the NY accent thread and Bobby Flay that had them up in arms?
Darker skin people are scary. They just don't have the upstanding values and morale system that people from European and Israeli descent have. Case in point, blacks have been living here for centuries and they still don't get it.. Look at Gordon Heights, Roosevelt or Wyandanch. Are these towns typical of Long Island? Remember Roosevelt in the 50's was a nice town just like PJS. Stop the trend!
I would also like to mention that although I was no where near Roosevelt in the 1950s, or even born for that fact, the country was in the midst of racial segregation. I for one am very happy that is a trend that was stopped.
Turn into shopping center to head to Uncle Guiseppe's. (sp?)
It's nuts in there. Hordes of white people -- washed, unwashed, neat, slovenly, determined or dragged along by a spouse -- are filing in and out of the supermarket under the watchful eye of A HIRED SECURITY GUARD!
What message does this send to the patrons?
Does it say we don't trust you?
Does it say we don't trust the area and are providing this for your safety?
Is it complete overkill or is there an issue that no one is aware of?
The guard was there going in, and another was there on my way out. I've shopped in the stores there before, used the CVS, gone to the PJ Cinemas. NEVER have I felt unsafe or at risk. There's no guard at Smithtown -- what gives?
Let's see - the store just opened this week AND it's the 4th of July weekend? The guard is there to keep order (which probably wouldn't matter anyways if someone decided to yell fire)
Sadly. the trend continues in Baldwin, despite a middle class group of latinos and caribs. moving there. Many posters would have you believe it's becoming a ghetto w/ trannies and crackheads. 2007 Money magazine rated it as one of the best places to live in the USA. I read some posts here that rate it as a place to avoid. BTW, I'd like to think these feelings are those of a few on Long Island.
Long Islanders go insane at grand openings. They had the security there for precaution. The same thing at Walmarts during Black Friday and the opening of Denny's in Centereach. When the thrill is gone it will be business as usual.
Let's see - the store just opened this week AND it's the 4th of July weekend? The guard is there to keep order (which probably wouldn't matter anyways if someone decided to yell fire)
Personally, I think it was total overkill to have the guard was posted outside by the exit. My thought was he was provided for either 1) shoplifters or
2) Making sure no punks are looking to swipe purses that women tend to carelessly place in the child's seat of the cart.
Given the way people were behaving inside the store (pushing carts along distracted by the new features and food -- like foreign tourists in Times Square) it would make sense that outside the store they might be equally distracted and easier prey for punks.
Speaking with a neighbor, she said that there is usually a security guard in the shopping center. I guess I never really noticed it. Maybe they had extra guards in place for the reasons you gave?
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