Tommy, I understand with what you are saying, and in many ways I emphasize with you. Besides the incidents I mentioned previously, I have one more that had me worried. A few months ago, I was walking my dog near the boardwalk, after dark. I really smelly and somewhat menacing street person asked if I had any spare money. I said no. He said "well, do you have any money at home?" and "where do you live" I wound up lying to him, telling him I live all the way on the other side of the city, and I just happened to be in this neighborhood. He then preceeded to shadow me on my way home, and just to make sure he wouldn't know where I lived, I took a few wrong turns, and eventually lost him. After that, I found myself wondering about my thoughts. I think one of the major problems that AP has, as we who live here know, is public perception of our city. It amazed me the amount of negativity I got from friends and co-workers when I told them I was moving to Asbury. It ran the gamut of "it's dangerous there" to "I had to move out of Asbury 15 years ago because I was mugged" to "why would you want to go there, it's ugly" And i'd never discussed AP with any of those people...just the mere mention of it provoked those responses. That being said, before the redevelopment means a thing, the crime, the appearance and the perception of our city really needs to take precidence. It's been said here many times before...nobody is going to plunk down a rather large sum of money to come live in a place such as the Asbury of right now. There are too many negatives here, and there are also many, safer and more attractive alternatives. Asbury needs to clean up it's act.
--- In AsburyPark@yahoogroups.com, "justifiedright" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote: > > Gary don't lose sight of the fact that what happened to me turned > out to be that nothing happened to me. The problem was my mind > wasn't right. > > Despite the darkness, me being alone, his clothes, putting his hand > in his pocket, the gang reference, in the end all the guy did was > mumble at me. Certainly no crime. I shouldn't have had a problem > with any of it if I'm in an urban environment. > > I was simply reporting that I felt uneasy. Apparantly I'm starting > to fall for the hype. I'm mad at myself for letting that happen. If > it can happen to me, our more suburbanite neighbors will never come > here. > > The reputation of Asbury will save it or kill it. I was never afraid > of people in my life and I'm not going to start now. I shouldn't > have been uneasy at all last night. What few gang-bangers we have > here have to be dealt with. Other than that moment involving my > temporary lack of faculties when I encountered that guy last night, > I'm not afraid here and I won't be. > > There is nothing to fear here. If I see that guy tonight I'll ask > him what he was mumbling about. > > Back to normal. Not believing the 200 Bloods hype. Official count > was 15 (probably more than that now) but I know of 5 that are off > the streets. > > > > > --- In AsburyPark@yahoogroups.com, Lightgrw <lightgrw@> wrote: > > > > Tommy, > > > > Unfortunately it's like I told you several weeks ago, even people > who > > have been in Asbury for over 30 years and never felt scared there > are > > now feeling scared. > > > > This is issue #1 for the city and issue #1 for the redevelopment. > For > > a few years, people didn't want to believe that the crime and > gangs > > were on the upswing. Newspapers were CRITICIZED when they > mentioned > > crime - people said it was hurting the redevelopment. The only > problem > > is that ignoring a problem doesn't make it go away. > > > > Sorry this happened to you. The other day I got worried when I > was > > filling one of our newspaper boxes right next to a homeless guy > > sleeping on the sidewalk. I never got scared with stuff like > that > > before but all of a sudden I'm wondering if he's maybe not asleep > but > > waiting to jump someone or something. > > > > Asbury Partners needs to begin tackling this issue and offering > > suggestions IMMEDIATELY -- their financial future depends on it. > > > > -Gary > > > > > > > ********************************************************************* > *** > > **************** > > Upstage Magazine - New Jersey's Premier Arts & Entertainment > Magazine > > PO Box 140, Spring Lake, NJ 07762 (732) 280-3305 > > http://www.UpstageMagazine.com > > > Yahoo! Groups Links <*> To visit your group on the web, go to: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/AsburyPark/ <*> Your email settings: Individual Email | Traditional <*> To change settings online go to: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/AsburyPark/join (Yahoo! ID required) <*> To change settings via email: mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] <*> To unsubscribe from this group, send an email to: [EMAIL PROTECTED] <*> Your use of Yahoo! Groups is subject to: http://docs.yahoo.com/info/terms/
