From NY1:Jorge Martinez says that while taking his six-year-old daughter for a walk through Forest Park it is normal to come across condom wrappers amongst the flowers and trees. He says over the years, this kind of trash has become part of the landscape.
“It's absolutely outrageous,” Martinez said.
For years, Martinez, like many other residents here, has been angry about the illegal sexual activities. But when his daughter began asking questions, he decided to fight back. He started a letter writing campaign, sending 200 of them to residents and local leaders calling for a bigger crackdown on the offenders.
“On any given night, you can see 10, 12, 15 people randomly going around the park and doing, you know, this type of activity,” said Martinez. “You can identify them. You can definitely tell.”
Okay, it's time for a reality check...
This has been going on for decades at Forest Park.
This activity also goes on 24 hours a day, not just at night. The woods of Forest Park are a gay cruising spot, similar to Central Park's Ramble. The Parks Dept. and police do nothing about it because if they started busting people they would be accused of discrimination, police brutality, etc. Be happy you only saw the wrappers. I don't even want to describe the things I've seen left behind in that park.
20 comments:
Condom wrappers - This was common and a fact of life garbage 40 years ago anywhere where a car could drive in and secure a spot out of view. That was heterosexual.
It's no different today, just expanded to include gays - so now you have a greater amount of folks out there using parks for sexual gratification.
Is policing these type offenses difficult? Of course, but across the board - most if not all public sexual activity can be addressed effectively. Folks need to know where to draw the line to have sex. Risk is a thrill but thrills can be experienced indoors privately and lawfully.
Yes 40 years couples had sex in a car.
Today gay men have sex in the woods. No car involved. It's called cruisin'
Instead of writing letter, why not form a community watch and patrol the park at night?
Also, why not form volunteer cleanup committees and pick up trash on weekends (wearing gloves, of course)? That would be a great activity for parents and children and would provide an excellent example of civic involvement for kids.
It's widely done in other cities, especially on the West Coast.
The Yellow Trail is the worst.
“On any given night, you can see 10, 12, 15 people randomly going around the park and doing, you know, this type of activity,” said Martinez. “You can identify them. You can definitely tell.”
While I am sympathetic to the problem of garbage being left in the park, I agree that people straight/gay have been using parks to have sex in for many many years. However, the above statement by Martinez clearly indicates a homophobic stance. Does Martinez spend his nights observing people in the park and what does he mean by 'you can identify them, you can definitely tell'. What Martinez wants to say is that he does not want gay people using the park. I think this is more about a personal vendetta for Martinez rather than concern for his daughter. Would Martinez's stance be different if straight people only were using the park, I think so.
You see? The above comment illustrates perfectly why they left the gay part out of the story.
It's pretty easy to tell when a guy is there looking for sex. Just visit Forest Park at any time and you can figure it out. It's not homophobia, it's common sense.
Take a photo of the two lovebirds, post it online for public humiliation, and that should end their escapades.
The park legally closes at dusk 365 days out of the year. Mary Ann Carey, the local community board executive director was quoted on NY1 explaining this the other night. What is the "law abiding" Mr. Martinez doing in there making observations at that time anyway?
You can see people walking around the park from the sidewalk or the drive. It's not like there's a wall around it.
Forest Park is beautiful. It is our Central Park. This is happening because no one is stopping it. Getting a community watch is a great idea but the park is enourmous. The police should be patrolling and arresting.
Would this happen in Juniper????? I don't think so.
Look, the clubhouse is scared shitliss of the gays, because unlike most of you loser doormats, they can think outside the box, articulate (a party hack would be made mincemeat if they had to go toe to toe with them) and they got lots of money (not being stuck with 5 kids like you ethnics like to squirt out)
So the clubhouse, knowing that you are in their pocket, can only shrug their shoulders and make them part of the landscape.
You cant touch them.
There is not a thing you can do about it. You see, being a doormat might absolve you from making tough choices, but it it makes you part of the floor.
All of your tax money is going for developers. It is bleeding your communities white.
The clubhouse is in to making money.
You can't build in Forest Park. Tough shit.
IF they are in the park after hour, illegally, arrest them.
If they are in the park having sex at anytime (a lewd act when performed in public), arrest them.
Throw them in jail, and they can have all the anonymous gay sex they want!
Alleluia!!! PUT THEM IN JAIL.
I live in Kew Gardens, Queens with my lovely wife and our 9-year-old dog. Three years ago, we purchased our gorgeous early-'30s apartment on the sixth (top) floor of a stately four-building complex which is actually inset into the footprint of Forest Park. We are about a ten-minute walk from the major subway arteries into Manhattan at Queens Boulevard, and we're even closer to the Long Island Rail Road—which affords me a 17-minute commute into Penn Station. The neighborhood also has great shopping, dining and is in walking distance to the best art house theater in the five boroughs. Unfortunately, as ideal and bucolic as the neighborhood is, we're not without a growing problem in people soliciting and engaging in sexual activity out in the roads and trails of Forest Park.
As soon as the outside temperature reaches about 50°, there's a proliferation of adult males cruising for sexual partners on the closed (former vehicular-only, now pedestrian-only) stretch of Forest Park Drive which begins at Metropolitan Avenue and ends at Woodhaven Boulevard—and on the myriad hiking/equestrian trails. What's more, the post-coital detrita and debris (including, but not limited to, ejaculate-filled condoms and their wrappers & excrement/lubrication-smeared paper towels) are usually littered about the otherwise pristine natural surroundings—leaving a hazard for adults, children and pets alike—not to mention the questions which must be raised by naturally curious children about encountering these foreign objects.
So, what's the answer? I'll admit that I'm not sure. A band of like-outraged citizens with night vision goggles and 1,000-candlepower spotlights when the activity begins? Posting photos of the perpetrators on the Internet to perhaps embarrass them? Probably not. But, I'm of the opinion that it's up to the combined wisdom of the New York City Department of Parks and Recreation and NYPD to combat the offensive activity. There's a nice recap of the letter of the law here (on a naturist site, nonetheless) http://naturistaction.org/StatesFrames/State_Laws_Frames/New_York_Laws/body_new_york_laws.html
I have to emphatically state that I'm not anti-gay. I am, conversely, anti-sex in public parks—and it just happens to be the the majority of the coital participants in the sex-in-the-park game over by my residence happen to be homosexuals. Do not mistake my outrage at the issue at hand for homophobia.
UPDATE: Local newspaper coverage of the issue:
http://www.queenscourier.com/articles/2009/11/18/news/top_stories/doc4afaf5e72b56d735541480.txt
http://www.queenstribune.com/feature/PleasureInThePark.html
As a youth, running for the track team of a local highs school. My buddies and I use to run in the park almost everyday. The grounds were so littered with used condoms KY tubes etc...we use to slip on the condoms while running through the woods. I grew up a matter of yards from the park and I must say, we were chased and scared by the perverts in the woods. They are not perverts because they are gay, they are perverts because the display a unhealthy tendency toward CHRONIC sexual exhibition. The park is amazing and I was not allowed to go into the woods of the park because it was very dangerous when I grew up.
Dangerous because, they're were real semi-criminal deviants closing off a park from the rest of the community.
I was walking through the park the other day, while walking my dog and I saw two random dudes doing nothing but walking around in the early afternoon. Gay sex is fine just don't do it in front of our mothers, brothers, sisters, and daughters. The park has become less cluttered with trash over the years and the deviant homesexual presents there has been toned down. How about you all met at the park and then go bone in your apartments or houses- leave our parks so the families can play too.
Sad, NYC really seems to be an amusement park for criminals. If prudent people were allowed to defend themselves from homosexuals and other perverts then this park would be clean. Alas, hippie-bent laws are not in people's favor and silencers cost an exhorbitant amount of money and can only be purchased from other types of criminals. Remember that the mayor endorsed NAMBLA.
Forest Park has been used as a "Gay Cruising Site" for decades. It big, densely wooded and ideal for these anonymous and clandestine rendezvous. It was actually far more active in the 1990's and men would enter the park all through the wee hours of the late night. Today, it far less active and after dark deserted. This is a quality of life issue for some, however, these gay men do not bother anyone and retreat to area off the beaten path-where they are not visible by the general public. Seems as though it is a bunch of stuck-up prudes that claim the presence of single gay men walking around in and around the place are ruining their park. This is nonsense ! I know straight couples do the same thing in there, but in far less numbers. While I do not condone sexual activity in public places, this is a fact of life. What do some of these irate park lovers want the police to do ? Shoot any gay man on sight that is perceived to be "cruising" around ? Any act of public lewdness in plain view cannot be tolerated, however, this is not the case. There are known "niches" and "nests" in there that are far out of reach and difficult to find-unless you look for them. These are the spots where "consenting-adults" go to have sex and then they're off !
Adding to all the discussion I have been living in this neighborhood for almost 20yrs.
Its a beautiful park Ill be the first to admitt I usually go to the woods and have a beer and I go there to bird watch. I usually bring extra bags to clean the park. People shouldnt litter I have seen beautiful wildlife from blue jays cardinals orioles chipmunks squirrels and racoons. Lets keep are park clean. Ive seen wierdos druggies . Beware and be safe. Ive had crazy encounters
This park is not as busy or notorious as it was years ago. 10 years ago it was always busy with en prowling around....night and day ! The undercover detectives started cracking down and now it is much quieter at night after dark.
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