A Greenwich Village community board meeting descended into chaos Wednesday night as anti-cop protesters repeatedly yelled at local officials and NYPD officers — at one point calling the commander of the local police precinct “a racist piece of s—t.”
The unruly attendees argued with officials and older local residents about whether cops should crack down on late-night wild parties inside Washington Square Park at the Community Board 2 meeting, which was promoted by police oversight activists.
A majority of participants were rowdy and disruptive as they accused cops of targeting minorities and using excessive tactics to enforce a midnight curfew in the park.
NYPD Capt. Stephen Spataro, the commanding officer of the 6th Precinct, was called a “racist piece of s—t” who will “go to hell,” as protesters shouted at a joint panel of local officials comprised of CB2 representatives from the Parks and Waterfront Committee and Human Services Committee.
David “Shaman” Ortiz, 28, who credited himself with starting the recent wave of parties and unlicensed boxing matches in the park, said he and fellow members of the “Be Outside Crew” are providing a community service.
“What we do is we amplify the sound and the communication of the community that’s already been there in Washington Square Park for forever,” Ortiz said.
“This park has been around for decades before any of you have even been alive. Artists have been flocking there for centuries. This is a place of community. This is a place to be, a place of welcome,” Ortiz said.
And yes, I was arrested for this. And yes, just three days ago my case was dismissed for being arrested for amplified sound. Wanna know why? ‘Cuz it’s bull,” he added.
At one point during the chaotic meeting, Ortiz ran up to a table where panel members were seated and yelled in the officials’ faces.
“I know I’m out of turn, according to the Bluebook rules, but I just found what you did to be very intimidating, coming straight at me. I did not appreciate that and I thought it was incredibly rude and intimidating and I just wanted you to know that,” Georgia Silvera Seamans, of the Parks/Waterfront Committee, said after Ortiz charged up to the panel.
Another thing about the WSP Shaman...
Then there is the issue of Washington Square Park, which as become a quasi-autonomous zone which daily open air drug abuse and nightly relentless noise pollution from all-night DJ ragers and yelling from transient denizens of the greenpace loitering past the parks closing, under the watchful eyes of de Blasio’s NYPD, who are clearly under orders to maintain their surprisingly tolerant behavior despite demands by residents for them to take action and despite the blowback from their collective inaction resulting in slashings and assaults in the vicinity.
Which makes it a wonder why the cops have been standing down so long from enforcing the normal curfew and allowing these baccanalias and calamitous events to continue. Turns out that the man who kneeled along with the former Chief Monahan for de Blasio’s NYPD’s gaslighting solidarity photo op for the George Floyd/Black Lives Matter movement is David “Shaman” Ortiz, who just happens to promoter of the WSPAZ DJ ragers and also for illegal unsanctioned public boxing matches that are held right by the Arch the cops are protecting. And it’s quite clear that they are protecting Promoter Ortiz party plans as well, which gives the impression that this guy has been giving de facto permission and permits in the park as part of the city’s recovery for all of us, giving de Blasio the optics to declare the Summer of NYC is off to a rousing successful start. Maybe that’s why the Blaz is confident that the violence and noise in WSP will take a natural course back to normalcy.
Ortiz has not been shy about this symmetry either nor his contempt for the residents of this district and he can’t help himself from talking shit about it too.
“This is my response to the residents, If you have an issue with amplified sound and you live in the downtown area, you live in the Washington Square Park area, then you should move.”
Might as well leave this here too.
After police instituted a controversial curfew at Washington Square Park on Memorial Day Weekend, Mayor Bill de Blasio hailed the “proactive” measure to tackle residents’ concerns about rowdiness at the iconic Greenwich Village park.
But his administration had received scores of complaints about wild partying, fireworks and other activities there at least as early as April, records obtained by THE CITY under New York’s Freedom of Information Law show.
From April 1 to June 15, locals used 311 — via web, text and phone calls — to file more than 190 service requests about the 10-acre public park. Some pleaded for the city to close the Manhattan oasis, lamenting lost sleep and peace.
“Deafening amplification of singing and music [...] near the fountain that can be heard for blocks around,” one person wrote at 10:43 p.m. on April 6, a Tuesday. “This singing has been stopped many times by the 6th precinct but keeps returning when the police leave.”
Following up at 1:39 a.m., the person wrote: “Please Close the Park! Please close the Park!”
The 311 reports illuminate the decision to set the weekend curfew and heavily police the park as complaints earned widespread media attention. The agency that oversees 311 redacted people’s names, but context clues indicate some individuals likely submitted multiple requests.
