After yesterday's ruling that stop-and-frisk is unconstitutional, StreetsBlog looks at the "virulent" culture of NYPD cops, who sometimes say things like this: "We own the block. They don’t own the block, all right? They might live here but we own the block. ... We own the streets here. You tell them what to do."
Random anonymous anecdote: I was walking around 27th and 6th last Saturday and there was a wasted homeless guy crawling on the cement, doing a full Hasslehoff — trying to get up but falling over each time. After seeing him do this twice walking down 6th, I and this random Muscle Dude stopped and kept him down. Realizing we couldn't leave him alone, Muscle Dude ran (naturally) to the police station LITERALLY DOWN THE BLOCK while I waited. 20 super awkward minutes after Muscle Dude got back, and after a crowd of smoke-breaking waiters gathered, up 6th avenue comes a police cruiser with two meatheads that, for reasons unknown, stops 15 feet away.
A few minutes go by while the crowd just kind of looks on at the them like the end of Close Encounters; meatheads #1 & #2 staring blankly through their wraparound Oakleys. After a few minutes I approached their window (my alturism maxes at half an hour). Meathead #1 rolls it down, gazes over my shoulder and shoots a Joe Hollywood "Yea?" I explained to him what happened and after doing so assumed I had fufilled my civic duty - but, I swear to god, meathead #1 looks back forward and rolls up the window without saying a word.
2 minutes go buy, he rolls down the window, gum smacking. "So?"
"So, can you help this dude out?".
Meathead #1 lets out a huge meat-sigh, mumbles something about them "missing another call", opens the door and chest waddles his way out, griping the door underhand to display the tris. It's THEN meathead #2 calls an ambulance.
Moral of the story: Cops aren't assholes, they're lazy assholes. Oh, and don't stop to help your fellow man, it'll suck 45 minutes out of your day and probably get him a night in the tank.
