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In the News: More Ineptitude from Battery Park City Security Guards
••• “Emotionally Disturbed Man Menaces Residents [on the Battery Park City Esplanade]. Victim Alleges Guards Hesitated Before Calling 911, Then Fumbled Directions.” If you live in Battery Park City, you really need to read the full story. —Broadsheet
••• Trinity Church now says it’ll build a community center topped with offices (instead of luxury condos) at 74 Trinity Place. —Real Deal
••• From a Crain’s article about the river ferry concession likely being awarded to a new company: “Three new ferry routes are due to open next year: one connecting Rockaway, Queens, to south Brooklyn and downtown Manhattan; another looping from Bay Ridge to Red Hook, Brooklyn Heights and Wall Street; and a third that hops from Astoria to Long Island City, Roosevelt Island and midtown. Trips will be the price of a subway ride, $2.75, which likely means the ferries will be heavily subsidized.”
••• “Joseph Botkier, 69, former chief operating officer of his daughter’s trendy Botkier handbag collection, picked up a more pricey, metal-clasped Prada clutch to whack his wife in the face during a boozy dispute in the lobby of their posh Tribeca building early Sunday, the sources said.” (The building in question is 2 River Terrace, which may or may not be “posh” but sure as hell isn’t Tribeca.) “Botkier was charged with assault as well as criminal possession of a weapon, after cops found a loaded .32-caliber semiautomatic handgun during a search of the apartment, court papers state.” —New York Post
••• “The Dept. of City Planning wants to hand over more than 110,000 square feet of public arcades—covered walkways along a building’s front—to the owners of 20 buildings along [Water Street] for them to build out as retail space, in return for fixing up the area’s public plazas. But CB1 voted down a proposed resolution of conditional support at its monthly meeting on Feb. 23, in part because the deal struck some as an uneven—and perhaps even unnecessary—exchange.” —Downtown Express
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I get that you are supposed to feel secure when there are paid security officers around but in an emergency what is stopping the individual from calling 911 and taking control, as a long time resident of BPC, couldn’t she have provided better directions to EMS than a paid guard who does not live in the neighborhood. This is in no way an endorsement of the new security officers but like the previous incident where they proved to be completely inept and left a kid bleeding on the ground for 20 minutes, there is nothing stopping an individual from making the call. I have already had the discussion with my kids after the first incident that calling 911 should be the first thing they do.
You have a point but I think the general thinking when someone sees a “uniformed security” person is that that individual can offer you direct assistance. It’s not common knowledge that these guys can’t really do anything more than what a bystander can do.
Therefore, most people don’t bother to try to call 911 because they think help is already there.
Wearing a uniform implies a position of authority. And yet these “guards” have less authority than regular citizens. I agree that if you know you are reporting something to someone with no authority to take control of the situation, then, of course, you should call 911 instead. However, the VAST majority of citizens are not going to know that these guards have to call their managers before calling 911. INSANITY!!
As a security they should know the area in and out BPC is a beautiful community!! The problem is they do need to have guards that make arrests and take there job seriously.People get jobs for the wrong reasons main thing you have to learn when to use discretion to certain situations.I loved working there!!! Now they are a Family!! BPC Love
Which is why it is so important to have the conversation since this is now two instances where the people involved had that false sense of security and the results, especially in the first instance, could have cost someone their life. Don’t wait for someone else to take action. if you are in a position to help, without putting yourself in harms way, make the call.
I agree that 911 should be called immediately by whoever is involved an incident that warrants it, rather than waiting for the security guards. That’s especially true now that we know that they have no ability to intercede. The issue for me, as a BPC resident, is that our money is going to a security force that has no ability to keep us secure. They are less useful than suburban mall security.
I am still amazed that BPCA was able to move the contract for security away from PEP to Allied Burton. In all my years in the city and witnessing the blow up rats and union picket lines, how were they able to move union jobs into paid private jobs without any pushback. Why are we allowing security in BPC to be governed by Mall Cops. Why are we not calling for more of an NYPD presence.
Is Allied Barton or an exec a Cuomo donor?
Allied Barton is connected in some way to William Mulrow who is a businessman, investment banker, was a director at the Blackstone Group and was appointed Secretary to the Governor where he serves as a close trusted aide and advisor to Cuomo.
Here is the story, from the Broadsheet:
http://www.ebroadsheet.com/Entries/2016/1/28_Authority_Chair_Says_Cuomo_Administration_May_Be_Getting_Closer_to_Naming_New_BPCA_Board_Members,_But_Needs_Hints.html
“Until recently, Allied Barton was owned by the Blackstone Group, a multinational private equity and investment banking giant, where Mr. Mulrow served as a senior managing director before joining the Cuomo administration in January, 2015, as the newly reelected governor began his second term. The selection process that led to the BPCA’s hiring of AlliedBarton began a few months after Mr. Mulrow joined the Cuomo administration. In this process, the BPCA reviewed bids from more than 20 security firms. The Authority ultimately rejected multiple bids that were priced at less than half the cost of the $2.1 million contract that the BPCA eventually signed with AlliedBarton”.
All of these “connections” should be taken with a grain of salt. You can probably take pretty much any huge company and within a few degrees, link it to a high level politician or business person.
Yes, these connections with Allied Barton and Cuomo’s office are just one , big, strange coincidence. Go figure. I mean, what are the odds, huh?