What the Broadsheet printed was reckless and incompetent. The Broadsheet/Matt Fenton should issue an apology to the parents and the children involved, instead of calling the police liars. It seemed pretty clear cut. I am not sure how you get "parents unwilling to file charges" from "parents and kids spent 2 hours at police station helping with the investigation and filing charges." My apology goes out to the family as I had stated in this blog that they did not stick up for their children or their community. The only one not sticking up for the community is the Broadsheet, the "author" caused the family added stress, through his incompetent journalism. — Liz on Suspected Predator Arrested at Ball Fields

Love the passion for ping pong! Can't wait to visit King Pong the next time myself and the Uberpong Crew are in New York. — David Lowe on Our Friendly Neighborhood Ping Pong Parlor

The last 13 years...Trick or Treating is always on the ACTUAL Day of Halloween...from 3pm and on....The stores and restaurants hand out candy from 3pm to usually 7pm. The only exception was last year due to the hurricane, we did later on. Best- Stacy and Rocco ROC Restaurant — Stacy on Seen & Heard: Two New Buildings on Sixth Ave.

Re: Local Trick or Treating. The way it's worked in recent years is that our trusty Tribeca Citizen has polled local businesses and asked them when/if they will be offering trick-or-treating for the kids! — Andrea on Seen & Heard: Two New Buildings on Sixth Ave.

From the Broadstreet "Officers from the First Precinct quickly arrived at the scene and interviewed at least two sets of parents. These officers asked the mother and her two sons to accompany them to the First Precinct, where the family spent about two hours giving statements. The officers also brought Mr. Pettersen to the First Precinct, where he was initially charged with luring a child to commit a crime, a class-E felony, and acting in a manner injurious to a child under 17, a class-A misdemeanor. These charges were superseded by those imposed by the District Attorney's office. An earlier version of this story that appeared in the BroadsheetDaily on September 30 quoted police sources as saying that the parents of the children approached by Mr. Pettersen were unwilling to file a complaint. While this passage accurately reflected what police sources told the Broadsheet, it did not convey that the parents cooperated fully in the investigation. The Broadsheet regrets any misunderstanding. The mother of the boys who were approached at the ball fields by Mr. Pettersen on consecutive Fridays says, "both the police and the District Attorney's office have been very responsive and very professional. They reacted very quickly and have wanted to help in any way they could." — TribecaMom on Suspected Predator Arrested at Ball Fields

Can we get partial credit? I think #3 is Edwards? — Robert Ripps on Where in Tribeca…? Special Edition!

If the NYPD's 1st Pct Community Council Meeting is being held on Oct 24, can the TriBeCa Citizen ask why so many personal cars and not NYPD cars sit in reserved spaces? How many spaces are reserved for NYPD cars anyway? — CCC on Seen & Heard: Gourmet Garage Rumors

Any chance this might be the same guy? http://gothamist.com/2013/06/29/nypd_heres_sketch_of_suspect_who_se.php — TribecaMom on Suspected Predator Arrested at Ball Fields

That space rotates public art into the billboards from time to time, like every third billboard. An iconic Felix Gonzalez-Torres piece was up there about a year ago. I don't know who this artist is, but whoever sponsors the space could tell you. — Citypixie on In the News: NSA Billboard

Does anyone have a photo of this guy to circulate? Someone said I might be able to find it on the NYPD site. I cannot believe the parents didn't press charges - it's going to be more traumatizing for the kids if this guy gets a hold of one of their friends with a not so good outcome. — Mom on Fulton Street on Suspected Predator Arrested at Ball Fields

I feel like I need to better spell out the perspective that I was trying to communicate, because it has not gone in the direction that it was intended to. Frankly, I am a bit surprised that people from a city that prides itself on diversity can be so quick to discard an opinion, opting for the more hostile interpretation. If you carefully reread my comments, you will not see an attack on city living. In fact, you will find a declaration that I didn’t feel that I have the skillset for raising my kids in NYC. That was precisely what I was referring to when I suggested that these parents might not have the confidence to unleash their kids in the city, when the time comes that they should. What I wrote was germane to the conversation if we are willing to consider that NYC is full of people from entirely different backgrounds. In many cultures, people bury things like this. I am not ashamed that I was a victim of molestation as a young child, but I understand why some people are more withdrawn when it comes to issues as dark as this one. NYC’s diverse population also comes from differing cultures with differing balances of individual vs. community. I believe my comment was also relevant because the parents are entitled to their unique parental vision. It seems reasonable that we can attempt to empathize with somebody whose emotional state has just been taken to the wall with the fear that he might have gotten away with it. That doesn’t mean that we have to agree with their inaction, but New Yorkers have the burden of a proud reputation of open-mindedness to live up to. I’m not going to get into the self-gratifying merits of debating suburban vs. city living. I never intended to, and conceded more generally that I am personally more suited to burb-risks over city-risks. I can’t resist however, pointing out the irony that most of the New Yorkers that I know didn’t grow up in NYC. Somehow they were “savvy” enough to make it off of the farm or out of the mountains and compete with some of the best in the world (while simultaneously declaring the city to be their home field). It’s a city to be proud to live in, but I personally believe that giving my children small freedoms earlier is my best bet in preparing them to make it back one day (if they so desire). I don’t ever want to let go of my kids’ hands, and NYC lets me hold on when I should be letting go. Now I don’t have any excuses. I would repeat my unsolicited suggestion that these parents should try to take this leap of faith in their children, and then ask themselves if they are going to have the stomach to raise their kids in the city. The only way to properly prepare children for the world is to turn them over to it. — ex-Manhattan parent on Suspected Predator Arrested at Ball Fields

One would think some cleaver detective could actually make a few ID matches if given the incentive, yes? — Jen on Seen & Heard: Gourmet Garage Rumors

and during all that time the police were no where to be found. It is mind boggling. — Ariane on Seen & Heard: Gourmet Garage Rumors

We can only hope the parents have changed their mind and want to protect their kids and the neighborhood by filing a complaint.. As a mom in the hood I completely agree with Tribeca Stay at home - we need to not only watch out for our kids but for all. Its what being a community is all about. — Nicole on Suspected Predator Arrested at Ball Fields

that's where they were headed, up westside highway in their noisy swarm.... put two and two together? Lots of folks took iphone pix..... — Jen on Seen & Heard: Gourmet Garage Rumors

I think we are getting a little off point here. It's not where you live, i.e. city v. suburbs. It is about being a good citizen and protecting your neighbors. When the police are actually able to apprehend a serious threat to any community, it is everyone's responsibility to press charges/file a complaint to aid law enforcement to keep these people off the streets. These parents who failed to file a complaint are probably the same people who will be first in line when this guy strikes again to say, "well the police had him, why didn't they keep him off the streets." — TribecaMom on Suspected Predator Arrested at Ball Fields

ex-manhattan parent: parents vs. suburbs is a trade-off. I grew up in the suburbs - plenty of dangers, there, that don't exist here, and vice-versa. Think of the teenage years: my city kids will have to worry about being robbed by a peer; yours won't. My kids won't need to worry about getting in a car driven by a drunk teenager; yours will. Your kids will have wide-open spaces to run around in; my kids will never be bored. My kids might be exposed to marijuana & alcohol early; yours might not be able to access weed or drink so easily & thus turn to their parents' medicine cabinets, or huffing. As for predators, the professional monsters know the 'burbs is where the least-watched, most naive kids live. City kids are too savvy to mess with. The guy they caught here is either new or mentally ill beyond simple pedophilia. Plus, considering many, if not most, cases of molestation involve someone the kid & family knows, there's really no geographical argument for the crime at all. — jfrankp on Suspected Predator Arrested at Ball Fields

As you note, there is no seating at the park. Plus there is no shade, no toilets, and water is $3 a bottle in summer. Kahn made no provision for security in 1974. In order to preserve the pristine nature of the stone from skateboarders, graffiti artists and potential mischief-makers, a fence was erected between Southpoint Park to the north and the FDR Memorial, encroaching upon the former's land. The park office is similarly placed on Southpoint Park's land. The park's founders have expressed limited interest in the adjacent FDR Hope Memorial, which is sponsored largely by Roosevelt Island residents and members of its community of disabled individuals. Residents of Roosevelt Island are not uniformly supportive of thememorial. Like the architect, your discussion overlooks the context and the people. — Janet Falk on Field Trip: FDR Four Freedoms Park

Liz, Great point. Sounds like Jim doesn't have kids. I've lived here a long time and not everyone is like you describe with Botox, champagne and all. We are all responsible for each others safety. Period. Predators can be anywhere. The city is no different nor is TriBeCa. I know so many kids who were at the fields at the time, including my own. If it had happened to my own kid, we would have immediately filed a complaint. — Hilary on Suspected Predator Arrested at Ball Fields

Great news that an ice rink is coming back - it was so fun to have a place to skate before! — Ahu on Brookfield Place to Open an Ice Rink

Great post, but you left out some of the pathos of the long path toward getting the monument built. Louis Kahn was carrying the finished designs with him when he died in 1974 in Pennsylvania Station in New York City. Here's a video calling for money to build the park narrated by Orson Welles (!!!), who died in 1985. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Sic_50bmWK0 — Dan Kohn on Field Trip: FDR Four Freedoms Park

Does anyone know if this motorcycle incident on Greenwich St. Is related to the melee that happened later in the day on the West Side highway? — Andrea on Seen & Heard: Gourmet Garage Rumors

Great write up and a tough act to follow. — Andrea on Field Trip: FDR Four Freedoms Park

yes, I was wondering the very same that sunday afternoons with the sidwalks full of families with young children held hostage at the intersection of Chambers and Greenwich aghast at the viciously loud and dangerous biker stampede that ran over sidewalks and through about ten rounds of stoplights.... It was a hostile macho theater of a bunch of bikers looking for trouble.... Were the cops held up at brunch? — Jen on Seen & Heard: Gourmet Garage Rumors

Can somebody explain the concept behind Gourmet Garage? Isn't it just a high end bodega? I have been to the one in SoHo and while it sort of works there I don't really "get" why it would exist in a neighborhood with other grocery options (like Tribeca). — Chyara on Seen & Heard: Gourmet Garage Rumors