Perspectives
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| Lately, it seems as though there
has been an escalation in concern over our corner stores and the crowds they
attract. Last evening I went to a rally sponsored by Syracuse United Neighbors (SUN)
at the corner of Midland and Ostrander. Basically, it was nothing more than a
pep-rally to excite neighborhood residents about the store and how if it weren't for these
stores certain types of activities would not be taking place. I felt so sorry for
Mr. Deb who was basically bombarded by angry pepped up people. I am sorry SUN, I was
disheartened and felt that the effort used for this meaningless rally could have been used
in a much more positive way. Hello - let's face reality people, even if there were
not corner stores, guess what -these kids would still be hanging out on some corner, doing
something with or to somebody. At some point, we, as a community need to come
together, work together with store owners and the police to get our neighborhoods together. SUN did not represent to me any kind of unity but represented divisiveness and basic hatred toward store owners. I know for a fact that Mr. Deb has tried to remove the happenings from his parking lot. God's Way Church's prayer patrol has been called there twice. SUN, learn how to work with the community, the whole community instead of having meaningless, open ended sessions as the one held on August 20th. If you really are interested in what's happening in our community, start a block captain program, work with the Association, Southwest Coalition, help people form a neighborhood watch, be visible all the time, not just when it seems opportune. I would like to see the finger pointing stopped and some steps towards working together begin, i.e. meetings between neighborhood people and the store owners in that immediate vicinity. SUN, next time you might want to actually sit down, in a non-confrontative way and talk to some of these store owners. I would suggest before your next gathering you get the facts about what's happening. Mike Gilman |
