🏷️ elmwood

So riding my bike down elmwood yesterday, I rode close to this guy who was about to cross the street. He yelled something like "Hey you there watch out with your flying carpet." I feel like he had on a light blue sweatshirt with an American flag on it but maybe I'm making that part up.

I yelled back what did you say. He said something to the effect of, "Learn to respect America or go back home to Egypt. "

Not sure how to even respond to that being a non-egyptian, non-middle eastern, Italian heritage but born in America -American citizen, I reached deep down into my inner mafia and just started yelling towards him at the top of my lungs, "I hope your fucking die, with both my middle fingers up." At that point from an outsider's perspective, I probably appeared as the insane one.

I know I should have been the bigger man and just rode on figuring its probably some crazy vet with PTSD - but I didn't - I am not much of someone to back down in a yelling or written argument.

I think we probably would have both killed each other if guns were involved - all over a case of mistaken identify which is really crazy.

I wish I could say its the first time I've been harrased for being middle eastern or Jewish. Neither of which I am.

This is what I was wearing. Levis blue jeans, wrangler brown cuorduroy cowboy shirt.

This tree located slightly north from the North East side of the Summer and Ellwood intersection has the creepiest infection I have ever seen. It was hard to get a good picture because of the lighting but you can still tell how abnormal it is.

I hope they end up looking nicer than this. It seems like too much of the year is crappy weather for something like this to succeeed

My picture and her picture of the sixth dimension.

There was this big chunk of dry ice in a puddle on elmwood. The water around it was so frozen. I wonder how it got lost.

When I first saw this guy I thought he was floating in the air. On closer inspection I realized that he was instead a tightrope walked.



On a creepier note, when trying to pick out the bidwell location on the map...



...firefox on my desktop computer was able to guys my location by 21 feet.

Last night before I went to sleep @matthew told me about how elmwood enacted a design standard. I totally think thats great and support it. However, somehow in my dream it turned into some really grotesque, ultra modern, turqouise and blue, chunky plastic disaster. The bright blue was to represent the old blue neon lights on the tops of some of the buildings along the strip and the brown plastic was supposed to represent brick I think. It looked kind of like Room brown and blue meets 60s plastic future on the moon and had the same sheen as if it was made out of legos.

None of the parking lots were up front though.

I wish I had time to model what I am talking about.

So I have been trying to think of a way to make the buffalo police observation cameras @paul #44064 less hateable. What if instead of having to have auditors of their use and abuse, they just dump all the live feeds to the web. That way everyone can see what the police are looking at and it keeps it more legit. I mean if they are so understaffed with people to view the cameras, this would also create a larger net of people watching the data being gathered.

Well I am feeling better enough to start hating again. This article is why I now officially hate Queenseyes, Newell Nussbaumer of Buffalo Rising, and his vision of the city. If you are reading this, don't feel too special, I hate a lot of things. I cannot believe he wrote that article applauding the surveillance cameras being put up and down Elmwood. I guess at this point there are three but it surely is a sign that more are to come. I thought they were bad enough on Main Street but Elmwood?

What is the next step? A gated community where the suburbanistas use a chips implanted in their arm to get into what used to be an interesting and diverse neighborhood. I don't think our long term freedom is worth attracting more suburban customers to your upscale dining facilities and niche stores. Let them stay on Transit. What is going on with Elmwood? Is the crime really that bad? I doubt it is a terrorist target. The cameras sure make it seem that way. Nothing screams high crime neighborhood more than surveillance cameras on the street.

What exactly triggers a camera watching police officers to take to the street and check out the scene. Maybe a black man talking to a white woman at night time - is that what is next. Maybe two gay guys holding hands that make the suburbanite shoppers uncomfortable. That is the problem. It doesn't prevent any crime, it can't make you any safer, it just makes it easier to catch a perpetrator later and that frankly doesn't help you very much if you are being raped which brings me back to who is getting raped on Elmwood?

Does no one see the disgusting freedom eroding potential of these cameras. Maybe not right now, but times change and laws change and once the cameras are implanted they become acceptable features of the urban landscape. If they ever planted one of these out front of my house I would move out of the city to the country or suburbs where I was not under video surveillance. To make it really scary they should just put up a video screen with giant police eyes looking back the other way.

My question is WWe:DD - what would @drew do - now that you are on the elmwood board what is your feeling on these cameras? Did you guys vote on this or did the police just bring them in. As to what am I going to do. I am going to spend all my lifestyle attributable expendable income elsewhere and boycott shopping on Elmwood while I see how this develops.

I am glad to see most of their commentors disagree with his article. Maybe he only knows how to write positive reviews of everything.

I love this comment from their site.

I counter with ...bring 'em on. The more the better. If we can't have a cop on every block to nab thugs, vandals, litter bugs, etc., then I'll settle for eyes in the skies. If you've ever been to Singapore the place is totally safe and spotless. Like a dream. If you're not doing anything illegal, what's to fear. by UrbanBody of Buffalo Rising

To bad being gay and chewing gum are both illegal in singapore. For that fact I refuse to capitalize their name.

I think the most important comments on their site are these two:

The city has never described any protections on how the cameras are used, or abused. These cameras have incredibly far range and quality. What would prevent someone from aiming the camera into the window of an apartment bedroom? by 300 Miles of Buffalo Rising

We used to live right on elmwood, if there were cameras in light posts outside our bedroom windows they could easily be pointed inside with no problem. Who is to prevent this type of abuse. Is there an auditing committee?

The city is in over their heads and running a half assed operation. They are installing 100+ more cameras and do not even have a staff monitoring the ones that have been in place. I know many with the BPD and was told on the busier nights there are 2 people monitoring all of these cameras- do the math "slow nights" the monitoring room lays empty- waste of money as urbanesque stated "These are a poor substitute for 'feet on the street' police patrols and community policing. " that about sums it up by dbpflo of Buffalo Rising

So no one is even watching them. What is the point then.

Someone sent me this message today and I thought I would share it with you all.

Wow I couldn't believe this. Last year Christmas 2006 I had to pick my son up in Buffalo. On the way to Lexington Ave. to pick him up I had to go to the Bathroom. I at the time was 58 years old and was really in need of a restroom. I stopped at the Wilson Farms because it was open. They would not let me use their facilities on Christmas and sent me to the BlockBuster across the street. Unfortunately BlockBuster wouldn't let me use their facilities either. Thank God for Brinks. My only regret is that I didn't buy a round of drinks for the good people there that were very welcoming on Christmas.

I think maybe it was in reference to @news #29677 from back in 2003 but actually I have no idea.