NYPD Installs "Sky Watch" Watch Tower In Harlem Neighborhood

[Logan13]

NYPD Installs "Sky Watch" Watch Tower In Harlem Neighborhood
http://www.ny1.com/ny1/content/index...id=1&aid=64500

The NYPD has installed a patrol tower in a Harlem neighborhood in an effort to cut crime in the high-risk neighborhood.

The two-story booth tower, called Sky Watch, gives the officer sitting inside a better vantage point from which to monitor the area. Officers in the booth have access to a spotlight, sensors, and four cameras. The tower is portable and can be moved to the areas that need it most.

Residents in Harlem say they like the idea, though some wonder if the appearance of Sky Watch has anything to do with the two new luxury condos built on a nearby corner.

"There was crime around here before and they never had it. Now all these expensive buildings, it's true,” said one area resident. “But actually it's good though, because then I used to see a lot of crowd here and sometimes I was scared to pass here, but guess what, that doesn't happen anymore. It’s a kind of deterrence and it's good."

Police say the Harlem tower was placed there to combat a rise in murders.

Sky Watch has also been tested in Crown Heights in Brooklyn where it reduced crime. Police are hoping to have three more towers soon.

[biglouie250]

good thing for the neighborhood. lot of real nice apts in harlem believe it or not. lot of yuppies and rich people have been mving to harlem.

[Logan13]

good thing for the neighborhood. lot of real nice apts in harlem believe it or not. lot of yuppies and rich people have been mving to harlem.

They just want to be close to the Clinton's, at least until after Hilary loses the nomination in 2008..........

[Carlos_E]

good thing for the neighborhood. lot of real nice apts in harlem believe it or not. lot of yuppies and rich people have been mving to harlem.

The apartments in harlem were nice before the yuppies moved in. All the yuppies are doing is driving up the price.

[Logan13]

The apartments in harlem were nice before the yuppies moved in. All the yuppies are doing is driving up the price.

I'll bet it is because of these "yuppies" that they actually put this tower up. IMO, they would have not done it otherwise. This tower must make the damn area look like a war zone. What is the big attraction to Harlem anyway Carlos?

[Carlos_E]

I'll bet it is because of these "yuppies" that they actually put this tower up. IMO, they would have not done it otherwise. This tower must make the damn area look like a war zone. What is the big attraction to Harlem anyway Carlos?

The towers were not there when it was just minorities living in the area. I'm sure it's because of the yuppies.

Harlem has huge 3-6 bedroom houses. Brownstones with 3-4 floors. Finished basements and attics that can be rented out as apartments. The houses were selling pretty cheap. A lot of minorities knew this and that's why they moved to or stayed in the area. Now the yuppies have caught on. It's now trendy to be White and live in Harlem. Same thing happened to Brooklyn. There are some areas in Brooklyn that cost the same as living in Manhattan.

[Logan13]

The towers were not there when it was just minorities living in the area. I'm sure it's because of the yuppies.

Harlem has huge 3-6 bedroom houses. Brownstones with 3-4 floors. Finished basements and attics that can be rented out as apartments. The houses were selling pretty cheap. A lot of minorities knew this and that's why they moved to or stayed in the area. Now the yuppies have caught on. It's now trendy to be White and live in Harlem. Same thing happened to Brooklyn. There are some areas in Brooklyn that cost the same as living in Manhattan.

So where has everyone moved to that used to live there? Did this displace alot of people?

[BigLittleTim]

Haarlem has an amazing number of beautiful victorian and early 20th Century townhouses ("Brownstones"). Many of them were cut-up into rooming houses or apartment buildings, but the "bones" of this housing stock is still solid and well built. Despite its bad reputation, Haarlem has always had a sizable black, middle-class population.

Most of the "yuppies" (Young, Urban Professionals), however, have been moving into NEW giant apartment buildings that have been built in just the last few years. The City of New York has given real estate developers sweet deals on financing, taxation, etc. if they will develop buildings in neighborhoods ripe for "re-development". They have to have a certain number of "affordable" units; the building must have ground-level retail to encourage small shops to open; there must be open space WITH AT LEAST ONE TREE (really!); day-care for children must be provided on-site, etc. Two bedroom units cost about $500,000. (That is NOT a typo!)

ANYTHING on the island of Manhattan is valuable. It's amazing it took the upper middle-classes this long to discover that the island extends north of 80th. Street!

-BigLittleTim

[Carlos_E]

ANYTHING on the island of Manhattan is valuable. It's amazing it took the upper middle-classes this long to discover that the island extends north of 80th. Street!

-BigLittleTim

Good for them and bad for everyone else. When looking for affordable housing in Manhattan people looked 100s and above. Now they have to look even further. I have a friend and she lives on the lower east side which is considered bad and she said the same thing is happening there. The neighborhood is changing around her.