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Update August 10, 2013- This “promise” by Captain Falcon seems to have been an empty one. Park staff tell us that the PEP and parks conservancy still are treating the West Thames park as if it were Hudson River Park turf, and neglecting services to it. The picket fences around the holes in the grass field are caused by the BPCA refusing to pay for the repairs.
Update March 21, 2013
The Captain of the PEP force, Edward Falcon, called us today to assures us that the dispute over jurisdiction of the west Thames park has indeed been resolved. Also, he explained that a more frequent presence of PEP will be seen in the West Thames Park this year, more like the patrols of the other busy parks. Stay tuned.
February 27, 2013 By Steven Greer
At 2:30 today, approximately 10 teenagers form a nearby high school were dunking basketballs on the 8-feet tall child’s rim in the West Thames Park. This has been an ongoing problem and the rims have had to be replaced. The bigger problem behind this is that the Batter Park City Park Enforcement Patrol (PEP) officers are still refusing to patrol the park, claiming that it is not in their jurisdiction. The Hudson River Park Trust officially owns the land, but the BPCA and HRPT formed an agreement last year for the BPC PEP to patrol the area.
Unlike other parks within BPC, such as the Great Lawn in Rockefeller Park or Teardrop Park, where PEP are almost always on site, the entire expanse of the West Thames Park, from Albany Street southward to West Thames Street, almost never is patrolled, except for the occasional fast golf cart drive-by.
Lack of manpower cannot be a valid excuse for the PEP not patrolling every aspect of the BPC properties. A new contract with the city was agreed upon, with salary raises for the PEP, to provide 45 PEP officers. To put that in perspective, the entire New York City PEP staff responsible for all f the boroughs number only around 100.
Captain Ed Falcon is in charge of the PEP. He, in turn, takes instructions from Tess Huxley, the BPC Parks Conservancy Director who decides which parks should be patrolled.
If you have complaints about the PEP staff, you can call 311 and file a report. They do make a difference.