Posted on 07/15/2019 6:17:10 AM PDT by reaganaut1
In 1969, Forest Hills was a long way from Christopher Street, and a bizarre incident of vigilante tree chopping showed just how far.
Only days before the Stonewall uprising in Greenwich Village, a mob of some 20 local men descended on the southern edge of Flushing Meadows Corona Park. Using power saws and axes, they leveled a grove of trees that was known as a gay cruising spot.
According to a New York Times report at the time, “15 dogwood trees, 11 London planes, a number of wild-cherry trees and other greenery” were felled. The parks department estimated the trees would cost $15,000 to replace — more than $100,000 today. All while police officers reportedly stood by.
By the morning of June 21, all that remained were heaps of severed trunks and tree stumps oozing sap.
A number of the “vigilantes,” as they were referred to in the press, lived in an apartment complex near the park. A few weeks earlier they had formed a committee and started harassing men who met among the trees. The locals patrolled the area nightly, using walkie-talkies to communicate with one another. When they would find a couple, they shined flashlights on them and rousted the men — who were often closeted, married or both — from the park. Eventually, they razed the site.
An eyewitness to the destruction of the trees, Joan Luxenburg, told The New York Times some days later that she had reported the vandalism to the police in the area and offered to identify at least one of the men, but that the officers ignored her. According to her, the police said that the men “were doing a job which the police were not able to do to the satisfaction of the community.”
(Excerpt) Read more at nytimes.com ...
Many mobs have attacked gays, and the media was silent. Oh, they were m*slim mobs, did I mention that?
They had battery operated saws back in ‘69?
Error, the Kitty Genovese lies were published 5 years before
Every neighborhood should have a godfather.
I drive up to Maine regularly from the south. In recent years, they’ve close those rest stops long before dark. IIRC, they’ve been closing at 3pm in recent years. I totally understand why, but it’s such a shame because we always seem to have to stop to “go” right around the time we get to Connecticut, usually get there after three, and I hate trying to figure out which exits will allow us to get back on the Interstate quickly (few exits along I-84 in CT let you see how far the gas stations or fast food places really are).
When I was around 10 we had a similar incident in our local lark in Indiana. There was guy being way to friendly with the boys playing the park. My dad, uncle and about five other fathers went to the park and had ‘talk’ with him. He was never seen in town again after that. Back during a time when men took the idea of protecting their children and families seriously. Most 40 y/o dads today are more likely to wear a rainbow shirt in June than confront a child molester in the park. Sad.
That, and poor “impulse control” used to be the diagnosis ...
The police ‘watched’ while a onservative journalist got beat up by Antifa... and did the little sh*ts at the New York Times care? You’re being played for a fool Alex Vadukul ...
I’ll bet the “harassing” started with homosexuals approaching straight men using the park for normal recreation, and maybe some near misses when they tried to grab up teenage boys. If they’d just kept out of sight in the trees and not bothered anyone else they might have not even been noticed.
We don’t go looking in their closets, so they should stay there.
re: “Every neighborhood should have a godfather.”
Was thinking that just the last few days, as I enjoy full orchestral performances of the movie’s theme songs on a good sound system ...
They used to be the “poh-leece” in the hood once upon a time, maintaining civil order (albeit perhaps on the edge, if not over, the lawful limits).
According to her, the police said that the men “were doing a job which the police were not able to do to the satisfaction of the community.”
Any idea how this can be expanded to Wash.D.C. ?
If you’ve ever seen how homos behave when they’re “cruising”, you can’t but sympathize with the vigilantes, as the police obviously did. No sane person would want a “cruising spot” in their neighborhood.
I bet someone’s kid picked up a used condom or leftover drugs and that’s what triggered the cleanup.
'..For Justice, we must go to Don Corleone.'
Now we have disorganized crime ...
Why do homosexuals have penchant for sex in wooded parks and public bathrooms, like animals?
Actually, no, they wouldn't.
Exit 70 in Willington is a Travel truck stop. Easy off easy on. About 15 miles before the mass line.
I was going to suggest truckloads of manure... to fertilize the trees. Maybe patrol at night with a backpack sprayer. Fish fertilizer works wonders.
:)
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