On Monday, we brought you the story of two women who were given summonses in Brooklyn over the weekend for eating doughnuts unaccompanied by a minor in a Bed-Stuy playground. And as our tipster noted then, they weren't the only ones ticketed by the police on Saturday—another couple who also chose to enjoy their doughnuts in the park met the same unsympathetic arm of the law. And while the 79th Precinct isn't commenting on the story, it seems increasingly likely that this is a case of officers looking to fill quotas.
A manager at Dough, whose delicious doughnuts and limited seating supply started this mess in the first place, tells us that while she "wasn't aware" of too many people going to eat their sweets in the playground, they "aren't really looking for it." But on the weekends they had seen that "lots of people do go back and forth."
Which is exactly what the other couple in question chose to do on Saturday. Here's their story:
My boyfriend and I visited Dough for breakfast on Saturday morning. We grabbed some doughnuts and coffee, and as it was a beautiful day and there was no seating in the shop, we walked across the street and settled on a bench in a park area to enjoy our meal, as the two women had also done. There was a playground there and as we ate, we had the pleasure of watching some children play, made some small talk with their parents, etc.. We even had a nice discussion about having some children of our own one day, a conversation that was generated by the chance to watch some cute kids run around on the playground.
We were having a lovely time until I noticed the two police officers approach the girls next to us. I knew something was wrong.
One of the two officers then walked over to us.
"Do you have any children with you here?"
"No"
"You aren't allowed to be here without children. Didn't you see the sign?"
"No sir, we had no idea."
"Can I see some ID?"
We were extremely calm and civil and would have been happy to move had we been given that choice, but we were not. We were immediately asked for IDs, which we gave without argument, and they were brought back to the patrol car. We waited for half an hour, while one cop was in the car and the other cop guarded us (to make sure we didn't escape?). During that time, my boyfriend and I were quiet and did not talk back, but we were pretty shocked. The parents of one of the children, who we had been chatting with earlier, agreed it was ridiculous, saying "The police are never in the park when they need to be." They felt badly for us, shaking their heads, etc. It would have been nice to have had them speak on our behalf, but I also understand the need to steer clear of the NYPD (especially those pesky Bed-Stuy cops).
After about twenty minutes had passed, one of the girls on the other bench did start to question the cop that was guarding us. I can confirm that what was written in the previous article was what she said. The best line of course was, "I don't believe in anything."
Soon afterwards, we were given our IDs back and our summons. My summons says I'm in violation of Sect. 1-03 Subsect. (02) with the title of offense as "Remain in Exclusive Area." At this point, my boyfriend also began to question the cop, asking what the ticket was for, etc. The cop clearly was not happy and basically responded with a combination of silence and "We're just doing our job."
In the end, it is law that we shouldn't have been there and so yes, the cops are right on that account. However, it just seemed so ridiculous, such a blind application of the law. It was clear that they were just quota filling, which is not such a new story in this city. They must have thought they hit the jackpot—they got four of us at once. Mostly, I think this story is about the need for a redesign of the urban environment and of our shared community spaces. There is a need for outdoor public spaces, and not just spaces for children, and I shouldn't have to bike ten minutes to get to one of them just so I can eat my doughnut outdoors on a beautiful June morning.
Before declining to discuss these particular cases, a rep for the NYPD told us that the NYPD "doesn't keep stats on that kind of stuff", when asked if it tracks how many summonses it writes for unaccompanied adults in playgrounds.
Again, the issue—which has now been much discussed here and elsewhere—is not whether these people were doing anything wrong. All parties involved seem to recognize that, even if they didn't realize it at the time, they were breaking a rule. What many are upset about is that it appears two officers chose to write tickets on the spot rather than use their discretion and simply ask them to move along. If the parents in the playground weren't upset about these childless interlopers enjoying donuts on a sunny day, why were the police?
