Posted on 11/18/2010 5:48:50 AM PST by rightwingintelligentsia
Drop that bishop and come out with your hands up!
A squad of cops in bulletproof vests swooped into an upper Manhattan park and charged seven men with the "crime" of playing chess in an area off-limits to adults unaccompanied by kids -- even though no youngsters were there.
"Is chess really something that should be considered a threat to the neighborhood?" Inwood resident and mom Joanne Johnson wrote Mayor Bloomberg, the City Council and Police Commissioner Ray Kelly after the raid.
"This incident is an embarrassment to the officers from the 34th Precinct who felt that it was necessary to use their badge and authority to issue such a random summons."
(Excerpt) Read more at nypost.com ...
A clever metaphor at 5:54 in the morning. Nice work.
Crime must have been reduced to a negligible level in NY for cops to have time for this.
“Hey, when I see five weirdos in togas stabbing a guy in broad daylight in plain view of 100 people, I shoot the bastards.” - Frank Drebin
I wonder if the playground area was the only place with table and chairs. The park walks are (or were once) lined with benches—not the optimal chess board surface.
Yes, a warning would have been the appropriate handling of the situation, with a ticket issued only if there was any non-compliance. An afterthought: Maybe the chess players were thuggish or gang banger types (readily identifiable to police) whose presence anywhere near the children’s area made them suspect and unwanted.
It’s a ROOK not a CROOK, you idiot!!!
—
As the coach for my high school’s chess club, I find this infinitely entertaining.
There’s a chess game in the Bronx,
Brooklyn’s broken out with Yahtzee
Queens has old Italian men
Engaged in open games of Bocce
They’re playing checkers at Penn Station
A Backgammon Situaion.....
Precinct 34, Where Are You?
that was clever!
Congrats - you just discovered another subversive societal derangement symptom - Gangs of Chess Playing Pedophiles !
I’ve never heard of a GANG of pedophiles congregating anywhere. By nature and definition it would have to be a solitary, secretive, and disgusting pursuit.
If you took the time to read the article, you would have read that many parents defended the chess playing gentlemen and were pleased that children were being taught chess by these guys.
These gentlemen even asked authorities if they could still play there - since that’s where the chess tables were - and were told to disregard the sign.
Signed - a chess lover
It used to be. No longer.
Did you read that article a few days ago about the AF guy in Germany and how he befriended the Mom's before molesting the kids?
I took the time to read the article and did not see any parents defending them. Are we looking at the same article?
They were not ticketed for playing chess-they were ticketed for being in an area reserved for kids. The area is clearly marked that only adults accompanying kids can be in that area. I’m not saying I agree with the ticketing (as opposed to a warning) but to say it was because of them playing chess is silly NYPost hype”
Then NY needs to MOVE the PRE-PAINTED tables with the chess / checkers boards on them to another area.
When you put such pre-painted boards in plain view with public money- the public thinks they have a right to USE such items.
This bust by the NY cops is so wrong on so many fronts, it is another joke of how Bloomberg runs the city.
GOD HELP US ALL if this fool decides to buy the Presidency with his millions of dollars.
Maybe that odd number is what scared King Bloomburg.
Maybe because of that odd number King Bloomburg thought it couldn't possibly be 6 guys playing chess and 1 watching.
Maybe because of that odd number King Bloomburg thought it was actually 7 guys sitting around plotting to bring down the King and chess was just a cover story.
It's a conspiracy I tell you a conspiracy!
< applause >
As we slouch yet even closer to becoming a Fascist State.
The rule is designed to protect kids from pedophiles. What web have here are cops who lack common sense and who have nothing better to do with their time than roust innocent citizens who play a game of chess.
When playing chess is outlawed, only outlaws will play chess.
:-P
From my FR Homepage:
“Did you really think we want those laws observed?” said Dr. Ferris. “We want them to be broken. You’d better get it straight that it’s not a bunch of boy scouts you’re up against... We’re after power and we mean it... There’s no way to rule innocent men. The only power any government has is the power to crack down on criminals. Well, when there aren’t enough criminals one makes them. One declares so many things to be a crime that it becomes impossible for men to live without breaking laws. Who wants a nation of law-abiding citizens? What’s there in that for anyone? But just pass the kind of laws that can neither be observed nor enforced or objectively interpreted – and you create a nation of law-breakers – and then you cash in on guilt. Now that’s the system, Mr. Reardon, that’s the game, and once you understand it, you’ll be much easier to deal with.” - Ayn Rand, ‘Atlas Shrugged’ 1957
Rand was a prophet.
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