So guess what – all that publicity embarrassed Prospect Park into cutting down those rotting, hollow trees that homeless people were using to store their stuff and take shelter. And to be honest… now it feels a little bit awful to see this happening without any clear indication of what’s going to happen to those people.
Anne-Katrin Titze–a freelance crusader for Prospect Park who pushed hard to get rid of the rotting trees–says matter-of-factly to the Brooklyn Eagle: “If the Alliance/Parks allow people to live in the park, then they should feed them, provide toilets, garbage collection and potable water.”
Really–are we going to be that hardcore? Why can’t the homeless just temporarily abide in the park, despite the lack of modern amenities? Was it really such a big deal for a small group of unfortunates to pee in the pond, and store their junk in the rotting tree trunks–is that really “destroying a delicate ecosystem“? It seems like the compassionate option here would have been to leave the shelter intact, while advocates discuss with Prospect Park what they “should” be doing to get these people to an appropriate shelter.
Summary: Tearing out rotting trees is a hollow victory (Sorry… just got a brief flash of inspiration from Punderdome).
