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We told ourselves we were going to take a break from posting horror stories about the McCarren Park Pool after it’s first week of long lines, fights, theft, increased police presence, and feces. But the pool made news again hours ago when the NYPD had to use pepper spray against bathers before shutting down the site.

The Daily News has video of the incident, but not a whole lot of details. Apparently around 6:15 p.m. unruly teens began forcing their way into the pool, which was at capacity. Both lifeguards and police tried to stop them, to no avail. That’s when things got ugly. A police officer may have tried to forcibly remove a teen, causing his cohorts to “come rushing in.” The cop responded with pepper spray.

Three arrests were made and the incident gets added to the list of reasons why no one is happy about this pool.

A Walk in the Park

Today marks a week that the newly renovated McCarren Park Pool has been open and boy oh boy what a week it’s been. In response to the attacks on lifeguards, assault on police, and theft –  not to mention the bad press – police have moved in with full force. A Walk in the Park reports that twenty officers were on site on Tuesday, as well as more park security personnel.

Despite Tuesday’s increased police presence, two more lockers were broken into that day. Tensions also flared when certain individuals were denied entry.

While we doubt the rocky start will mar the $50 million project, we can’t help but think back to the violence that caused the pool’s shutdown in 1984. Here’s how The New York Times described the site in 1990 after it had been closed for some years:

“Now it sits crumbling, a huge and lonely bulwark against the Manhattan skyline, devastated by neglect, vandals and drug addicts who regularly breach its walls since the pool was closed seven years ago…

Renovation was to have begun in 1984, but was halted by the objections of residents living near the pool, who wanted it closed for good. They contended that the pool had become overrun by thousands of teen-agers and had become a haven for drug dealers and prostitutes.”

There were also at least two drownings, one in 1969 and one in 1977.

A Walk In The Park

On Sunday we told you about how the McCarren Park Pool was off to a rocky start, including an incident in which teens attacked a lifeguard who told them not to do backflips. Well it looks like that was only the beginning. Another fight went down yesterday and this time the NYPD was called in and two officers were sent to the hospital.

According to Gothamist, police responded to a call around 5:15 p.m because of another dispute between lifeguards and bathers over doing backflips. A brawl ensued and one officer got punched in the face and another injured his/her wrist.

Sources speculate that the M8-13 MS-13 gang may have been involved. The police arrested three people and charged them with assaulting an officer, disorderly conduct, and inciting to riot. According to city parks blog A Walk In The Park, there are just two police officers per shift for 1,500 swimmers. Four lockers were also broken into on Monday and at least one woman’s purse was stolen.

People, please follow the rules and be nice to the lifeguards. Or maybe just avoid the pool all together.

Miyakawa's site

People speculated – somewhat facetiously – that Friday’s bomb scare on Bedford Avenue must have been an art project because, after all, it is Williamsburg. Turns out they were right. 50-year-old artist and Brooklyn resident Takeshi Miyakawa was behind the installation and has since been arrested.

Police apprehended Miyakawa on Saturday when he was putting up another installation at the intersection of Bedford, Lorimer, and Nassau and charged him with planting false bombs. He was arraigned on Sunday and will be put through a 30 day mental health evaluation.

The objects – “I Love New York” bags that contain LED lights and battery packs – were for NY Design Week and supposedly would have come down today. An artist who works with Miyakawa described him as “polite, calm, and presentable.” The New York Times states that the artist intended the installation to be “a display of his love for the city.”

According to his website, Miyakawa was born in Japan and has been living in New York City since 1989. He mostly designs furniture, some of which is priced at $20,000.

via NY Daily News

Gothamist reports that police have charged Ryan Beauchamp with attempted assault (a misdemeanor) and harassment (a violation), not murder, for his involvement in last Friday’s deadly Bedford L station brawl. A misdemeanor carries a maximum of 1 year of jail time, while a violation is up to 15 days. Beauchamp has priors, including an Occupy Wall Street arrest in October and an earlier arrest in Connecticut.

This is the latest development after police first released a sketch, then a video, and then took Beauchamp in for questioning on Tuesday. As of yesterday afternoon one of the “WANTED” fliers still hung in the 1st Avenue L station.

With these charges come new details about the incident and Beauchamp’s background. While initial reports made it seem that both men were to blame and later accounts said Beauchamp was at fault, new witness accounts say Basin initiated the fight after Beauchamp bumped into him. One witness says “there was a point when it was over and Basin followed him.”

Beauchamp is 33-years-old, homeless, and originally from Westchester.

Basin’s funeral is this morning in Howard Beach.

via Gothamist

After first releasing a sketch and then surveillance video, police have now identified the suspect in Friday night’s Bedford Ave. L train murder as Ryan Beauchamp. According to reports, Beauchamp is 33-years-old and homeless and had tried to start altercations with several passengers on the train that night.

Update 7:19 PM: The Daily News and The New York Post report that police arrested Beauchamp in Bushwick this afternoon.

Gothamist

As you may have read by now, on Friday night an L train struck and killed a 20-year-old man who had fallen on to the subway tracks during a fight. We’ve posted about subway deaths before, but this one hits close to home as it happened at the Bedford L station.

According to accounts, two men were arguing on the train when things became physical. The altercation eventually moved out to the platform and both men fell on to the tracks. When the Manhattan-bound train approached, one man got out and fled, while the other was hit.

Initial reports seemed to put both men at fault, while later reports claimed the victim, a local college student named Joshua Basin, had been attacked by a drunk man.

Police have released a sketch of the suspect. Here is the description from Gothamist: “The suspect is described as a white male, between 30 and 35 years old, with a thin build, light complexion, dirty blond hair with pock marks on the right side of his face. He was wearing brown pants, black rain jacket and black sneakers.”

Call the Crime Stoppers Hotline at 800-577-TIPS or visit NYPDCRIMESTOPPERS.COM with any information.

via twitter

A truck’s overturned load shut down westbound traffic on the Williamsburg Bridge at around 5:50 this morning, according to reports. The truck happened to be carrying broccoli. Don’t worry, the driver wasn’t hurt. Clearing the truck took twenty minutes.

twitter

The big news from Bushwick this morning is that 29-year-old police officer Kevin Brennan will live after getting shot in the skull last night. Brennan is currently at Bellevue Hospital in critical but stable condition. The officer had responded to a call at the Bushwick Houses, a housing project bordered by Moore Street, Humboldt Street, Bushwick Avenue, and Flushing Avenue.

The shooter fled the scene at around 9 p.m., prompting a full fledged manhunt through the area that necessitated hundreds of police officers, dogs, and helicopters.

Twitter users knew something was wrong. “yeah I heard sirens all night, i guess there were hundreds of cops looking for the dude,” tweeted @hamm3r_time. “DO NOT GO OUTSIDE. There is a massive manhunt,” wrote @GunGirlNewYork. “Hostage negotiation team just rolled up, SWAT surrounding the building #bushwick” posted @uncleguito.

Police eventually caught and arrested 21-year-old Luis Ortiz, who was also wanted for a January 1st murder.

The Bushwick Houses was constructed in 1960 and consists of eight buildings that house 2,962 residents.

More amateur photos of the scene here.

Event Poster, via Buzzfeed

Details are just now emerging about Saturday night’s Occupy Williamsburg “Occu-Party.” According to NY Daily News, fifty protesters set up camp at The Bedford, a vacant residential building on N. 8th and Driggs, where they threw garbage cans and spray painted anti-police slogans. When police arrived at 11 p.m., one protester pepper-sprayed an officer, while others threw bottles that injured five other officers. Police arrested four protesters and charged them with obstructing government administration, resisting arrest, disorderly conduct, and inciting a riot.

Village Voice staff writer Nick Pinto was on the scene that night and tweeted continuously about the action as it unfolded. Here’s Pinto’s perspective of how things went down, in chronological order:

At 207 N 8th in Williamsburg, an “Occuparty” — squatting in a half-finished luxury apartment — is getting underway. #OWS

Maybe 50 people in the ground-floor apartment. Whole building seems vacant, 75% renovated. Many hope this lasts past tonight.

Police are here, with flashlights. “Guys drop all the beers, that’s it.” not clear they get the scope of the invasion.

Glass on the front door just got smashed. Cop has his nightstick out. “I swear to god, get out of here!”

First arrest, a young woman. Bottle thrown. Cops badly outnumbered. This is getting crazy fast.

Police calling in backup as they push the crowd down 8th. Two cruisers here now.