People's Park is cleared of the homeless but not Bloomington

The homeless population in Bloomington has never been a secret; for years, their hangout spot was at People’s Park, but since this summer when the Bloomington Police Department and the Parks and Recreational services enforced their presence and the park’s rules, the homeless have moved to parks closer to the Shalom Center at Bryan and Seminary Parks.

Bryan Park is just a 15 minute walk east of the Shalom Center, and Seminary Park is just a 5 minute walk down the street from the Shalom Center. After the increased police presence at People’s Park - specifically their morning meetings that were held there this summer - the homeless migrated to parks closer to the Shalom Center where they can get services 24 hours a day, seven days a week.

Especially Seminary Park is becoming the new homeless hangout. At any time of day, you will find them sitting on the benches or napping under the trees. This has caused families to pass the park and not use it because parents don’t want to bring their kids around the homeless who could potentially be drunk or using drugs.

The wishful park users are making sure this doesn’t go unnoticed. They’re calling the parks and recreation department and expressing their complaints, specially about the homeless sleeping on the ground, according to the parks and recreation operations and division director Dave Williams.

“And of course, they're not just taking a little cat nap in the afternoon sun, they're probably drunk or something like that. And people are very offended by the proximity of these people to the shelter house and they want to use this playground - they want their kids to use it,” Williams said.

The police and the parks and recreation department are taking this problem seriously and enforcing the park’s rules, especially the hours that it they are open, and if anyone violates the park hours which close at 11 p.m., then they are given a citation.

More drastic security changes that they will be making in the future is adding surveillance cameras, according to Williams.

“It will keep people on their toes, probably better behaved. Not that it will be a crime free public space, but for some people it will give them that sense of comfort and security that we lack,” Williams said.

Some residents have expressed their concern to Williams - and he agrees - that the Shalom Center’s proximity to Seminary and Bryan Parks is the reason for the homeless’ usage of these parks.

In the September meeting of the community of neighborhood associations, residents of Bryan Park said they have contacted the Shalom Center and tried to get their services moved to another part of Bloomington, but that won’t make the homeless problem in Bloomington disappear.

“There's a lot of drug use as a crisis across the board in Indiana right now and [Bloomington is] no exception to that rule. It's been kind of an uphill battle just on neighborhood interpretation of us. Like kind of their viewpoints on us, but it hasn’t affected our staff or our services,” said the director of shelter programming at the Shalom Center Caitlin Bryan.

Not only is the migration of the homeless population moving closer to the Shalom Center affecting people who want to use the parks, it is affecting the residents of the Bryan Park neighborhoods.

They have witnessed homeless people do drugs, have sex, and find syringes in their back yards and on the neighborhood streets.

“There are people constantly finding needles, people sleep in their back yard or in their garages, I don't know whose yard it was but somebody was having sex in their back yard at one point, people passed out, that's a pretty common problem,” said Jon Lawrence, the past president of the council of neighborhood associations.

Residents of the Bryan Park neighborhood have brought this problem to the attention of the police and the community of neighborhood associations in Bloomington. It was brought to the associations’ attention at a meeting in September.

The police’s response has been to increase their patrols in the Bryan Park neighborhoods and in Bryan Park. They have held mobile roll calls at Bryan Park, which is in part what they did to get the homeless to move out of People’s Park.

“The idea [of mobile roll calls] is to get us out there and be seen, and see that we’re taking this seriously,” said the Captain of Administration at the Bloomington Police Department Steve Kellams.

Mobile roll calls were one of the tactics that the police used to eliminate the homeless presence at People’s Park, so they are hoping that it will have the same effect at Seminary and Bryan Parks.

Although the homeless population in Bloomington may never disappear, Williams thinks that it’s a good first step that the population is moved out of downtown.

For years the parks and recreation services and the police department have gotten complaints about criminal activity, fighting, disorderly conduct, drug usage, and complaints from employees and business owners along Kirkwood, according to Kellams.

But now, at the heart of Kirkwood in front of the IU sample gates, it’s like the homeless were never there. At People’s Park, there is a mural of Bloomington where visitors and IU students take pictures in front of, students and residents eat Hartzell’s Ice Cream or Bloomington Bagel at the tables, concerts were held there this summer, and the parks and recreation services are renting out tables to clubs and organizations at IU or within the community.

Business owners and community members alike are happy with what the enforced rules and laws has done.

“I have not seen as much [criminal activity] since People’s Park has been monitored more closely by the police,” said Nick’s English Hut manager Pete Mikolatis.

Female employees along Kirkwood are especially happy with the turn of events. When the homeless essentially lived at People’s Park, female employees of Blutique were scared to close the store at night alone, and leave work without a male escort because they would get harassed by the homeless sitting on the bench in front of the store, according to the manager Misty Morganett.

“The girls don’t feel the need to have escorts when they leave now they're not getting the rides that they did before or someone to wait on them. Now, they'll just leave. They don’t feel as scared,” Morganett said.

Even though the police have taken care of the homeless in People’s Park, they are still negatively affecting other parks and residents of Bloomington, which is what the police is focusing on.

“We're going to try to keep doing what we're doing. Resources will dictate a lot of that. One of the things we know for a fact is in this community officer’s presence has an effect on behavior. So, if we can provide it, we're going to try,” Kellams said.

Highbury East will hold meetings to change the infrastructure of their roads

Highbury East councillor Caroline Russell fights to make the roads more pedestrian and cyclist friendly.

The ward councillors are discussing the idea of getting rid of thru traffic between neighbourhoods to main roads to limit the number of injuries and in the worst case scenario, death.

The next regular ward partnership meeting in late November or early December will focus on walking and cycling on roads, according to Russell.

“We have to make it impossible to use residential roads to get from one main road to another,” Russell says. She also says they need to implement a “Copenhagen crossing” which enforces the rule 170 of the Highway code by providing a continuous footway across side roads, “emphasising pedestrian priority over cars,” she says.  

Russell and the rest of the council feel this issue is now more important than ever after the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) was announced on 1 October. It states that there are only 12 years to limit the effects on climate change, and Russell hopes to reduce the ward’s carbon footprint by making it easier for foot and bike traffic.  

“We will end up with a better city if we actually take climate change seriously,” Russell says.

Environmentalism isn’t the only reason that these meetings will be happening, though; the safety of pedestrians and cyclists are a huge concern too. Foot and bike traffic safety has been a local topic for the Highbury East ward since about 15 years ago when a child was killed while walking to school on Blackstock Road.

“For me stopping death and injuries on roads is an absolute bottom line. It is wrong that we have streets that are designed where people can’t make a mistake. Whether they’re crossing a road on a bike or walking. If someone makes a mistake they could die,” Russell says.

Highbury East paints the town pink for annual Breast Cancer awareness fundraiser

The eleventh annual Paint Highbury Pink filled the streets of Highbury East with fun music, dancing and freshly baked bread and cakes to raise money benefiting Breast Cancer Now on 20 October.

The final amount raised for this year’s event is still being counted. “[We] are overwhelmed by the support and generosity from our local community. [We] will post the final amount raised shortly. Thank you,” a post said in the Paint Highbury Pink online fundraiser.

The event was started by Michelle Lovell, who died of breast cancer in January 2017. Her friends and family continue what she started since her passing.

“It feels like it’s an honour to her,” Lovell’s husband, Andy Georgiou said.

The event was held outside of Mrs. Lovell’s Greengrocers which was owned by Lovell and is now run by her two daughters, according to Georgiou.

Last year the event raised ￡13,000 and even though this year’s event was smaller, it didn’t stop the “fun vibe and music,” according to Georgiou.

Officials to improve pedestrian and cyclist safety at Highbury Corner roundabout

On Sunday 21 October the Highbury Fields Twitter account released that roads surrounding the Highbury Corner roundabout will be closed while Transport for London (TfL) builds a new route for cyclists as a part of the mayor’s Healthy Street Agenda and Vision Zero goal.

After completion this summer, “Highbury Corner will see two-way roads, with the installation of segregated cycle lanes on all three remaining sides of the roundabout. The creation of safer cycling infrastructure will enable more people to cycle in and through the area who are currently put off by the traffic-dominated roundabout,” said a press officer for TfL Mika Murray.

A sales associate at Cycle Surgery and an avid biker, Hubert Gawyis hopes that the reconstruction will be “logically designed with a cyclist’s mind,” he said, where cyclists won’t have to get off their bike in the middle of it, walk, and get on their bike again.

“Hopefully there’s going to be fewer collisions over there,” he said.

The roundabout will be completed in summer 2019.

TfL and the mayor are investing £2.2 billion in Healthy Street schemes which are designed to make “cycling, walking and public transport safer, cleaner and more appealing and to encourage more people to leave their cars at home more often,” Murray said.

It is also a part of the mayor’s Vision Zero goal of nobody killed or seriously injured on London’s streets, according to Murray.

The full list of improvements at Highbury Corner according to Murray are:

• Closing the western arm of the roundabout to create a public space including the Highbury & Islington Station forecourt, and part of the arboretum (the green space at the centre of the roundabout)

• Installing segregated cycle lanes on all three remaining sides of the roundabout

• Introducing two-way traffic

• Encouraging more walking with wider pedestrian crossings - making it quicker and easier to cross and with Legible London signage to improve wayfinding

• Providing local residents and visitors with more green space by partially opening the arboretum to public access while protecting the existing trees

• Closing the southern section of Corsica Street to motor traffic and creating a 'continuous footway' across the junction entrance to give pedestrians priority over traffic

• Installing a shared pedestrian/cycle 'toucan' crossing across St Paul's Road to allow two-way cycling to and from Corsica Street

Additional information can be found here.

Dog walker approached by man who ‘threatened to kill’ her dogs

A woman walking in Highbury Fields on 21 October was approached by a man who was “very aggressive” according to her tweet, and “threatened to kill” her dogs.

She tweeted this:

She was reached out to for further comment but declined.

Lizi Arnold, the victim, and her dogs are okay but the man “screamed, swore, and threatened [her],” according to her tweet.

Local councillor Caroline Russell and the Highbury East Police replied to her tweet and the police are going to “keep an eye out for him,” according to the Highbury East Police Twitter account.

Despite the threat, Highbury Fields is still filled with dogs and their owners. Lambros Lambis, a frequenter of the park for ten years still feels safe coming to the park with his dog Toby, but is distraught by the news, according to Lambis.

“I’m shocked. I’m stunned. Most people bring their dogs around here. I’m not quite sure why anyone would threaten any dogs or any owners,” Lambis said.

“You feel pretty safe until something happens to you. I’ve never had any problems. I don’t feel threatened at all in any way, and it just might be a one-off thing,” he said.

The police were also contacted to comment but did not reply.

Highbury Leisure Centre remains closed after fire

A group of school children in a swimming class were among the members who evacuated from the Highbury Leisure Centre because of a fire on Tuesday 25 September.

There were no injuries to employees, members or firefighters. “The building was empty within 90 seconds of the alarm being raised,” according to a statement released by Dan Clarke, the PR executive for Greenwich Leisure Limited (GLL).

The centre caught fire when repairs were being done to the roof. The exact cause of the fire is still under investigation, according to the statement.  

A recent member of the gym, Becky Jones was five minutes into her pilates class when “someone burst into the studio and told everyone to evacuate,” she said. “We did not hear the alarm before that.”

Everyone was gathering and watching the fire from outside; it was a calm atmosphere despite the fact that the building was in flames, according to Jones. “The roof appeared to be melting and there was a substantial hole and flames,” she said.

The gym is closed until further notice but memberships are being “upgraded” to any Better leisure centre across the U.K., according to the Highbury Leisure Centre website.

“It was a very sad thing to watch. The leisure centre is central to lots of people’s lives,” Jones said.

50-year-old bandstand to close in December

A children’s bandstand that offers play sessions for kids under five years old is being forced to close this winter.

Highbury Fields Bandstand has been a part of the community for 50 years had its funding cut by Islington Council in April 2017. The council cut its funding from £19,000 to £7,000.  

“They cut us to the point where we can’t stay open,” said the assistant manager and play worker at Highbury Fields Lorraine O’Leary.  

The nonprofit organisation provides arts and crafts, outside activities and the opportunity for children to socialise. For the last 18 months, local people have been petitioning the council to give them back their funding.

“We’re pretty much going to be closed by Christmas,” O’Leary said. “We’ve approached local businesses to see if they would like to advertise inside our building, but still nothing.” For the last fifty years, Highbury Fields has been a “children’s place.”

The bandstand has become a life line for a number of local parents. Not only is it accessible to all residents in London, but it only costs £2 to use its services.

Danielle Grainger and her daughter are among the 40 to 50 children and adults who take advantage of the bandstand’s activities. “It’s our inside group that we go to. Without it, we’ll be pretty lost on a Monday morning,” she said.