Rise and Shine, Park Cities (2-24-11)

10 comments to "Rise and Shine, Park Cities (2-24-11)"

1. Topham Beauclerk @ February 24, 2011 at 10:29 am
   That DPD report doesn’t square with what a moonlighting police officer told my wife recently, which is that there definitely are gangs that are causing problems at NorthPark. There’s no way to know if the cop at the scene is more reliable than DPD’s PR department, but given the choice, I’ll rely on the guy who’s actually in the mall. His bottom line is that people need to be especially careful in the parking lots — day and night. That’s sensible advice anywhere in the city, from NorthPark to Preston Center to HP Village to the Bishop Arts District. Don’t be paranoid; but don’t be naive, either.

2. Gringo Bling @ February 24, 2011 at 11:09 am
   While North Park may be stating that the story is untrue, the bottom line is that they’ve hired more security and started patrolling more heavily. The last time I was there, there was a pretty rough looking crowd loitering throughout. If I were a store owner or North Park, I would be very concerned about losing business b/c of people that don’t actually spend any money at the mall.

3. Georgia Fisher @ February 24, 2011 at 11:56 am
   Interesting. And it’s obviously not in NorthPark’s best interest to shed light on such a thing, if it’s true.

   I’ve yet to see any menacing-looking crowds there, but want to hear about more readers’ experiences.

4. Mom of 3 @ February 24, 2011 at 12:29 pm
   I was very surprised at the crowd on a Friday evening around 7pm a couple of weeks ago. I was there on a quick errand and in full view of the officer on the corner of Ben Bridge, started down the short leg of the mall towards the west exit. EVERY door was physically blocked by a young and sullen looking female…which made me hesitate briefly before angering me. They were leaning on each of the door frames, arms out for what reason I cannot imagine. I proceeded, figuring one of them would move aside as I approached to exit. I was wrong. Considering that about 5 saggy pants types had made a sharp right and followed me down the corridor, something I had noticed from the corner of my eye and was very conscious of as I approached the exit, I felt it was better to not hesitate so I walked right up to one of the girls, reached under her arm (that’s right, she refused to move an inch) and slammed the door open. The pants-on-the-ground posse was less than 5 feet behind me and they exited as well. The security car that cruised by at that moment seemed to stop the gang in their tracks and I walked to my car with no one following. But I turned long enough to notice that the girls were facing outside, looking on. What a great trap – had I tried to get back in to relative safety, could I have? I feel sorry for NP and its tenants, but until someone grows a spine and refuses entry to certain types, then there will be those, like myself, who do not find the attractions sufficient to overcome the current inner city feel. Why not refuse admission to anyone who does not have a store card for the anchors?

5. Stella @ February 24, 2011 at 1:35 pm
   Mom of 3, you had a close call. Next time trust your instinct. You should have turned around and found a safer exit. In the past year I too have noticed a big change @ NP. In this economic environment neither party (DPD and NP) would admit to a serious problem.

6. Another Mom @ February 24, 2011 at 2:58 pm
   I figured the DPD response was just symantics. Perhaps the kids at NorthPark dont meet the police definition of a gang. Call them gangs or groupings of hoodlums….either way, they are the same to me…SCARY!

7. Claire St. Amant @ February 24, 2011 at 3:10 pm
   @Momof3, Would you be willing to talk on the record about this? I’m working on an article about NorthPark that will cover more than the DPD’s canned statement. Let me know claire@peoplenewspapers.com

8. mk @ February 25, 2011 at 8:24 am
   It would be a real benefit to our community if PCP would really go after this story and find out what’s going on at NorthPark. For example, the widely circulated email stated that TGI Friday’s would be rent-raised out of business in an effort to reduce the attraction of a lower-priced restaurant/bar for these groups of undesirables. Is this true? Someone needs to convince NP management that being upfront and ditching the canned PR statement is in their best interest. I frequently carpool groups of kids up there on a Friday or Saturday evening to get dinner and a movie. Each kid typically spends about $30 on food court, movie and concessions, so multiply that times 7 kids and you’re talking $200 a carload. Multiply that times God knows how many other Bubble families doing the same and that’s a lot of revenue for the mall to lose if they’re not doing everything possible to keep the mall safe for our children. Please follow up on this story!

9. Pigskinnie @ February 25, 2011 at 2:50 pm
   @Claire St. Amant, please do work on that article. It would be a great service and probably generate eyeballs/readers. I love NP and only want it to have great success, but I’m not buying the canned DPD/NP press releases. I had a cop at NP tell me that the thugs walking around were the reason behind them having classical pianist playing in the atrium below the theatre (as in, thugs don’t like to hang out in lame places that play classical music). Combined with the much publicized parking lot issues, the press releases seem overly rosy.

10. Claire St. Amant @ February 25, 2011 at 3:36 pm
    @mk, I’m on it. Working to confirm or deny all the bullet points in the e-mail with the appropriate sources. But I am having trouble getting any Parkie parents on the record. If you could send a few my way, I’d appreciate it.

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