When people feel their neighborhood is taking a turn for the worse, they react in different ways. Some shut themselves behind locked windows and doors, fearful to venture out. Others simply pack up and leave, abandoning what may have been their childhood home or the place they have settled in to raise a family.
On Virginia Avenue, they did the Macarena.
This small dead-end street just south of Church Street gained the city’s attention earlier this month when about a dozen residents addressed the Common Council about the massive influx of crime they’ve witnessed in the past year.
They said that drug dealers and prostitutes had adopted the street as a base of operations to escape police pressure on busier streets, creating a dangerous environment for families.
But Jim Gibbons, who grew up on Virginia Avenue and recently returned to the street with his own children, has spearheaded an effort among many residents to resist this negative turn.
With the block party he helped organize on Sunday afternoon, the fearful atmosphere along the street gave way, at least for one day, to revelry.
Despite the grim weather, the neighbors turned out in force – especially the children. Their parents and neighbors manned the grill and dressed up as cartoon characters. A DJ spun party tunes, to the delight of an enthusiastic crowd of line dancers. Kids jumped around in a bouncing castle and hurled huge basketballs at a big inflatable hoop. A stranger to the neighborhood would never have guessed that just weeks earlier, the house at the end of the street was a hotbed of prostitution and drug activity, condemned by city police on Sept. 6.
“I wanted people to come together to recognize that there’s a problem, but also to say that we don’t have to put up with it,” said Gibbons (no relation to The Beat’s publisher).
“I think it’s great for the neighborhood,” said Junious Lyons, a nine-year resident. “Everyone gets together.”
Gibbons said increased vigilance by police and neighbors has dispersed the criminal activity somewhat, but the block party represented the beginning of an effort to unite the neighborhood, not a victory celebration.
“We’re setting an example,” he said. “We don’t have to be afraid to come out of our houses.”
Local politicians weren’t afraid to come out, either. In addition to City Councilman Steven Horning (R-6th Ward), who represents the area, his Democratic opponent, Mary Solomon, Councilman Gary Bashor (R-8th Ward) and County Legislature candidate Stephen Baratta put in appearances while The Beat was present.
“This is a celebration of these people taking their neighborhood back,” said Horning.