Utica UNDER SIEGE!

[Ralph]

I guess at some point we have diverged enough from the original subject as we can.

At some point we have to put aside the “race & ethnicity” stuff and decide on just what we are to do about the general problem at hand…….the direct violation of personal rights and criminal enterprise flourishing in our neighborhoods.

Matters not who or what is doing it; just what can, or are we as individuals willing to do about it?

Keep in mind that the real thugs on the street are as well or better armed than local LEO’s, so running out en mass and applying for pistol permits or buying long guns seems a bit extreme, not to mention dangerous to the rest of the general population (as well as each other).

But I suppose if one intends to walk the street very much that this would be the norm at some point, that and learning how to speed load in a hurry!

[Clipper]

You are correct Ralph. We are rapidly approaching a time when we have only three options. 1) Arm your self and be prepared to defend yourself. 2) Don't walk the streets. 3) Move out of the city and move where one can safely walk the streets unarmed.

I read earlier today somewhere on the MSN homepage that a 72 yr old business owner shot 4 would be armed robbers in NYC. They entered his business with guns, pistol whipped and employee, and even after he shot one of them with a 12 guage, continued to demand money and assault employees. He shot several more times, killing two and wounding two. Some are condemning his actions. What the hell. If 4 armed bandits are waving handguns, you can bet your ass they should be shot down where they stand and don't stop shooting until all of them are horizontal and bleeding.

You are right in saying that we need to put aside the race and ethnicity stuff. Here in the South, the thugs and criminals are mostly white meth addicted dumbasses with guns. Drugs, crime, and assaults don't know any racial boundaries.

We can go on all day about the crime in the inner city also, but it has spread with the spread of drugs, to include assaults, robbery, and other crime in more affluent suburban parts of the cities. The only safe escape is to move to a safer area. If that crime is rampant in the outskirts, then a rural area seems to be the only refuge for a safe life and a safe evening walk. Sad but true.

UPDATE: I just noticed that Dave has posted the article about the shop owner in it's entirety under The New York State News area of the forum.

[fiona]

I agree with all you have said, Clipper. Thank you for allowing me to vent my anger and then assisting me to refocus it. Here in Utica I ( as well as others) are constantly exposed to degrading dangerous behaviour day after day. it seems I cannot step out of my apt without seeing drug dealers, homeless people, wandering, uncared for unkempt mentally ill,panhandlers, prostitutes, and all other deviant types. This is on a daily basis: Everyone it seems has some kind of hustle, filthy misoginist music blare from cars at all hours, the most common word I hear begins with F, I see people who are "dirty", they make a fetish out of their poverty. Soap is cheap. Somedays I hate to leave my apt. And mind you I live on upper Genesee Street, but the boundaries of the angry, disenfranchised are very porous here in our city. That's all for now

[Will]

Wow! Utica's gems right here. Fence the whole damn area off and let em all have at it. Be on the lookout for the movie "Escape from Corn Hill" Featuring "A. Game" and Mayor Roefaro

[Clipper]

I laud your efforts to clean up your neighborhood Will. Unfortunately you are trapped like Ralph and so many others who have made their home there and are taking a beating on lost property value. My heart goes out to you guys. Bobbbiez is in the same situation on the West end.

I am saddened to see what is happening in the whole area, not just Utica. Politics is corrupt as hell, and taxes are ridiculous and destined to keep climbing until someone puts a halt to the outrageous spending practices from the state level on down.

I have always dreamed of coming back "home" when my mom and dad were gone, but in my last couple of trips North, I have slowly began to rethink that dream. I love Central NY and will be coming back that way when the housing market straightens out, but I am thinking more of buying in the more rural counties such as Madison or Lewis, where there is less corruption and lower taxes. NY state has always been an expensive place to live, but to minimize the effects of state taxes, one can still find a rural county where life is still affordable.

I have no desire to pay for NH's sewer problems, or to finance their urban sprawl. I have no desire to pay for Roefaro's foolishness and patronage. I have no faith in a county exec that gives a non profit a 24 year lease for $1 a year, and then pays rent for a county agency to be housed in a rented property, while the non profit sits fat dumb and happy in a county owned building.

Yep Will. I admire your defense of your city, and I love my old hometown, but Utica is not the hometown that I left when I moved South in 2002. That town will never be again. I am slowly realizing that Utica's inner city is a lost cause, unless the refugees and folks like yourself can save it. We damn sure can't depend on government or politicians to offer much help.

I have watched the struggle for years. Unfortunately it seems in late years that you guys are trying to swim up Niagara Falls in any effort to "take back" your neighborhood.

Good luck my friend. I guess I am simply not as young and passionate as you are, or I used to be. I have watched people like Ralph and Larry Tanoury Sr as well a Larry Jr. give their blood sweat and tears to the community and get shit on again and again. The city may try, but most of their efforts are for publicity and political whitewash. It is like the James St. substation. It is a great idea, but let's see if it is properly manned and efficiently operated to make a difference, or if it is simply a political show.

[Deleted]

Aug 18, 2009 12:06:00 GMT -5 Clipper said:

I laud your efforts to clean up your neighborhood Will. Unfortunately you are trapped like Ralph and so many others who have made their home there and are taking a beating on lost property value. My heart goes out to you guys. Bobbbiez is in the same situation on the West end.

I am saddened to see what is happening in the whole area, not just Utica. Politics is corrupt as hell, and taxes are ridiculous and destined to keep climbing until someone puts a halt to the outrageous spending practices from the state level on down.

I have always dreamed of coming back "home" when my mom and dad were gone, but in my last couple of trips North, I have slowly began to rethink that dream. I love Central NY and will be coming back that way when the housing market straightens out, but I am thinking more of buying in the more rural counties such as Madison or Lewis, where there is less corruption and lower taxes. NY state has always been an expensive place to live, but to minimize the effects of state taxes, one can still find a rural county where life is still affordable.

I have no desire to pay for NH's sewer problems, or to finance their urban sprawl. I have no desire to pay for Roefaro's foolishness and patronage. I have no faith in a county exec that gives a non profit a 24 year lease for $1 a year, and then pays rent for a county agency to be housed in a rented property, while the non profit sits fat dumb and happy in a county owned building.

Yep Will. I admire your defense of your city, and I love my old hometown, but Utica is not the hometown that I left when I moved South in 2002. That town will never be again. I am slowly realizing that Utica's inner city is a lost cause, unless the refugees and folks like yourself can save it. We damn sure can't depend on government or politicians to offer much help.

I have watched the struggle for years. Unfortunately it seems in late years that you guys are trying to swim up Niagara Falls in any effort to "take back" your neighborhood.

Good luck my friend. I guess I am simply not as young and passionate as you are, or I used to be. I have watched people like Ralph and Larry Tanoury Sr as well a Larry Jr. give their blood sweat and tears to the community and get shit on again and again. The city may try, but most of their efforts are for publicity and political whitewash. It is like the James St. substation. It is a great idea, but let's see if it is properly manned and efficiently operated to make a difference, or if it is simply a political show.

Well Clipper, I'm sorry I bought a house in Utica. Don't get me wrong. I love the house & it's a nice quiet neighborhood. But I'm beginning to wonder if in a few years, I'll be able to afford it. We are being robbed blind by the MVWA with constant rate hikes, rising county & city taxes, & soon the UCSD will make us pay for running a jobs program for out of work, well connected administrators at $80,000/yr. plus. Not to mention the upcoming sewer repairs, which Uticans will more than likely get stuck with paying for the majority of. Don't worry, they'll find a way to screw Utica over again. They always do, while Utica politicians twiddle their thumbs. The county & city are being run by a bunch of self serving crooks with no regard for the taxpayer. There's no doubt in my mind that there is probably less corruption elsewhere. I don't think it can get any worse that it is on the city & county level. I more than likely will end up selling within the next few years. I'm sick & tired of paying the freight for a bunch of self serving politicians.

[concerned]

Fiona, I understand where you are coming from. I have no problem with your discriptor's.