
'Police. Step Away From the Chess Table' - J3L2404
http://cityroom.blogs.nytimes.com/2010/11/17/police-step-away-from-the-chess-table/?src=twr
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epochwolf
> The tables are behind the gates of the park’s Emerson Playground, which the
> signs in question state is off limits to adults unaccompanied by minors.

I keep rolling this around in my mind. It makes sense but at the some time it
doesn't make sense at all. I'm sure it's intended to keep people from
kidnapping kids or adults from destroying equipment but I fail to see how it
would even be remotely effective at that.

~~~
oiuyhgtfryhuj
Should we really be encouraging children to play chess?

Not only is it terribly violent it is rather anti-american. The monarchy,
church and knights all in charge capturing and crushing the pawns to gain
territory, not to mention that it pitches black against white.

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ojbyrne
Which part of that is anti-american?

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iamdave
*sweeps palm over head

Whoooosh

~~~
nkassis
I think he meant it was very american ;p

~~~
oiuyhgtfryhuj
I think there is an american version where a beige democrat side face a grey
republican side and they both discuss the issues sensibly before devolving all
power to the individual pawns

~~~
bh42
_Mutters to self: I can't believe I'm explaining jokes on the Internet.. sigh_

Unless ojbyrne was being ironing, as in, what about dictatorial rule is un-
American?

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ojbyrne
ironing? Yes, that was it, I was ironing. For, like, the first time in 15
years.

~~~
bh42
... I'm going to go ahead and pretend that was intentional... yeah I totally
meant to write ironing, not ironic...

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dholowiski
If there is a park for 'children and their guardians' only, where is the park
for 'single adults only'? I'm only half joking, but seriously what if a single
adult wants to go play on a swing set to regain his youth - isn't he being
discriminated against?

Obviously this was just a good excuse to kick the 'creepy looking' people out
of the park. I'll bet $100 that none of the people they tried to kick out were
clean cut businessmen wearing a suit and tie.

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oiuyhgtfryhuj
They should think themselves lucky - in the UK they would now have a lifetime
on the sex offenders register.

Being in a playground while adult and male!

~~~
jrockway
I honestly don't think this law is related to sex offenses. I think it's
related to the fact that adults can easily push children away, and then the
taxpayer's money is not being used for the intended purpose. Adults have
plenty of places they can go. Kids, not so much.

(Similarly, if you're 40 years old, you can't go to the public kindergarten.
It's because the program is designed to educate 5-year-olds, not 40-year-olds.
Nothing to do with sex, it's merely practicality.)

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ugh
Playgrounds shouldn’t have chessboards if they also have rules prohibiting
adults without kids. Stupid planning is responsible for this ridiculous
outcome.

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boredguy8
Not to out myself as a nerd, but if my history is any indication, some kids
play chess. And even checkers.

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ugh
Sure, but how is that relevant for my argument? Kids and adults enjoy chess
and checkers, both should have access to public chessboards, slides and swings
are for the most part only enjoyed by and only safe for kids.

~~~
tedunangst
There are lots of chess boards outside of playgrounds. They are generally
occupied by adults. I think the point of putting the table inside the
playground was specifically to enable kids to use it.

Amending the sign to read something like "no adults, unless playing or
watching chess, but not if a child has been waiting to play, except ..." would
get complicated fast. Just go to a different park already.

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teilo
Here's a novel idea: Instead of a summons, how about the police calmly but
firmly explain the law to them and ask them to leave? If they won't leave,
THEN issue them a summons.

~~~
mjgoins
The police in NYC have illegal quotas on summonses and tickets. They were a
sort of quasi-secret until very recently. Perhaps these cops needed to meet
theirs?

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Natsu
I'm certain that people will demand a citation for a claim like that.
Therefore, I will provide a citation of that fact for you:

<http://www.nytimes.com/2010/09/10/nyregion/10quotas.html>

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archangel_one
"And a police spokesman said that the summonses were part of a larger campaign
to clean up the park, driven by complaints from residents about crime.
“There’s been an effort over time to address these concerns, and a lot of it
begins with very simple innocuous violations such as this,” the spokesman
said."

Why couldn't this effort instead begin with addressing the crimes that
residents were complaining about? If they're complaining about, say, drug
dealing in this playground, why not deal with that first and leave the chess
players until after the real problems have been fixed (or try removing the
chessboards...).

~~~
dkarl
Or they could find some way to legalize the chess-playing so that it's no
longer an infraction, no longer a broken window, hence no longer a prelude to
more crime. They could redefine the "kid's park" to exclude the chess tables,
for instance, so the rule did not apply there.

But honestly, I think the "broken window" reasoning has nothing to do with
them breaking the rules and more to do with class. A lot of the chess players
are poor, some of them are street people, and a lot of the ones who aren't
poor look and dress like the ones who are. The parents look at them with a
certain prejudiced eye and think, "These people are not a wholesome element,
they are of the street." And the parents fear that criminals and junkies might
look at the chess players with the same prejudiced eye and think, "These guys
are of the street; they're poor and low-class like me. If they're welcome
here, then me and my criminal behavior are welcome here too." So the theory is
that parents will stop bringing their kids, and low-grade criminals will start
hanging out. Because of the perception of the chess players as a "street"
element, basically a conflation of class with criminality, their presence can
turn a park sleazy through no fault of theirs, just through the prejudice of
other people. And some instinctive, gut-feeling version of that theory is what
resulted in the police being tasked to "clean up" the park by evicting the
chess players.

That's unfair. Innocent people shouldn't be punished because of how they're
perceived by other people, even if that perception is causing real harm.

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alain94040
Well, not trying to say what is right or wrong here, but the article describes
a 40-year old homeless spending time at this playground. Sure, playing chess
is harmless, but do you think it would intimidate 5-10 year old kids into not
going to that playground? What if a larger group of homeless moved in?

Either the sign is legal, in which case it's good to enforce it (a warning I'm
sure is enough for a first "offense"), or fight the legality of the sign.

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omarqureshi
Wonder if there will be an underground chess playing movement, similar to
street countdown - <http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=R90QyIBJqrg>

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VladRussian
people, unfortunately even in the US, give pretty unlimited power to the
governments at all levels. The lower level of government, ie. the less visible
they are, the more moronic laws they are coming with. Police is supposedly
just enforcing the laws, whatever it be (of course there is a lot of
discretion in the enforcement and prosecution, yet it would be a separate
matter)

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jhrobert
Sad story

