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Mission accomplished? Cops remove DUMBO watchtower

By Ben Muessig
The Brooklyn Paper
The Brooklyn Paper / Ben Muessig
Mission accomplished? After two weeks, the NYPD pulled its Sky Watch tower out of low-crime DUMBO. Residents are still scratching their heads.

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After peering down on DUMBO for 14 days, cops removed their lookout tower, leaving the low-crime community wondering why police put the watchtower on Front Street in the place.

Cops say they deployed the tower — known as Sky Watch — in response to two robberies on Front Street in March.

“It’s a safe neighborhood, and we want to keep it that way,” Captain Alan Abel, commanding officer of the 84th Precinct, told The Brooklyn Paper last week.

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But only days later, the 20-foot tall vantage point, which had stood between Pearl and Adams streets, was gone. All that remained in its place were a few stray police barricades and a handful of confused locals.

“I thought it was there to prevent terrorism on the [Manhattan] bridge,” said Bruce Marsh, who walked past the two-story tower during his commutes to DUMBO. “I didn’t feel any safer because of it though. I think it would have been more effective to put police officers on the street.”

The hydraulic police lookout also baffled Tina Manis, who works in the artsy neighborhood.

“I couldn’t figure out why it was here; it seemed a little excessive,” Manis said. “I’ve always felt safe here — the tower didn’t change that.”

Police did not respond to repeated calls seeking comment about the success of the mission.

©2008 The Brooklyn Paper

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