There’s good reason for one East Flatbush street to start celebrating, but the celebration will need to be postponed to next year.
Just one day after an article on the block party ban that had been in effect for the 100 block of East 92nd Street ran in this newspaper, the new commanding officer of the 67th Precinct, Deputy Inspector Corey Pegues, met with the block association president and, as a result of that meeting, lifted the ban.
Lloyd Roberts, who heads up the East 92nd Street Block Association, told this paper that he was “very happy” over the change in position.
“I just had a meeting with the deputy inspector,” Roberts reported on Friday evening, “and we had a very nice discussion.
“He’s a very progressive and straight-shooting commander,” Roberts went on. “He lifted my spirits. We can’t do the party this year, but the people on the block will be very happy.”
The ban had been imposed because of what Roberts described in a letter to Assemblymember Nick Perry as an “alleged incident” that he said he had been told occurred after the block party had ended back in 2005.
Exactly what comprised the incident is unclear; however, sources have indicated that the issue revolved around someone who was playing music after the time that the party was supposed to have ended, and some sort of “altercation” that occurred in response to police efforts to shut the music down.
Pegues, who was assigned to the precinct in late June, had told this paper last week that he planned to meet with Roberts and sort the situation out. He had suggested, at the time, some sort of arrangement whereby a “significant incident” at a block party would result in a one-year ban, but a second incident would bring a three-year ban.
And, he said, that is exactly what he told Roberts. “He’s a very nice young man,” Pegues remarked, “and he agreed to what I suggested. I thought it unfair for them to have a life-long ban. Something happened. It’s over. There has to be some type of punishment but you can’t penalize the entire community for the acts of one person. He was very receptive. You learn from your mistakes. That makes you a better leader in the future.”
The delay till 2009 is on both sides. Roberts said he couldn’t get a block party organized in time for this summer, and Pegues said that the precinct had given out all its permits already for this year.
But, noted Pegues, “I told him I want him to be the first person to walk in here next year with his block party application so I can be the person to give him his permit.”
