July 2010 - test-neighbhorhood@test.highlandparkpa.com

[Highland Park] Police response time
by Megan Branning 23 Jul '10

23 Jul '10

Let me start by saying that I am disgusted by the recent gay bashing incident in our neighborhood. I fully agree that the police need to patrol the area more, especially the corner of Stanton and Negley, which I've been wary of for years. The reason I am writing is to say that the slow response time may have had nothing to do with the nature of the incident. A couple of years ago, right on my own block, someone attempted to steal my purse. I called 911 right away, and the police did not arrive for an hour or two. The mugger was of course long gone. This does differ from the recent incident because I was not injured (but I am not sure the police knew that - the responding officer asked me if I wanted medical attention). I do not want to minimize the extremely serious crime that recently occurred. I just thought it worthwhile to point out that the slow police response is not isolated. Hopefully we can work with the police department to get some more patrols in our neighborhood.

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[Highland Park] Roofer or General Contractor
by Tomilyn Ward 23 Jul '10

23 Jul '10

Hello, I need a roofer or a general contractor to seal a concrete deck that is settling. Does anyone have a recommendation for someone who is reliable and resonably priced? Thank you!

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[Highland Park] field trip anyone?
by Amy P. Kennedy 23 Jul '10

23 Jul '10

Hi Neighbors, I think anyone reading this list saw the invite from Patrick Dowd to attend the Marcellus Shale drilling/fracking meeting in Lawrenceville next Thursday. Since then we have also seen numerous posts regarding problems at Stanton and Negley, as well as the recent news of the proposed Port Authority cuts to service. Here's a chance to support three causes at once: pro clean water, pro public transportation, and pro community building. I'm proposing some community travel to the fracking meeting via the Port Authority via the Stanton and Negley route. The 94A leaves Highland Park at 6:11 on Thursday. The return trip leaves Lawrenceville at 9:10 (or possibly earlier, but I'm imagining the evening would wrap up around 9). The meeting starts at 7 p.m.......doors open at 6:30 p.m....bus arrives at 6:35 or so. Bus fare would be $2.75 for the round trip. We could take brown bag dinners and eat and chat before the meeting starts. If you're interested, send an email and I can get together an email list so we can exchange info. I'll bring cookies! Also, if you have never tried it, Google directions has a great feature to give directions via public transportation (or biking or walking). Just click on the little bus/train icon up above the address line where you enter your "from" and "to" information. Hope you can make it! Amy

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[Highland Park] Fw: Partial East Busway Closure Planned for This Weekend
by Bob Staresinic 23 Jul '10

23 Jul '10

If you ride the busway, this sounds like it will affect your commute. Bob ----- Original Message ----- From: <HPharo(a)PortAuthority.org> Sent: Friday, July 23, 2010 8:10 AM Subject: Partial East Busway Closure Planned for This Weekend > PARTIAL EAST BUSWAY CLOSURE PLANNED FOR THIS WEEKEND > > Pittsburgh, PA, July 23, 2010 -- Port Authority of Allegheny County > contractors will temporarily close a portion of the Martin Luther King > Jr. East Busway between Neville Ramp and Penn Mall Station this weekend > to continue rebuilding work. The EBA East Busway-All Stops bus route and > Negley and East Liberty stations on the busway will be affected. > > On Friday, July 23 at approximately 8 p.m., contractors will prepare for > the closure by instituting alternating single-lane traffic on the > segment of the busway from Neville Ramp (North Oakland) to Penn Mall > Station (East Liberty). Single-lane will continue until 1 a.m. Saturday, > July 24, at which time that section of the busway will then close > completely and remain closed until approximately 10 a.m. on Sunday, July > 25. > > Only the EBA East Busway-All Stops bus route will be affected by the > closure. Inbound EBA buses will exit the busway at Penn Mall Station and > use Penn Circle and Centre Avenue to Neville Ramp, where they will > re-enter the busway. Outbound buses will use the reverse detour routing. > The busway's Negley Station will not be served during the closure, and > riders should use a temporary stop at Centre and S. Negley avenues. > Riders normally using East Liberty Station should use Penn Mall Station > instead. > > For full detour details, see www.portauthority.org or call Customer > Service at (412) 442-2000 or for TTY, (412) 231-7007. > > A similar closure and detour will repeat on the weekend of July 30. More > details on that closure and detour will be announced next week. > > The Downtown segment of the East Busway between Grant Street and Penn > Park Station remains closed due to resurfacing work, having closed on > July 12 for approximately two-and-a-half months. > > The East Busway rebuilding is scheduled to be completed by the end of > 2010, and will help prevent wear-and-tear on the approximately 800 buses > that use the busway everyday as well as create a much smoother commute > for the busway's 25,000 daily riders. This project will span the length > of the original busway -- Downtown to Wilkinsburg -- which opened in > 1983. > > The rebuilding will cost $7.5 million dollars and is included in Port > Authority's FY2010 capital budget, which ensures annual maintenance > needs are met and the Authority's system is kept in a state of good > repair. > > > Heather Pharo > Public Relations Representative > Port Authority of Allegheny County > 345 Sixth Avenue, 3rd Floor > Pittsburgh, PA 15222 > Office: 412-566-5528 > Mobile: 412-498-5085 > Email: hpharo(a)portauthority.org > portauthority.org > twitter.com/pghtransit > transitblog.blogspot.com > > This email and > any files transmitted with it are > Confidential and solely intended for the recipient(s) > . If you are not the named addressee you should not > disseminate, distribute, copy or alter this email. Any views or > opinions presented in this email are solely those of the author > and might not represent those of Port Authority. > Warning: Although Port Authority has taken reasonable > precautions to ensure no viruses are present in this email, the > Company cannot accept responsibility for any loss or damage > Arising from the use of this email or attachments. > > > If you received this in error, please contact the sender and > delete the material from any computer

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[Highland Park] Dentist Recommendation list
by Neepa Majumdar 22 Jul '10

22 Jul '10

Thanks to everyone who sent me their dentist recommendations. Since some of you asked me to share the list, I am attaching it here. Please note that I included comments (after removing private information) since that is quite helpful in making a decision. After some thought, I also decided to add the three negative evaluations I also received. Please let me know if you can't open the attachment and I can send the list to you in the body of the email. Thanks, Neepa Majumdar

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[Highland Park] concrete fill needing to be hauled away
by MiaCaraProvin Sanillo 22 Jul '10

22 Jul '10

Hey, A friend is looking for someone with a pick-up truck that can haul away about 2 loads of concrete. He lives in Regent Square. Let me know and I can give him your number. Thanks, -- C

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[Highland Park] Gay bashing incident on Friday night
by Ali Haimson 22 Jul '10

22 Jul '10

Hi all, Here's some more info about the gay bashing incident on Friday night (this was written by the man who was attacked): "While waiting at the Mellon and Stanton bus stop around 10:30 on Friday night three young men passed him without incident. When the bus didn't arrive he decided to try another stop at Penn and Negley. To get to the stop he walked on the opposite side of the street to where he saw the three men learning against a fence opposite the Union Project. When he turned the corner to walk down Negley, with his back facing the men, he was attacked from behind by one of the men with punches to the face and back. He managed to fight back enough to release himself and run into traffic with hands up screaming "help." The attacker laughed and the many people around, plus traffic he ran into, did not respond. " My friend who was attacked is very visible as a gay person. Based on his appearance and his walk, he is often harrassed and threatened in our neighborhood (and of course in other neighborhoods as well). On Friday night, there were many people at the corner of Negley and Stanton, yet these men chose the one visibly gay person to attack. Additionally, they did not take or attempt to take money or anything else from him. My friend feels very strongly that the attack was motivated by ignorance and hate toward gay people. I'd like to attach here Betty Hill's message in response to another recent gay bashing. We are extremely grateful to Betty for writing this eloquent piece. It's very relevant to Friday's incident. I'd also like to mention that the police were called on Friday night, but were unresponsive and did not show up until about two hours later. Ali Haimson *It’s Simple and Complicated to End Hate - A Message from Betty Hill* This week I learned of another hate crime in the neighborhood- a group of drag performers were walking between one club and the next, and were taunted and verbally abused and then physically hit, pushed and kicked by a group of men coming out of another club. This is the second incident of physical abuse I’ve heard about in Bloomfield in the past six months. I wonder if there are more. At Persad, we hear from our consumers from all over Western Pennsylvania on a regular basis that they have been the victims of discrimination, intimidation and violence. Interestingly, there were only six GLBT-related hate crimes reported in Pennsylvania last year. This lack of reporting makes it look like we don’t have a hate crime or discrimination problems in our state, but those of us that know the community know that isn’t true. So, why do these incidents go unnoticed and unreported? 1. *We blame the victim*. This dynamic is common to all victim related crimes. We are so afraid of the vulnerability of random acts of violence and they make us feel so unsafe that we believe the incident could have controlled or prevented. “Maybe if the drag performers were not out late on the street? Did they have to be so obvious with their costumes and cross dressing – weren’t they asking for it? Were they drinking?” We have to stop this! There is no reason that GLBT people shouldn’t be able to go out at night, have fun, and walk the streets in whatever attire they choose without getting beat up. As long as we blame the victim and fantasize that we can control the violence that happens, we fail to put the blame where it belongs - on the person who is violent. 2. *We are not safe to be “out”.* In order to report a hate crime, you have to acknowledge that you are being targeted as a GLBT person (or perceived to be)….so you have to say that you belong to the group. If you don’t feel safe to be out and you don’t want others to know that you are GLBT, you will want to avoid talking about the incident at all. Until we make members of our community safe and protected to be who they are, we can’t expect people to report who they are at the time they are feeling the most vulnerable. 3. *We don’t trust the police and the justice system*. I’ve heard so many victims say that they have had bad experiences with the police and response systems that they don’t call them when they need them. Sometimes because of ignorance, sometimes because of attitudes, the system blames the victim or fails to understand the situation and further victimizes the victim by arresting them, further abusing them, or just failing to respond. Our community has some terrific police and some police with bad attitudes. But we can’t ignore the system that is supposed to protect us. We must report situations and demand response. And every time we get an inadequate or discriminating or abusive response, we have to call the system on it and work to change it so that it works for us! Every time! 4. *The police often do not ask and do not encourage hate crime reporting*. I’m not sure what the problem is here. It does not seem to be on their radar screen. In the social context of homophobia and transphobia, I think that some officers don’t think about it. Some may not be trained. Some may have bad attitudes. We need to demand that the local government response personnel – police, fire, rescue, etc. -- have training on GLBT diversity and are sensitive to hate crimes and prepared to protect victims. It’s simple and complicated to change the culture and the system. Persad’s Community Safe Zone project is working to eliminate hate crimes in our communities. If you are a victim of a hate crime, there are resources to help you. We want everyone to be safe to walk the streets of any neighborhood. If you work in one of the response systems – police, rescue, fire, justice system, etc, and your group needs training, Persad is happy to provide it. If you want to get involved in changing your neighborhood, we would like to hear from you. Betty Hill bhill(a)persadcenter.org 412-441-9786 x212

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[Highland Park] 4 Sale: mattress; tile; mini-fridge
by eileen kaplan 22 Jul '10

22 Jul '10

I am selling the following items: A new low-profile (5-inches high) twin bed mattress from the Original Mattress Factory - suitable for children or an elderly person ($85); A Magic Chef 4.4 cubic foot dorm refrigerator - used 6 months ($70); 3 boxes (around 140 pieces) of 6X6 inch Daltile ceramic tiles in Brancacci Fresco Café ($60). If you are interested in any of these items, please call me at 412-216-1265. Eileen Kaplan

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[Highland Park] a few things for sale
by Mary Withrow 21 Jul '10

21 Jul '10

Hi, I have a few items for sale, photos are attached. The first is a Queen Anne chair, an antique that I had reupholstered at T's Upholstery about two years ago. It's a beautiful gold-ish fabric, very soft, a cross between velour and velvet, and the tufting has a little tiny button with a small crystal in it. I tried to capture the crystal on camera but it didn't work out too well. I paid $150 for the chair than $600 to reupholster, so I would like to get $100 for it. The next item is a little wooden bench, see photo below. $20 Photo attached Last, I had a client who wanted several torches around his large yard and courtyard. Unfortunately I bought too many and would like to sell what I have remaining. They are a dark bronze, very sturdy, the top has a sculpted bronze covering the torch itself which is glass. It has a very stury lid with chain attached to the lower part of the torch. They were $35, bought them about a month ago, I have 3 red glass and two green glass remaining. I am asking $20 each. They are really pretty and still in their original packaging with tags. Photo attached Let me know if you have any interest! Thanks! Mary Kennedy Withrow _________________________________________________________________ The New Busy is not the too busy. Combine all your e-mail accounts with Hotmail. http://www.windowslive.com/campaign/thenewbusy?tile=multiaccount&ocid=PID28…

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[Highland Park] Light Fixtures For Sale
by Lydia Blank 21 Jul '10

21 Jul '10

We just upgraded some fixtures in our house and thought someone out there may be interested in our old ones... All are in great shape, just a little dusty and may need to be shined up a bit. Not sure how much $$ to ask for each one, so check them out and make me an offer... Dining Room Chandelier - Brass with 5 hurricane shaped frosted glass shades (with grape design). Takes 5 60 Watt bulbs max. About 18" wide. Foyer Light Fixture - Brass and glass birdcage design with flower etching. About 15" high and 8" wide Hallway Flush Mount Fixtures - Two available. Brass and glass hexagon shaped. About 9" wide and 5" high. Kitchen Light - Three silver colored metal shades with glass tubes over each bulb. One glass tube needs to be replaced. Body of fixture is brass colored. Not sure the era, but I'm guessing 1970s. See photos here... http://pittsburgh.craigslist.org/hsh/1856194816.html and let me know if you're interested... Or if you need better pics. Thanks! Lydia

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