this field is used for nothing except the occasional organized tee ball game in the spring. The only other people who used it were the hispanic dudes who played soccer every sunday. OUTRAGE!!! ...granted, if these hispanics didn't always get drunk and rowdy and occasionally use the field as a commode these signs never would've gone up... but I want to complain anyways! RACISM!!! XENOPHOBIA!!!
All you have to do is go there @ night and steal the sign, then you can play the following day and when the cops are called you say: "WHAT SIGN?, THERE"S NO SIGN!!"
Form a community recreation club for yourselves. Register for the days you wish to play. Contact the city department in charge of the park. Apply for a permit/permission to use the park on those days. The city could require each participant to register with your club and require some form of insurance for the group. Maybe you might find a simpler way. Good luck anyhow.
"Hispanic dudes who get drunky, rowdy, and use the field as a toilet" don't seem like the group that will go through the proper channels like that. Michael get those boys some wire cutters.
The field is in Morristown. There have been newspaper articles on this for a few years now. Apparently the residents across the street don't like how people will change into shorts on the field in open view of their homes. And also, they say they don't like the noise on a Sunday morning. However, if you ask me, these people are nothing more than racists who hate the fact that they see hispanics using "their" field. They get nervous when they hear another language being spoken. It's really a shame that people can't just live their own lives, and let others live theirs. Finally, telling people they can't use a public park for things such as "soccer", because the hispanics played there often, is like telling people they can't stand in a public parking lot waiting for a ride to their job, just because they are hispanics. I'm not sure what brought Mike to bring this up now, but if theres a story behind it, i'd like to hear it. And if you would like to do something about it, I'd be more than willing to help. I'm only 15 minutes away. Pick up game on the Morristown Green??
If you guys want to organize and stop this crap, I'm up for it.... My friends and I used to get kicked out of parks by the cops all the time around Secaucus for that exact reason....until we had a few meetings with the mayor and the guy in charge of the recreation..... we stopped it.... I cant stand that anti-soccer crap... get a few people to write letters to the papers, have meetings with officials....start making some waves....and you can reverse this....
If i recall correctly, there were town meetings to address this problem, and this is the end result. Somewhere along the way something didn't go right.
The state that brought us "racial profiling" is at it again. ACLU of New Jersey Web Site: http://www.aclu-nj.org Contact Information: PO Box 750 Newark, NJ 07101 Phone: (973) 642-2084 How do we get these guys to get involved with the process? Does Mike know any of them?
You would have thought the geniuses in Morristown would have put up a 3rd sign in another language not to give away that they're targeting Hispanics. If they were smart, they could have just indicated "permit required for field usage" and not mention baseball. A town can put up any sign it wants.....the issue is whether it's legal or not. If you're a borough resident, I don't believe they can dictate what usage the public park should be for.
Don't cloud an argument with BS. What language would you like them to put up a sign in....German, Farsi, Italian.... Don't use the race card, unless you have proof. For something like this it seems like a tired excuse. The largest second language spoken in the US is Spanish, so the signs are what they are. When you are working in a residential neighborhood, you have to play by the rules.... If you get a permit and then act appropriately then they have no recourse. If after that they still give shite, then I'll take back all that I said, and put in my two cents to the town.
I agree with this. Apply for the permit. If you get turned down, or you get a bureaucratic runaround ("we can't find the form") then seek legal help, newpaper help, help from an anti-discrimination agency, etc.
No doubt. He hooked a few fish without really trying. If we had the old Mejido back, just imagine how much could be had...
Based on Mike's track record, it is a very strong possibility that he is putting us on and that he made up those signson his computer. Remember the April Fools thing about Kevin Payne?
It does look more than a bit suspicious...given the Spanish language sign. If that happened here, there would only be one sign and the reason would be the continual fight between baseball and soccer for fields. It really pissed off the baseball locals when Parks and Rec decided to build soccer fields rather than baseball on some prime real estate...particularly since the rationale was that both boys and girls played soccer, while only boys played baseball, and therefore soccer fields would provide wider opportunity.
Reminds me of high school. My high school field had some baseball infield on it. All those years of cuts from slide tackling.
FWIW: In Culver City, CA (just east of Santa Monica and Venice in the LA area), a similar sign was posted.... exclusively in Spanish.
I don't know. I saw on the day b4 I moved up from LA to Oakland, and I didn't have the time/energy to protest. It was a similar situation: houses in front of a park. But it really was an affront to see that the sign was written in Spanish only. PLUS, it prohibited any ADULT, so kids could play, but not adults. It just seemed really pointed towards Latinos. I keep forgetting to check out the park whenever I'm in LA to see what happened. These signs contribute to the perception of being excluded. Was it racially motivated? It wouldn't surprise me that neighbors took advantage of "inappropriate behavior" (changing shorts in public) in order to force minorities out. But given that ppl mask their prejudices so well nowadays, minorities can absolutely sense the prejudice, but it proves difficult to substantiate.
Wait, so when are we getting together and who's got the good handwriting for the signs? Are we calling the Spanish stations? How about those Shame on you segments I see on the news?
FYI FYI: I walked past the same field today and about 8 hispanic dudes were playing soccer on the basketball court 10 yards away from the outlawed field. they had brought shovels with them and had cleared the snow off the blacktop. Hell, there wasn't any sign telling 'em not to do THAT