285 Lincoln Place

ste3021878

Can anyone offer any insight on this apartment building which is close to the corner of Lincoln Place and Underhill Avenue? We've noticed that there's always people loitering out front, usually groups of teenage boys. A lot of the noise and public disturbances in our neighborhood has originated from people hanging outside this building. We had our windows open the other night and, as in years past, our family got woken up by guys screaming and yelling around 1:30 AM. Sure enough, they were standing outside 285 Lincoln Place.

We've contacted the precinct and called 311 but nothing appears to have changed.

Is there anything we can do about this?

newbeginnings

Call Ms. Adossa in the DA's Office 718-250-3370.

ste3021878

Thanks for the reply. However, according to your earlier post, Saadia Adossa is the Community Specialist for the DA's office that covers Crown Heights. Why would she be in a position to address the problem at 285 Lincoln Plaze in Prospect Heights?

homeowner

I think that she covers more than just the CH neighborhood. Even if she doesn't she's probably a good person for you to talk to about suggestions for ways to deal with the problem. As the community specialist for CH I'm sure she has contacts among the NYPD, HPD, DCFS, etc. She may also be able to tell you if that building is on the DA's radar for drug activity, illegal nightclubs etc.

lincolnannex

I'm glad someone else is fed up with them. We live nearby and deal with their incessant yelling almost everynight. They seem quite harmless, at least i have never felt threatened, but the noise level is completely unacceptable. Let me know if you make any headway in contacting that liason - i can certainly vouch for anything should they want more complaints before action can be taken. Though i just don't see what could be done. It seems worse now that the patrols setup on St Johns and simply funel them all down the block to Lincoln Pl.

newbeginnings

ste3021878 wrote: Thanks for the reply. However, according to your earlier post, Saadia Adossa is the Community Specialist for the DA's office that covers Crown Heights. Why would she be in a position to address the problem at 285 Lincoln Plaze in Prospect Heights?

She covers the entire 77th precinct. In my experiences with her when she doesn't cover an area she will point you in the right direction. I think its worth the phone call.

rockhound

285 Lincoln is what has been known as the "Haunted Mansion", on a block that was called the "Wild Wild Wild West" in the late 70s and beyond. During the 80s it deteriorated after the owners abandoned it and defaulted on taxes. Crack heads took over and fires caused by crack pipes and careless lighters occurred frequently. Burned mattresses and filth piled up in the courtyard next to my building, breeding flying waterbugs and other vermin.

During the early 1990s the city took over the building, renovated it, and moved several truckloads of hard core welfare/homeless families into the building. I saw the trucks and the people as they were moved in. Nobody ever bothered to assess the impact of moving all these dirt ass poor people into one single building on a block still reeling from the crack epidemic of the late 1980s, a battle scarred block that was just starting to recover from some pretty bloody drug dealing turf wars.

The lingering effects of such thoughtful social planning are still with us today, almost 18 years later. Those folks lucky enough to score one of the huge prewar apartments in 285 and its sister building on St Johns will probably never move. It's one of the few buildings where the "Hipsters" have not made any inroads that I am aware of. It may yet be under city supervision or tenant management.

ste3021878

Thanks for all the replies...I;ll let you know what we decide to do. Maybe I have too much faith in our city, but I just can't believe that there's NOTHING we can do about an obvious - and often appalling - public nuisance.

perroguapo

i live up the street on Lincoln. we don't hear those guys that much, but i know they are irritating.

last night, in front of another apt building up the street, some guys had their car speakers turned up way loud, blasting right into our window. we thought calling the police would be pointless and just ignored it.

lo and behold, 30 minutes later, a police car showed up and the party was over. so you never know, maybe calling authorities actually works...