Photos and blog post by Hans
I've been keeping a very close eye on 3019 4th St N ever since I witnessed a break-in attempt at a nearby property. A collection of vinyl records strewn across the rear of the lot at 3019 was an obvious sign that somebody had gotten into the house. After a few weeks of waiting the broken windows were finally boarded but it didn't take long...
...for somebody to get back inside.
Even though I was only five feet away when I took this picture it's pretty hard to see the open window through all that greenery... and it's virtually impossible to see the side windows from the street. This property is a dream come true for criminals (squatters, scrappers, drug dealers, drug users, drug producers, pimps, prostitutes, and the list goes on). With windows so well hidden you can take your time breaking into this place.
In a previous conversation with a 911 operator I was informed that evidence of a break-in (like a broken window) would result in emergency boarding by the police department. So naturally I called 911 to report the situation, but when the police arrived they merely shouted "Minneapolis Police" into the open window. I asked the officer about police boarding but he told me that they have to catch somebody either in the act or in the building. Apparently it's not enough to find open windows and un-boarded windows.
So I'm left to wait until the good folks at Minneapolis Inspections follow their procedures to get these openings boarded... at which point I have no doubt another window will be broken by somebody trying to get into this crap shack.
10 comments:
You know what i am totally fed up with?Besides maybe everything about about our twenty-two faced fucking government manufactured and produced double standard system of screwing us any which way but frickin loose?I am sick up and fed of the powers that be who through the years have always screwed North Minneapolis without kissing us first.Ths Shit would not and DOES not fly in other parts of town and i do not have to say which parts because the same fucks who call the shots honestly do not give a fuck no matter what kind of rhetoric emanates from the side of their respective mouths.
I believe our Native brothers and sisterscalled them snake in the grass.fork tongue and,of course the ever popular...Liarman.This is the way it goes in the world of inequality and disparity and the bald face bullshit the government tries to pass off as the norm.On the anniversary of Martin Luther Kings' I Have A Dream speech alot of people still are not getting it.They have always pitted us against each other whlie they continue to inadequately and unfairly treat us like we are shit because we do not have the money they have.In their eyes and minds they will never see us as they see themselves.They will and are taking the money and running all of the way to the bank and not looking back.I would like emphasize that the name of the game was and is Skin Pigmentation and How to use it to Fuck the Nation.... brought to you from our major corporations.Wake up and raise up and educate yourself about the truth.
Boathead,
While I agree with your assessment of the B.S. perpetuated in NoMi by profiteers and our local government, the conclusion that it is primarily based on pigmentation is a little off base.
While the population of North Minneapolis is predominately African American, there are many other races and nationalities who also live here that are working together towards change.
The factors that make NoMi the dumping ground for public policy are the overwhelming ignorance and apathy of most local residents to be more responsible and expect high levels of social behavior from all residents within this community.
As long as government and business can can profit by maintaining this area as a ghetto with different standards of acceptability, the easier it is for them to use NoMi as a dumping ground.
You are right that people need to wake up and educate themselves - But blaming Race is a fatalistic view that just isn't accurate.
What?
Let me give you one example. This is not an isolated instance.
Just yesterday at 4:00 a.m. in the morning a vehicle pulled up to the block just North of me with music blaring and laid on the horn. This continued for several minutes when the car began to do break stands squealing the tires.
After about 15 minutes of this
a man and a women began a very loud domestic argument in which the women was issuing blood curdling screams of obscenities and pounding and throwing things.
Even though this was happening over a block away it was clearly enough to keep me awake in my house and after 45 minutes I called 911 to see why no one had responded yet. I was amazed to hear that this ruckus had not been reported.
Between my home and the altercation live Blacks, Whites, Hispanics, and Asians all of which have young children who must have been impacted by this disturbance yet did nothing to alert the authorities and put an end to it.
As long as we accept this type of behavior as the norm in our community, why would the local government care to implement changes that might cost tax dollars or force this type of behavior into the burbs?
So, the fatalistic view of life in NoMi is perpetuated by our elected leaders and those that live here.
Anon 8:24, in his "faux revitalizer" voice is pretending that he didn't understand that boathead was explaining that racial strife is a distraction which prevents progress, and thus serves anyone who is profiting from (and thus interested in maintaining) the status quo.
Since Anon 8:24, a right wing extremist and slumlord-rights activist, is himself interested in maintaining the status quo, he is pretending that he thinks that boathead's post said the complete opposite of what it actually said--and thereby (you guessed it) stir up racial strife.
Anonymous 8:24 i appreciate your common sense feedback and it is very refreshing.As i have said before,i've lived here all of my life with a couple of breaks during the years while traveling and discovering life.I have been back since 1989 which is a lot longer than some of you have been here period.That's okay.I have seen many changes through the years in my beloved North Minneapolis.I could write for hours of my experiences growing up and living here during the sixties,seventies,eighties,nineties,and the 21st century,fox.I have spent approximately three quarters of my life living in North Minneapolis and will not apologize for my redundancy.On the Pigmentation note,what i was trying to explain and make my point on was the fact this has been the catalyst for the present day bullshit going on in all of our lives and was not meant to focus specifically on Our North Minneapolis. The game i make references to all of the time is a tried and true method of keeping us at each others throats while they laugh and cover their respective mouths like Muttley the cartoon dog we will always get Dastardly results.I cherish the times that we all got along in thes parts.Went to school together,played together,laughed and cried together.Sure,there were problems and maybe it was an advantage to have to talk face to face ALL OF THE TIME instead of hiding in the entitilement ridden no nuances or social skills Internet world.I truly feel sorry for alot of people who will never know or understand that way of reality based in your face living.Once again iwill clarify that the Skin Pigmentation game has been going on since the start and is not the true illness of our community but it is a major symptom.Through good and bad times the game has relentlessly torn us apart and will continue to tear at the fiber of our society.I hope one day that we can unite and be that voice that crys out against all things ugly.A piece of peace to all.
What is the current situation with this house, Hans?
The board that was torn off has been put back on and none of the other windows have been broken, but they are still not secure. The front door hasn't been opened in over a week, so it seems like nobody has been in the house. It would still be nice if every opening was boarded but I don't think that's gonna happen unless it gets done vigilante style.
I drove by this house a few days ago and saw a Mpls Police minivan parked in front. I talked to the officer for about 5 minutes and he informed me that the house was going to be completely boarded because somebody had "kicked in the front doors again." He gave me his card and told me to call Mpls Police Problem Properties if there were any other issues. He also let me know that North Mpls only has 1 problem property officer... sounds like he's a busy guy.
A few minutes later a work truck pulled up with a huge stack of plywood... and an hour later the house was secure. It also looks like the overgrown trees and such on the left side of the house were cut back.
Well now it looks like the three front porch windows that were not previously boarded have been broken. They're too high to conveniently enter the house through, but not too high to hit with rocks.
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