New Year, New 7th Street Park! It's Always Something!

The situation with regular "patrons" in the 7th Street Park has taken on a different tone this year.  Gone from the north side of the park are Michael Madison and his gang of "patrons."  In their place are 6 or 7 "patrons" who have set up camp in the southwest corner of the park in the shade of trees and with the help of folding chairs (during the day only, it seems).  This new lair shouldn't come as a surprise to anyone -- including our mayor, the police chief and the DPW superintendent -- since there are plenty of options for "patrons" to utilize free electricity in the south side of the park.   

The live electric outlet sticking out of the ground has been there for as long as I can remember; it is always available to anyone needing to charge their phone (or phones); its plastic cover, which recently made its way to the ground, is never locked; and the outlet is rarely covered by the orange cone (not that that would stop anyone from using the free electricity).   Why was the cone put there two years ago anyway?

There is also a live outlet on a pretty conglomeration of electrical infrastructure a few feet off the ground in the southeast corner of the park that is also regularly used by "patrons" to charge their phones.  This outlet, like the other one, could be locked at all times, but the city has decided not to.  Too much bother, perhaps.

It is as if City Hall wants "patrons" to feel at home in the 7th Street Park all day.  All day, as in Go ahead, STAY all day!  Make yourselves comfortable!  Bring a chair, charge your phones.  We got ya'!

Cigarette smoking is a common sight.  Cigarette butts litter the park.

Earlier this week, I walked past the new "patrons" lair and noticed that a small coffee maker was plugged into the outlet on the ground, though no coffee was being made at the time.  With 5 or 6 people nearby in the shade, I didn't dare take a picture of the coffeemaker for fear of being chased out of their territory.

On Wednesday at about 5:30, as I was biking on Park Place, I noticed two HPD patrol cars parked alongside the park.  Two cops were standing near the former fountain trying to quell a disturbance among 4 or 5 of the park's regular "patrons."  I recognized two of them.  Someone must have called the police about a situation in the park.  Surprise, fucking surprise!

Expect more of the same or worse in the months to come at the so-called Public Square.  Good luck enjoying yourself in the park or even feeling comfortable walking through it.  If you dare to go there, be sure to bring a coffee mug with you.