Cops will beef up patrols in Gerritsen Beach on Oct. 31 in a show of strength against the mischief-makers who turned the neighborhood’s main street into a Halloween war zone last year.
Deputy Inspector Georgios Mastrokostas told members of the 61st Precinct Community Council that the precinct would put more boots on the ground to make sure teens don’t misbehave, in response to criticism from residents that cops did not do enough to prevent the fiasco from spiraling out of control.
“We’ll deploy more resources,” Mastrokostas said. “I don’t want a repeat of last year.”
He did not say how many extra police officers would be sent out on patrol to avoid a sequel of last year’s horror show, when teens formed a gauntlet along Gerritsen Avenue, pelted a delivery man, cars and two city buses with heavy objects and chased two Hasidic men found walking along the avenue.
The miscreants even pelted a police car with eggs, according to Gerritsenbeach.net, a local blog.
Residents who witnessed the attack said they had never seen anything like it.
“It was ugly,” said Fred Gavitt. “When you throw something at people who are driving it’s going to get bad.”
Michael Taylor, president of Gerritsen Beach Cares, said it was a classic example of teens acting out.
“Unfortunately, teenaged kids are going to do stupid things,” Taylor said.
The violence was roundly denounced by neighborhood parents — but many in the close-knit community became even more outraged after the blog posted pictures of the teens involved.
That’s easier said than done, said Gavitt, who worried about new violence.
“There’s nothing for them to do around here,” he said.
