You know those giant things in Red Hook that say “The Port of New York Authority?”
Yeah, you’re not allowed to go into those.
A man who was convicted of sneaking into the perennially trespassed-upon Red Hook grain terminal will spend 10 days in the clink for his indiscretions — and the owner of the warehouse is ecstatic the city is finally doing something about a problem he says he can’t control.
“I was surprised that the punishment was so severe, but we’re happy because we’ve been trying to get stronger decisions against people who keep trespassing,” said John Quadrozzi, Jr., who has once erected an security wall around the site to fend off encroaching explorers before the city forced him to tear it down in 2008, arguing it obstructed the public’s view Gowanus Bay. “But it’s also a contradiction — we’re arresting people for trespassing but we’re basically rolling out the red carpet for them by not having the fence.”
The jail time is a first — trespassers typically just get a ticket, claims Quadrozzi, who is no stranger to finding strange people on his land.
“We catch people here almost on a weekly basis.” he said. “Recently we spent three hours trying to get some people to come out of a building, and, in the middle of apprehending them, we caught two more people coming in.”
Quadrozzi erected an 18-foot wall around the site in 2006, but the city sued and a judge ordered him to tear it down in 2008. He appealed but eventually gave in, dismantling the barrier in 2010.
The guy who got jail time is one of four people who snuck on to the site, which is home to Brooklyn’s last remaining grain elevator, just after midnight on July 4, according to court documents.
His attorney did not respond to a request for comment.
Much of the rock salt that the city imports to de-ice streets in the winter passes through the terminal, but it’s also a destination for amateur photographers and thrill-seekers, Quadrozzi said.
“People climb on top of the 120-foot high grain elevator and they’re skateboarding up there,” he said. “We’ve caught people bungee jumping. It’s a tremendous liability, and its a constant.”
