Does Paying "Huge Prices" In Carroll Gardens Give Residents More Right To A Safe Neighborhood?

Some residents may have been in Carroll Park on Friday afternoon at around 4 PM, when a group of teens from a school on Henry Street got into a fight in the ball field area of the park.   According to one eye witness, the melee started when one girl came running into the park and jumped another. Friends on both sides got involved and the situation escalated.  The police was called and officers from the 76th Precinct showed up quickly and stopped the fight.  By then, the original attacker had fled and the girl who had been attacked told the police to 'mind their own business."
The officers stayed around for a while and only left when they were sure that the situation was under control.

According to Kathleen, NYC Parks Department Recreational Associate, who spends many hours in our park and who, over the years, has gotten to know many kids in the neighborhood, such scuffles are not uncommon the week before school vacation.  Things have a tendency to calm down once summer programs and summer jobs begin.
Apparently, the teens involved in Friday afternoon's fight had taken a Regents exam that morning, had been free to leave after the test and  headed to Carroll Park for a water balloon fight. Kathleen explained that the police arrived quickly after someone placed a call to 911. To her knowledge, there were no weapons involved in the attach, though a little boy in the park had told the police that he had seen a gun.

Shortly after the event, PMFA reader Anne came across the flier above in Carroll Park, took a photo of it and forwarded it to me. She wrote:

"I thought you might find the attached interesting. Of course the fight mentioned sounds less than desirable but what's more interesting is the phrase about 'many of us pay or have paid huge prices' that I find a bit galling. Just because someone paid 2 million for a brownstone doesn't give them more of a right to a safe neighbourhood than any one else in New York??? Anyway it started a debate between myself and the friend I was with and a thought your readers might have an opinion also."

Oh, I am sure there are plenty of opinions out there.

Personally, I agree with Anne that the remark in the flier is a bit out of place. 

No doubt, we all need to get involved in our community, regardless the price of real estate in our immediate neighborhood. (A good first step for anyone interested in keeping Carroll Park safe and clean in to join Friends Of Carroll Park, an all volunteer organization that has done just that for over thirty years.)

Does the price of Carroll Gardens real estate really come into play here? Feel free to chime in.

*Just to note: The information on the flier is incorrect.  The Councilman representing this neighborhood and Carroll Park is Brad Lander,  not Steve Levin.