So, this is what "FULL CIRCLE" means, huh?

My first post on my blog was prompted by vandalism. I wrote of my house being among others on the block that had been vandalized with graffiti. Well folks, I have been hit yet again!

So, here is the thing...I am at my computer hard at work (that is code for reading the news) when my next door neighbor rings the doorbell. She figured that since I was not on my front porch, I had no idea that my back windshield was shattered. Yup, someone took a beer bottle and smashed my window. I ask you..."WHAT THE HELL?!"

I am sure that you are wondering, so I will walk you through the questions you surely have for me. The Q & A's in blue are the real questions and answers between myself and the responding police officers from NYPD's 44th Precinct:
Q: Was anything missing from inside the car?
A: No.
Q: Did you see who did this?
A: No.
Q: Are you having trouble with anyone in the neighborhood?
A: Now I am.
Q: Oh, so that means that you still have your TomTom?
A: Yes.
Q: How about your blue tooth headset - was that taken?
A: No.
Q: Harriette's handicap tag. I mean that has to be worth something to someone right?
A: Yes, to Harriette. I've still got it.
Q: Umbrellas. I know that you have at least 3 in your car. Are they still there?
A: Yes.
Q: I know that you keep a lot of water in your car. Maybe someone was thirsty.
A: There was still a gang of water in the car, just as it had been the last time I parked it.
Q: (OMG!) What about your hot sauce?
A: Would you believe that I did not have any in the glove compartment?

So, what was this all about? Seems like it is one of three prevailing theories, two of which are economic.

Theory #1 - This type of vandalism is encouraged by business owners so as to increase their own revenues. You know, create the demand for their services. Officer Mena told me that not too long ago, he caught a 15 year old and a 14 year old boy with a bag full of car side view mirrors that they had stolen from parked cars. They ushered the boys back to the "scene of the crimes," and were able to return most of the mirrors to the car owners, while others retrieved their property from the precinct. Oh, the boys were arrested.

Theory #2 - There is a concerted effort under way to drive folks out of the neighborhood so as to speed the re-gentrification process. With the new Yankee Stadium (scheduled to open next year), the *Gateway Center, the revitalization of the Grand Concourse, plans for building the "downtown Bronx," called the "South Bronx Initiative," and a spate of new housing makes us ripe for the picking. My neighbor thinks that there is a group/gang of thugs who are tasked with making us uncomfortable in our neighborhood so that we will leave. Harlem has been under siege for almost a decade, now it is my neighborhood's turn.

*The Gateway Center is a $500,000,000 private investment project on the site of the Bronx Terminal Market that is being developed along with the site of the Bronx House of Detention is designed to include retail and restaurant space. It is supposed to also include the restoration of public access to the Harlem River.
(For more on the plans as originally presented, please visit http://www.bronxgateway.com)

Theory #3 - Some socially misfit malcontent with no respect for himself or others or OPP - that's other people's property, did it because they could. Enough said.

So now, $250 later, I have a new back windshield, can't wash my car for 3 days, hope my neighbor let's me park in her backyard, and I am still on the dole.

How are you doing?

UPDATE: At 4:31pm, my neighbor called and yes, my car is in her backyard.