April 27
...serving up your daily dish.
Monday night, a Montclair police officer asked mourners attending a funeral at Bright Hope Baptist Church to move their cars. This sparked a public protest from David Herron, president of Montclair NAACP, calling the order "disrespectful" and "insensitive". Herron, 4th Ward Councilor Sandra Lang, Montclair Chief of Police David Sabagh, and Town Manager Joe Hartnett are all trying to settle what Hartnett calls "an unfortunate incident" From The Star Ledger:
The sequence of events spelled out by Herron prompted heated remarks from Councilor Sandra Lang, whose 4th Ward includes Mission Street. "It was just flat-out bad judgment," she said at Tuesday night's council meeting.
Tuesday night, Herron -- saying there were some 200 people at the funeral -- insisted that police permission was granted in advance for parking on both sides of Mission Street, a narrow one-way stretch that empties on to busy Bloomfield Avenue.
Yet Sabagh said that was not the case. "They would never receive permission to park illegally," said Sabagh, noting that the main concern is public safety and the ability of emergency vehicles to navigate the street. "To have that road obstructed is not acceptable."
April 27, 2006 in Scooped by Phil Read, Again | Permalink
Why on earth would the NAACP get involved in this?
Posted by: Right of Center™ | Apr 27, 2006 1:41:06 PM
ROC: We agree!
No one should never receive permission to park illegally; the main concern is public safety and the ability of emergency vehicles to navigate the street. To have that road obstructed is not acceptable.
Posted by: Gonzo Journalist | Apr 27, 2006 1:51:07 PM
If the New York Post wrote this story:
"Mourners to Montclair Police: Drop Dead!"
Posted by: Jim | Apr 27, 2006 2:18:36 PM
What if a Fire Truck or MVAU had to get on the blocked street and the police had NOT asked for the street to be cleared?
Posted by: Kevin Lee Allen | Apr 27, 2006 2:19:47 PM
Not everything in life must needs be racialized. Nor is it then automatic cause for grievance. I hope both those who went running to Councilor Lang and Councilor Lang herself keep this in mind, because it sounds from the snippet above that they somehow forgot.
Posted by: cathar | Apr 27, 2006 2:41:01 PM
Jim: We agree!
(Only I think that the NY Post would write:
"Montclair Police to Mourners: Drop Dead!")
Posted by: Gonzo Journalist | Apr 27, 2006 2:41:08 PM
I don't believe I've ever seen a Baptist funeral service described as a "Mass" before. That's not a typical usage.
More context would have been helpful in the article. What parking arrangements happen on regular worship days? Are the streets blocked then?
Did the neighbors complain, perceiving a risk to their homes and safety?
Posted by: Paul from OB | Apr 27, 2006 2:42:15 PM
Cathar: We agree!
Not everything in life should be 'racialized'."
Posted by: Gonzo Journalist | Apr 27, 2006 2:42:43 PM
"Why on earth would the NAACP get involved..."
I assumed upon my first quick read that Herron had been attending the funeral when it happened.
Posted by: walleroo | Apr 27, 2006 2:51:27 PM
The question might simply be, walleroo, whether Herron was attending the funeral in his organizational capacity, and if then his anger (at least in his own mind) was specifically related to an affront to his organization. To forever throw up the race card pro forma, however, if that was the case, it gets boring. Smacks of Jesse Jackson on those days when he's not out defending-cavorting with dictators.
Posted by: cathar | Apr 27, 2006 2:56:52 PM
walleroo! Long time no read.
"The Montclair chapter of the NAACP is protesting the treatment of mourners asked to move their parked cars in the midst of a fu neral service at a Baptist church, branding the action "disrespectful" and "insensitive."
The public comments, made by NAACP President David Herron, prompted an inquiry yesterday by Montclair's township manager into police conduct at the Monday service at Bright Hope Baptist Church on Mission Street."
Sounds to me like some kind of implication is being made. I hope not in a knee-jerk fashion or without some specific instance. Such would, no doubt, harm the organizations credibility, wouldn't it?
Posted by: Right of Center™ | Apr 27, 2006 3:02:11 PM
I suppose the operative question is, Do police ask European-American mourners to move their illegally parked cars?
Posted by: walleroo | Apr 27, 2006 3:34:01 PM
It's the funderal director's job to manage the logistics, isn't it? What planet was he on, letting cars pile up on the street? And why didn't he tell the cop that the funeral was in progress? Sounds like the funeral director deserves a big chunk of the blame for this mess.
Posted by: walleroo | Apr 27, 2006 3:40:15 PM
Oh sure, walleroo, throw out the (purposely) loaded term "European-American," but then back out of that minefield by ragging on the funeral director.
For your penance, go to the Great Notch Inn and tell the bartender some night that at least 20 Harleys are blocking your Dodge Dart.
Posted by: cathar | Apr 27, 2006 3:48:56 PM
"For your penance, go to the Great Notch Inn and tell the bartender some night that at least 20 Harleys are blocking your Dodge Dart."
Can I have the video rights?
Posted by: Kevin Lee Allen | Apr 27, 2006 4:14:28 PM
Dodge Dart? Ahem, I believe you mean my Mercedes S-class coupe.
Posted by: walleroo | Apr 27, 2006 4:31:20 PM
"I believe you mean my Mercedes S-class coupe"
Oh yeah, that will go over REAL big in the Notch's parking lot...:-)
Posted by: Miss Martta | Apr 27, 2006 4:33:01 PM
But sadly, it just *barely* puts walleroo above the minimum threshold for subsidized housing in our new council scheme.
Posted by: Right of Center™ | Apr 27, 2006 4:35:06 PM
ROC, you may be the only person on this thread that is above the minimum for subsidized housing - e.g. above 80 per cent of the median.
Posted by: Byron | Apr 27, 2006 5:40:10 PM
