Who Let The Dogs Out?

Some stray dogs excite the imagination. Others — large black rottweilers, for example — just tend to freak out the neighbors:

Civic activist Mandingo Tshaka sounded the alarm on the stray pooch when he saw it roaming without a leash on his 46th Avenue block several times in the week before Christmas.

After he and other residents called 911, Tshaka said, police came and put the dog back behind the gate of his owner’s home, he said. Neighbors said the owners were away, but Tshaka said officers should have taken the dog away because it escaped again several times.

“Concerning this issue, they’ve been useless as tits on a boar hog,” he said of the police.

Police are not allowed to take a loose dog if someone claims custody of it. Officers would only capture a dog if they saw it pose a threat, according to Sgt. Liam Burns of the 111th Precinct. Burns said he has been in touch with the owner and is trying to resolve the issue.

The dog, a large black rottweiler, did not injure anyone but it did chase the mail carrier, Tshaka said.

On the afternoon of Dec. 27, the dog could be seen walking back and forth on 206th Street east of the Clearview Expressway. Tshaka, dressed in a full-length fur coat and holding a samurai sword at his side, watched it from his front door.

“I don’t like the fact that I have to keep in my front door a samurai sword,” he said. “People shouldn’t have to live in terror.”

Tshaka, no fan of dogs, then went on to make an unfortunate comparison:

Tshaka called the dog a “menace” and said he should have been taken away instead of put back behind the owner’s gate. He also suggested there was a double standard.

“If an African-American male had chased the mailman down the street, where would he be?” he said. “The system has more compassion for the dog than it does for my people.”

Dateline Canarsie: “Parents Go ‘Gangsta’ to Save Children”*

Ever cautious, the NYPD suggests conceiving of parenting as a massive CIA-caliber intelligence operation:

The Bloods and Crips in this city have numbers, weapons and pride themselves on all the crimes they commit.

But, all of their gangsta’ bluster can be rendered powerless by the tenacity of a nosy parent.

So say the NYPD, who still believe that the best deterrent to the proliferation of street gangs is a parent who makes it a point to know their child’s business.

“There is nothing wrong with snooping through your child’s things . . . to know who they are hanging out with,” encouraged Police Officer Mildred Roman, of the NYPD’s Community Affairs Training Unit, who kept parents on the edge of their seats recently during an frank discussion about street gangs and the ways parents can help dry up the flow of new recruits filling the ranks.

. . .

Giving a packed house at last week’s 69th Precinct Community Council in Canarsie a glance into the “thug life,” Roman explained that changes in a child’s dress, demeanor and how he greets his friends can all be indicators that he is planning to or may already have joined a gang.

But to be sure, a parent should look through the child’s notebooks, where, if he is consorting with gang members, he will be practicing their “alphabet.”

Roman went on to add “the best defense is a good offense” and that “that namby pamby Dr. Spock” is for “pussies” . . .

*No, that’s actually the headline.

In Case You Forgot . . .

Governor Spitzer’s new team starts out on the right foot by sounding a fresh theme of hope and prosperity:

It is not a matter of if, but of when the city’s subway system suffers a terrorist attack, Governor Spitzer’s pick as the state’s homeland security tsar, Michael Balboni, said.

Meanwhile, the Republican state senator who is resigning to join the new Spitzer administration said “not a lot is different” in terms of subway security since the attacks of September 11, 2001.

While he praised the ramped-up security at some tunnel entryways into the city as well as a greater police presence underground, he said the Metropolitan Transportation Authority has left gaping holes in the emergency preparedness of its conductors and train operators, who are responsible for initiating evacuations during emergencies. The MTA did not respond to a request for comment.

“There are some unspeakable potential threats out there,” Mr. Balboni said during a telephone interview over the weekend.

Future Shock: One Miiilllllion People!

The Mayor, noting that the city’s population will grow by one million people by 2030, says New York will face dire infrastructure problems unless something drastic is done about it:

New York’s population will grow by nearly 1 million people by 2030 — pushing the city to the breaking point unless there are huge investments in energy, housing and transportation, Mayor Bloomberg warned yesterday.

New homes, jobs and better transit will be needed to deal with an influx equivalent to the populations of Boston and Miami combined, and it will cost billions, the mayor said at a Queens planning symposium.

“This growth could bring incredible benefits: Billions of dollars in new economic activity will be generated by new jobs, residents and visitors,” Bloomberg told an audience at the Queens Museum of Art.

Immigration is a big factor behind the projected growth, but experts also said the city’s success in reducing crime and improving services already is reversing decades of suburban flight.

The city must support the boom by building new infrastructure, including tunnels, energy plants and schools, Bloomberg said. Even more challenging, it must do so while reducing environmental damage, he said.

Planning experts at the forum offered suggestions, including taxing vehicles that drive into Manhattan’s most heavily trafficked neighborhoods, called congestion pricing, and charging residents by the pound for the trash they throw out.

Among the 10 goals the mayor laid out for the city to meet over the next 23 years were creating homes for 1 million new residents, huge upgrades in mass transit, adding parks, finishing the water tunnel, improving the efficiency of power plants and cleaning the city’s air, land and waterways.

Census figures (via Encyclopedia of New York City):

• 1930: 6,930,446
• 1940: 7,454,995
• 1950: 7,891,957
• 1960: 7,781,984
• 1970: 7,894,862
• 1980: 7,071,639
• 1990: 7,322,564
• 2000: 8,008,278*

Ooh, a demographic crisis is upon us because New York finally caught up with 1970 population levels. Scary.

That million new people are going to come from where exactly?

But of course as we know from recent world events, the best way to encourage action is to create a crisis.

*Sorry, the 2004 estimate was a shocking 8,085,742.

Ho Ho Ho No!

The Queens Gazette sure knows how to put a damper on all this holiday cheer:

It’s that time of year when lights twinkle and bells jingle, and we head out to shop for holiday gifts. But remember, behind every “Ho! Ho! Ho!” there’s a thief, a rip-off artist, or a small time thug waiting to fill his stocking by emptying your pockets.

Among the many useful tips is this, which seems easier said than done:

To help foil would-be purse-snatchers, carry your bag upside-down, with your hand on the latch or zipper. If a thief tries to snatch it, open the bag and let the contents fall to the floor. Most criminals are completely confused by this, police said. They don’t generally stick around to watch a crowd gather around you.

So if you see a sudden upturn in spilled personal effects this season, you’ll know where it came from.