Three youths assaulted Stuyvesant freshmen Keiji Drysdale and Ming Li in Battery Park on Friday, October 26 at approximately 1:20 p.m.
Drysdale and Li were part of a group of freshmen who were playing basketball in Battery Park during parent-teacher conferences. They left their book bags on a nearby bench.
Freshman Brian Sou was standing near the bench. According to Sou, after the freshmen had been playing basketball for about 30 minutes, a male youth approached them to ask which high school they attended.
Sou then asked the youth what school he attended. The youth said Echo, a name for the High School of Economics and Finance.
The youth left. He returned five to 10 minutes later with two of his friends, grabbed Drysdale’s book bag, punched Sou on the head and ran away.
Drysdale walked over to the bench and discovered that his book bag was missing. He chased after the group, threatening to call the police.
The group then accosted Drysdale for a fight. Drysdale said he took out his cell phone and the youths “started throwing punches, so I book[ed] it.”
Drysdale ran to Battery Park and asked the security guards for help. The guards questioned the group, but the youth with Drysdale’s book bag had fled.
Li also tried chasing the youth, who escaped into an unknown building. “I stopped outside and his friends caught me,” Li said. “They tried to beat me up.”
Drysdale said that when Li returned, he “had a cut on his mouth and was bleeding.”
According to Li, the youth returned to Battery Park a few minutes later with approximately 30 people and accosted Li for a fight.
“The guy came back with a watch tied around his knuckles,” Li said. “He tried to fight me, but then heard sirens and ran away.”
The siren was from an approaching park ranger car. The group that had arrived with the youth quickly dispersed.
Li returned to Stuyvesant to report the incident to the school security guards, who told Li to wait. “Nobody showed up from 1:40 to 2:40,” Li said. “They didn’t do anything to help.”
Meanwhile, an unknown youth from the crowd asked Drysdale to identify a book bag. Drysdale followed the youth, unaware that he was being followed by another youth.
The youth behind Drysdale asked him why he was following the first youth. Drysdale turned to respond to the latter but the youth in front punched him in the face.
When park rangers approached them, the youths fled with Drysdale’s book bag.
Drysdale went to file a report at the park kiosk. He said the park officials were “not at all” helpful.
“This pissed me off. Those guys that stole Keiji’s bag are off the hook,” Li said. “The school isn’t doing anything about it and neither are the police.”
This incident is part of a recent string of events in which Stuyvesant students have been confronted in Battery Park.
“I heard that not a long time ago, these kids playing handball got beat up randomly,” Drysdale said. “I heard about a lot of incidents like this.”
According to junior Sean Gordon-Loebl, in the Battery Park handball courts, two youths assaulted a Stuyvesant student on Tuesday, September 25 while another youth filmed the incident with his camera phone.
The Stuyvesant student was knocked down and punched repeatedly in the face. The video was posted on YouTube, but it was removed five days later. Juniors Alon Sicherman, Jack McDermott and Lazar Bozic ran after the two youths.
“[The youths] ran into [Gourmet Market] and when they came out, [we saw] them and we kind of just asked them why did they did it,” McDermott said. “Before they said anything, a teacher comes and two of them run towards the movie theater.”
Senior Tim Mullen was assaulted outside school on Wednesday, October 3.
According to Principal Stanley Teitel, a fourth incident occurred on Monday, November 5. Several students playing chess in Battery Park were assaulted.
A parent approached Teitel about the incident on Wednesday, November 7.
Teitel warned students during a public announcement Thursday, October 4 to be careful after school. “If you decide to go to parks, then you have to decide [your safety] for yourself,” he said.
Teitel has not implemented any additional security measures in or around school grounds, but he requested the New York Police Department Precinct One to dispatch more officers to patrol Battery Park and Chambers Street.
“I have asked the police to provide a ‘safe’ corridor each afternoon from 3:30 to 5:00 p.m. along Chambers Street,” he wrote to the Parents’ Association (PA) in an e-mail on Friday, October 5.
Teitel later discovered that the police department does not have official jurisdiction in the park. The Battery Park Conservancy is in charge of park security and dispatches officers to patrol the area.
After the November 5 incident, Teitel contacted the Battery Park Conservancy Executive Director Tessa Huxley. He spoke to Huxley and sent her a letter requesting increased security in Battery Park and its vicinity from 3:30 to 4:45 p.m.
“[Huxley] will take care of it,” Teitel said.
Parks Department officer Raymond Robles is one of the guards assigned to patrol the area. He is stationed in Teardrop Park across from Battery Park.
According to Robles, the victims are usually cornered and assaulted in Teardrop Park. “We’ve been getting complaints about assaults and about kids,” he said.
“We have security everywhere for everyone,” Parks Department officer Milly Fajardo said.
Freshman Xavier Kourkoumelis witnessed the October 26 event. “There’s no reason for the violence,” he said. “That kind of violence never solves any problems or disputes and only leads to more fights and trouble.”
“It’s like [the assailants] are playing a game,” Sou said. “They’re targeting Stuy kids too. They probably think that we’re all weak and defenseless.”
“It’s not always another school’s fault,” freshman Pedro Gavalis said. “Sometimes people from our own school steal things and fight with each other.”
Drysdale, Li and Sou are dissatisfied with the school’s position on security.
“The school should take some precautions to take care of their students,” Drysdale said. “A few security guards wouldn’t hurt.”
“[The school] has a job to protect their students are I don’t think they are working at it hard enough,” Li said.
“We can’t let these random beatings continue because sooner or later someone will get seriously hurt,” Sou said.