‘F-Bombs’ Blitz Breitbeck’s Basketball Rims

by Steve Yablonski | September 9, 2008 6:07 am

OSWEGO, NY – In the wake of a group of basketballers hooping it up on the court at Breitbeck Park, the hoops are coming down prematurely.

At Monday’s council meeting, Councilor Connie Cosemento (D-First Ward) announced the basketball hoops at Breitbeck Park will be removed as a “result of some unfortunate events.”

“I guess, in the energy of the game, they have trouble with the alphabet. There’s one letter that repeatedly pops up,” the council vice president said alluding to the constant barrage of “F bombs” that park visitors and neighbors have been subjected to recently.

Cosemento has intervened on the residents’ behalf and the park workers, neighbors and the police have also spoken to the offenders.

“These people are not high school; and, they are not college students. They’re adults that mostly come from outside the city to use the courts,” she said. “Unfortunately, there really isn’t anything else that we can do; we cannot keep a police patrol there all of the time.”

There have been times when people, with children, using the pavilion near the courts have gotten up and left and gone to other parts of the park because of the basketballers’ behavior, Cosemento said, adding the playground is about 100 feet away from the court.

It’s not the young people, it’s an older crowd causing the trouble, she pointed out.

“People across the street can hear this stuff,” the councilor said. “I’ve received numerous complaints from neighbors, employees of the park and park-goers about the behavior of this bunch.”

“We mean business. I would rather take the rims down and maybe these folks will get the message and it won’t impact that much on the season,” she continued. “It’s unfortunate I don’t like to do this to kids because there are good users there. It’s another way of reminding people that they need to take charge of their own neighborhood, their own park, and say (this sort of behavior) is not OK.”

Breitbeck is a premier park that attracts visitors from all over the region, Cosemento noted.

The hoops will be replaced in the spring.

For those interested in helping improve the quality of life in their neighborhoods and keeping them safe, a citywide neighborhood watch meeting is scheduled for Wednesday.

It will be held from 6-8 p.m.  in the Community Room of the Oswego Public Library.

Source URL: https://oswegocountytoday.com/news/oswego/f-bombs-blitz-breitbecks-basketball-rims/

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