The Red Hook Drug Bust Statistics: Wow
A lot of people probably know about the humongous drug bust in Red Hook last month--and we knew something interesting was up when the Brooklyn DA produced an intricate color-coded map of the 30 buildings of the Red Hook Houses showing how drug gangs had divided them up--but Gowanus Lounge almost choked when we noticed the extent of the drug trade. The bust resulted in more than 130 indictments, although nearly 20 charges were dropped. (Residents say some innocent people were swept up in the massive police dragnet and spent up to three days in jail.)Exactly how much drugs were they moving in Red Hook? The simple answer is mindboggling quantities. The details, according to Ariella Cohen in the Brooklyn Papers, are as follows: 9,234 vials of crack, 3,135 dime bags of heroin, 1,755 bags of marijuana and 400 grams of powder cocaine sold every day. Repeat: Every day. That translates into $154,150 in transactions every day, or more than $50 million every year. (One wonders what the daily volume at the new Fairway is projected to be.)
9,000 vials of crack a day?
Let's do a little math. There are 11,000 people in Red Hook and about 7,000 of them live in public housing. The dealers were moving 14,124 units of product every day, not counting the 400 grams of coke. That works out to 1.3 vials of crack or bags of dope or bags of weed for every man, woman and child in Red Hook every day.
Now, either the people living in Red Hook are some of the most cracked out and doped out people in the universe, or people from the entire Tri-State area were coming to Red Hook to shop for drugs. In the Brooklyn DA's own words, "Red Hook’s streets were constantly overwhelmed with traffic caused by the armed dealers and their customers making more than one million sales each year."
GL certainly wonders how the Red Hook Houses could exist as one of the big open air drug supermarkets around and, only now, get shut down. Clearly, it wasn't something that began operating in the last six months. We also understand that the only things that truly shut down public drug supermarkets are: (A.) Rising real estate values, because $750,000 condos and drug deals on the sidewalk are conflicting land uses or (B.) A constant police presence that makes the area "too hot" for business.
Gowanus Lounge will avoid further pronouncements on public policy or planning theory. For the moment, all we can say about the Red Hook Houses drug operation is: Wow.
posted by rsguskind at 1:01 PM
5 Comments:
So that would explain the crack/smack whores I've seen occasionally walking around Clinton St. and Hamilton Ave.
Very nice analysis. So true, so true.
Hmmm...any thoughts on massive drug market traffic versus massive Ikea/Fairway traffic? Maybe the expected influx of traffic into the neighborhood won't be as much of a change as expected.
It figures someone would take an interest in cleaning up Red Hook now that the "upscale" people are moving in.
Sorry to drop in late here but... while you are on the right track with that analysis--
it omits one HUGE-- ONE TOTALLY FUCKING HUGE -- factor...
which is that the D.A. is totally full of shit. or, if not totally, even more prone to exaggeration than D.A.'s prosecuting drug & mob cases usually are, which is a lot.
i worked by Red Hook Houses every five days a week & walked through often. while i don't doubt something was going on-- think about it. THAT MANY buyers are going to the assend of Brooklyn to score? There is enough money in so-called "Carroll Gardens" and "Cobble Hill" to support it, true, but we also know whitey is mostly too scared shit.
Anyone want to bet there are a LOT more dropped charges, acquittals, minor pleas?
The fact of the matter is out of the 400 plus people arrested on April 28, 2006 the D.A.'s office chose to indict 176 people on one case. I was in court and the bails were set from 1 million dollars to approximately 25,000 dollars per person. The person with the million dollar bail had approximately 1 dollar in loose coins in his pocket. It was a very sad moment for our neighborhood. The sad part is they picked up a lot of innocent people but because of the astronomical bails imposed individually and the fact that there was so many defendants most defendants either copped out to time served after spending so much time on Rikers awaiting trial. There has been no less than 4 judges thus far overseeing this case and nobody seems to care that the Brooklyn Narcotics South task force has repeatedly made headlines for corruption and misconduct. READ THE BOOK "NO LIGHTS, NO SIRENS". It is a true crime written by a retired 76th Precinct detective. It is about his corruption and redeemption. He will tell you who the people are bringing in the drugs to Red Hook. Also it was mentioned that the drugs were so good in Red Hook that the drug addicts came from all over town to cop. That is a lie! The drug addicts came to get their Methadone from the Methadone clinic located near Van Brunt Street. They are given free metrocards by the City of New York just in case they missed the free mini bus ride from the Smith and 9th Street station to the program. THATS WHAT BROUGHT THE ADDICTS FROM CROSSTOWN TO SOUTH BROOKLYN> If $50,000 a day was being made by drug dealers in Red Hook where are the fancy cars, bling bling and etc. I was in court during the arraignment when the ADA stated the total take after executing 50 no-knock warrants on 50 units as well as places of employments throughout the city is formally documented at $10,000, 11 guns from 2 out of the 50 locations and 1 half a kilo from an apartment where they claimed the person who is just now 18 years old was indicted as a kingpin. The person's lawyer told the arraignment judge that would mean he was about 13 or 14 years old when this investigation started. The judge was also reminded by this person's attorney that the mother of the 18 year old was the actual perpetrator and would it not be more reasonable that the half a kilo found inside was hers and not his since she had a long history of drug arrests. The judge said ok lower his bail from 250,000 to 150,000 dollars like that made much of a difference. I BEG YOU TO DO SOME RESEARCH, COME TO COURT, READ THE ALLEGED EVIDENCE THEN DECIDE WHO SHOULD BE CHARGED WITH CONSPIRACY.
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