Ossining Parks Policy From July Raises Racial Tension In February

OSSINING, NY — A new controversy about a seven-month-old email is exacerbating longstanding tensions in Ossining.

Part of an email sent by Ossining Town Supervisor Dana Levenberg to her colleagues in July was recently circulated in the community, and it, plus her response to criticism about it, are new flashpoints.

The background: In Ossining, there have been years of complaints from some residents about groups congregating in the parks, focused on trash and noise. Some of those complaints have targeted Latinos.

In the summer of 2020, two current events added issues for complainants: the coronavirus pandemic and the death of George Floyd in the hands of the police.

Some complaints focused on a lack of social distancing and masks in Ossining parks, and others complained that protests by some groups and organized games by others were being condoned even though traditional social events such as the firemen's parade and the July Fourth fireworks had been canceled.

Many residents expressed anger that police did not shut down an event at Engel Park organized by local promoter Brian Johnson. He billed it variously as a concert and a Black Lives Matter rally despite being denied a permit, and brought a generator to the stage since police had turned the electricity off. About 250 people attended the event and Johnson complained that police were stifling free speech. SEE: Ossining Man Who Held Illegal Concert Faces Fine.

In response, Police Chief Kevin Sylvester said on Facebook in August: "One of the biggest conversations in America right now is how police officers can avoid a use of force. I trust my staff to make smart decisions in the best interest of the community. The whole community."

In the July email, Levenberg said local officials were convening to discuss issues of trash and social distancing in the parks amid rising concern about how police nationwide are used to enforce quality of life issues with people of color.

"We know that everyone was using our parks. We wanted to be sure that people of color did not feel in any way targeted by police," she said in a Facebook post on Tuesday. Many in the community were demanding that officers go into the parks and fine everyone, Levenberg said, but officials thought that putting in a park attendant, more garbage cans and other similar measures was a better way to spend taxpayer dollars. "I am keenly aware of the injustices we as white people have inflicted on people of color over the last 400 plus years."

She's also been keenly aware of the racial tensions in Ossining. In the street in front of her house, and across from Ossining High School, a racial slur "N- Lives Don't Matter" was scribbled in chalk Oct. 9.

Levenberg has been criticized from all sides for both the July email and the Tuesday Facebook post.

Some objected to being included in that "we." Others said her July email only connected trash and people of color which was racist. Some said enforcement of rules for park cleanliness would engender respect, and others said not enforcing the rules out of concern for targeting people of color was condescending. Some said not enforcing pandemic protocols put public relations over public health. Others said the complainants were using the pandemic to hide the racist nature of their objections to people of color using the parks.

In a comment on the YouTube video of the town's Feb. 9 board meeting, resident Jason Salo said the "intentional lack of covid safety enforcement" in the parks led to Ossining's rate of coronavirus positivity.

Ossining was one of six communities in Westchester with above-average coronavirus positivity rates where extra restrictions were enacted Nov. 19 and lifted Jan. 27.

In the Tuesday meeting, town Councilwoman Jackie Shaw spoke about the email ostensibly causing the controversy. She said what she recollected about the situation in July was that town officials were getting complaints from community members about the parks, particularly about garbage and loud music, and the village was also getting complaints and the village's point of view was there should be more enforcement.

"I had a lot of concerns about that," Shaw said. "When I had been at Engel Park not only was I seeing more people at the park but I was seeing more people of color at the park. And at a time when there was all this social unrest, there were all these issues with the police, and at a time when we were as a community examining equity in Ossining, I did not think that more police enforcement, ticketing people suddenly when there were more people of color at the park, was the way to go."

Shaw reminded Levenberg that they had talked in July about Shaw's concerns.

"Your thoughts were to come up with solutions that did not involve police," Shaw said. "To take that and twist it negatively against you is disrespectful." Shaw said she feels social media has a propensity to take something out of context, giving it a life of its own with "no actual truth or fact."

"Your goal and the town's goal is always to make the parks safe, accessible and welcoming and police enforcement was not going to be the way to go, particularly in the environment we were in in the summer and we are right now," Shaw said Tuesday. "I still think your strategies were the better way to go."

Levenberg told Patch that she saw that the wording in her July email could be misconstrued and she apologized.