Mela Melee at CB12?

It seems the Bangladeshi Mela (Gathering) that took place a couple of Sundays back -- and was not advertised in English anywhere that we saw -- caused quite a stir at the last Community Board 12 meeting, where some of this neighborhood's communal tensions seem to be coming out.

I'm told that the people living near Foodtown where this Mela was held (usually they take place below Church) complained that they felt impinged on, complaining about trash, noise, and public urination.

A neighbor who went to the fair says that the Mela organizers, however, "had portable toilets near stage, proper permits and the 66th community relations detective Milici was there, so it all happened comme il faut from what I saw."

Any readers out there who went to the meeting and care to report back what exactly happened? And whatever happened with  the Bangladeshi memorial proposal before the board?

There are a few more Melas coming up and we'll try to get the exact details to post - there may be one on June 5th, and the big one is on June 27th.

My own view is that some of the complaints may have more to do with objections to a changing neighborhood than with anything the event organizers did or didn't do -- but it also might be nice if the organizers publicized these more broadly (and perhaps in English) than they have in the past, as I'm sure a lot of non-Bangladeshis would like to stop by.

(Photo credit KarmaBrooklyn)