So East Ave has been struck with a little bad luck over this Memorial Day weekend. Let me share what I witnessed over a 2-day span. Last Saturday night, I ventured off to Venu to get my party on, the club was hoppin' as normal. My favorite bartender, Laura served up my favorite drink of the moment, a Hennessy Martini. We renamed it a HennyThang. Don't ask why.
Venu, being in St. Paul Quarter, where most folks with melanin tend to party, lets out about 2 a.m. or so and into the streets we wander. As I have previously mentioned, there are several clubs on this strip and directly around the corner at Water Street Music Hall, Baby Cham had a show. Most folks tend to do a little parking lot pimpin' (LOL!! Definition of Parking Lot Pimpin': hanging around your car in the lot, watching everyone come out of the club and making their way to the lot. aka: chilling.) Large Rochester Police Department (RPD) presence. No surprise here. The RPD has been trying to "keep 'us' in line" for all of my life, nothing like the RPD to make sure you leave the entertainment district safely and in a timely manner. I'm sorry I need you to step over that puddle of sarcasm right there....thank you, sorry about that. (If you aren't from here, let me give you a little background: the current Mayor of Rochester is the former Chief of Police, the current Chief of Police is a Black man (means nothing-most Black cops I know are Cop first/Black second) )I watched as RPD directed, hollered, and pushed folks to go to their cars. If you are going to try and get yourself a delectable 2:15am meal from the Street Meat Truck (yum!! squirrel burgers and hot dogs), I suggest you hurry and put that order in because the Po-Po needs to clear this area ASAP. They clear the Quarter QUICKFAST&INAHURRY! If you didn't get that number in the club Player, RPD does not care that you are trying to get those digits now. Sorry Homey, no haps tonight, better try to get 'em again at Gitsi's. I drive down East Ave, which is my neighborhood and what do I see: Mass drunkenness in the streets. Seriously. This is not parking lot pimpin', this is straight drunk young adults in the street. RPD was there, yes, however they are a bit different on East Ave. In the Quarter folks are pushed and prodded like cattle to go to their cars, clear the streets, and leave downtown. On East Ave, RPD gets out of their cars to literally "post up" and watches the crowd. It took me almost ten minutes to get through the intersection of East Ave and Alexander due to some drunken Coyote Joe'ers who needed to shout at each other in the middle of the street. That was Saturday night.
Venu, being in St. Paul Quarter, where most folks with melanin tend to party, lets out about 2 a.m. or so and into the streets we wander. As I have previously mentioned, there are several clubs on this strip and directly around the corner at Water Street Music Hall, Baby Cham had a show. Most folks tend to do a little parking lot pimpin' (LOL!! Definition of Parking Lot Pimpin': hanging around your car in the lot, watching everyone come out of the club and making their way to the lot. aka: chilling.) Large Rochester Police Department (RPD) presence. No surprise here. The RPD has been trying to "keep 'us' in line" for all of my life, nothing like the RPD to make sure you leave the entertainment district safely and in a timely manner. I'm sorry I need you to step over that puddle of sarcasm right there....thank you, sorry about that. (If you aren't from here, let me give you a little background: the current Mayor of Rochester is the former Chief of Police, the current Chief of Police is a Black man (means nothing-most Black cops I know are Cop first/Black second) )I watched as RPD directed, hollered, and pushed folks to go to their cars. If you are going to try and get yourself a delectable 2:15am meal from the Street Meat Truck (yum!! squirrel burgers and hot dogs), I suggest you hurry and put that order in because the Po-Po needs to clear this area ASAP. They clear the Quarter QUICKFAST&INAHURRY! If you didn't get that number in the club Player, RPD does not care that you are trying to get those digits now. Sorry Homey, no haps tonight, better try to get 'em again at Gitsi's. I drive down East Ave, which is my neighborhood and what do I see: Mass drunkenness in the streets. Seriously. This is not parking lot pimpin', this is straight drunk young adults in the street. RPD was there, yes, however they are a bit different on East Ave. In the Quarter folks are pushed and prodded like cattle to go to their cars, clear the streets, and leave downtown. On East Ave, RPD gets out of their cars to literally "post up" and watches the crowd. It took me almost ten minutes to get through the intersection of East Ave and Alexander due to some drunken Coyote Joe'ers who needed to shout at each other in the middle of the street. That was Saturday night.
On Sunday I was driving in this same area about 1:45 am and again Coyote Joe's has spilled into the middle of the street. This time it hits closer to home for me. Why? Well because I almost hit 3 drunk girls in the middle of the street hanging on each other, laughing hysterically, and shouting at the fellas that were hanging out on the corner (can't do that in the Quarter). I watched RPD watch them. They stopped in the middle of the street as my light turned green and if anyone knows Ninja, then you know I do not tolerate such foolishness when driving. I stopped my car in the middle of the intersection, watched the girls continue to NOT MOVE, and rolled my window down. " Um....excuse me ladies, can you get across the street?" One of the girls starts to laugh and says "Is she talking to us?" I won't lie, I then told them to shuffle their drunk asses across the street (DAMMIT!) , and gave the official Ninja glare, which must work, because they hightailed it on over to the curb. I creep up a bit to where the cops are and I ask the officer, "Are you going to just let those drunks get in their car and drive?" He looked at me and said "Keep it moving, Miss." And because I know that driving while brown (being female means nothing, it's the BROWN) AND questioning 5-0 usually means a late night call for some bail money, I kept it moving. 15 minutes later a huge brawl broke out in the parking lot of Coyote Joe's, pretty much in the exact spot I just had my encounter with what I will assume is those that don't want to see folks with do-rags, baggy jeans, and tilted hats. Oh and when I say brawl I mean brawl. Take a peek at WHEC 10NBC's coverage of it . The brawl spilled into the street and shut the corner down. I guess RPD actually had to stop leaning for a moment in order to deal with the chaos. In checking News 10NBC's coverage, watch the video. You will see one of the victims who was really beaten very badly. 5 people were arrested in connection with this brawl. This was also the second one since May 17th, where one man was arrested for putting his hands on a police officer.
Our very own Ronnie Davis, owner of Coyote Joe's and star (watch the puddle) of my first blog, issued the following statement: "We need to hold people accountable for their actions. The bar owners can do everything right, but we can't stop random acts of violence". Well I guess random acts of violence, drunk rage, brawls, and bar fights happen to the folks that drive in from the 'burbs too. Who knew? I thought the baggy jeans only brought out the angry in SOME humans.
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