I went to play on a local park with my brother. It used to be perfect, just nice grass and a wide, plain open ground where everyone could hang out.
Now, the local retired guys have completely taken it over. They built this useless fountain-like thing right in the middle of the ground explicitly to discourage anyone from playing sports. On top of that, they laid down solid cement concrete paths crisscrossing right through the middle of the play area.
Today, they chased us out, yelling that they pay for the maintenance so they make the rules. They let little kids stay but kicked us out, telling us to walk 5-6 km away if we want to play. I pay taxes too! Do they even have the legal right to alter a public park with concrete and ban taxpayers? Has anyone else dealt with this kind of neighborhood mafia?
I have also tried to complain it to the municipality, but the municipal system is absolute ass. Nobody even looks at the complaints, they just mark the tickets as 'closed' without lifting a finger and do zero actual work.
Looks like you're gonna have to fist fight somebody
Mace
That’s the perfectly rational response everyone should immediately do when rising to the occasion 👍 /s
I’m 46. Most of the time when I see shit like this, I think, have you tried violence. Violence works against bullies. Literally the only thing.
If I were you I'd buy a good pair of walking shoes! Look at it this way, you'll be in much better shape after constantly walking to and from your new playground!
Are you in Illinois?
No Uttar Pradesh, India
Let them yell, what are they going to do, call the cops?
Never happened to me, but usually they just take the ball inside or straight up puncture it.
You pay taxes too eh
My family, I’m a part too....so yeah
Take up skateboarding. Buy more concrete.
Let the local skate crew know about the concrete paths. Let the fun begin.
That fountain sounds like it would be good for grinding…
Skateboarding is very rare here...
I was just thinking "perfect for rollerblades"
what sort of taxes does a child pay?
Try going to code enforcement. They do nothing. Then you go to your city council member or district representative. They do nothing. You go to the media. Blast those entitled pricks to the media. That will get the city/town to get off their butts and do something.
If it's a public park, it belongs to the city and they have destroyed public property. I'd call the nonemergency police line to complain about aggressive elderly men threatening minors and damaging public property. Then I'd call the city to report damage to the park and the addition of safety hazards. If it's a park is in an HOA you're going to have to call the complain at your next HOA meeting. No matter what call the police and tell them you're being threatened and harassed by men in their 60s if they attempt to make you leave.
Reporting the property damage to the city is a good idea, and I might try that. I really want to avoid getting the police involved, though. It would likely just be a huge waste of time, especially since one of those older guys is a former cop himself. Realistically, the police probably won't do anything against him anyway.
Where on earth are you? Using the "uncles" term quite possibly means South East Asia or China?
Yep. Everyone answering with US defaultism and not taking the rest of the world into account. What matters are local ordinances and whether or not those ordinances are likely to be enforced. OP should have given a general location.
South Asia, India
Make up a new sport!
Post about this on social media to shame whoever is in charge.
And local news
Private persons cannot alter a public park in their own. Make sure every single elected official from Mayor to dog catcher knows about yhis, what vonrractung company (if any) did the work and who 'hired' them to do ut. Literal crimes have been commited against the public interest and not only can they get jail time, they can have assets seized for auction to pay the costs of returning the park to its approved original use status. A wriing campaign with real paper letters does wonders for this as there are lots of lawyers who will rake a case like this pro bono for the publicity of dumping letters on the court house steps in from of news cameras. Sometimes, old fashioned embarrassing of the jerks still actually works pretty well. Embarrassment of the elected officials letting them get away with it works better. Write their donors, their donors' spouses, and the donor corporation CEOs. Especially if its a 'kids campaign to save their park' story? oh the juicy meat your news anchors can sink their teeth into.
Unfortunately I'm from India and the case is total opposite for me, there is no one to support us also most of the people have "What can we even do now?" mentality
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As they should
What exactly are you paying taxes on as a child? What country are you from? Where are you living?
My family does and I’m part of my family?
Some experiment with AMFO?
Is this post even real?
Yeah might baffle US people
Where do you live? Laws vary
India
Law Enforcement is pretty non-existent here, most officers don’t even know their jurisdictions plus they’re "goons"
What country are you in, buddy?
*India*
Once great USA. (Hoping for a Renaissance soon.) Why do you ask? What country are you in?
Then they’ll complain that all kids do these days is sit inside and play video games.
Videos sent to social media. Karma will happen.
Photograph the alterations and harassment, then file an RTI request asking who authorized the construction, who paid for it and what approved plan exists. Send the evidence and RTI response to your ward councillor, municipal commissioner and local news outlets. Public embarrassment may accomplish what complaint tickets haven’t.
Do any of those exist in India
This is pretty nonsensical. If this is a public park, then nobody gets to unilaterally decide to alter the park in any way, and most especially as you describe, without the appropriate government approval. You need to make noise with whatever level of government and particular department has authority over this park.
they're ruining a public space for selfish reasons. time to rally your neighbors and get organized about this.
Next time they try to chase you, call the cops