For those Chinese residents who enjoy spending time in community parks to

For those Chinese residents who enjoy spending time in community parks to cool off from the summer heat at night, be warned! Since July, police officers have been patrolling city parks during closing hours after dusk, issuing citations to people still on park grounds in Manhattan’s Chinatown. Some officers have even asked people to go home and get their identification. After receiving numerous complaints, the Fujianese Association has been looking into these cases and is planning to file complaints to the New York City Department of Parks & Recreation. The association wants the City to increase the number of signs in Chinese stating the time of closing, in hopes of minimizing the potential of misunderstanding among residents.

Mr. Cheng, who lives on Eldridge Street in Chinatown, returned on July 30 from a visit to his hometown in China. Because of jetlag, he could not sleep at night so he went to Roosevelt Park to cool off. At 12:50 A.M., however, a police officer from the 5th Precinct questioned Mr. Cheng and then issued him a citation.

That night, several other people were with Cheng. One of them was able to communicate to the policeman that he did not understand English, so the officer did not issue him a citation. However, the others still received them. Mr. Cheng will have to answer the summons on September 28 at Criminal Court in Lower Manhattan.

On August 5, the head of the Fujianese Association displayed photocopies of some of the citations, stating that over a hundred had been issued so far, adding that this was a conversative estimate. The citations simply stated the violation as “Disobey Signs.” It did not list the amount of the fine, and required the person to appear in court.

Mr. Lin, the owner of a flower shop in Chinatown, recently appeared in court to pay a $30 fine after receiving a citation. He said that although the fine was not too severe, he had to spend several hours in court and bring an interpreter, which cost him money and energy.

Another resident, a young man, claimed he did not notice the sign posted outside a park by Allen Street, where he was fined. He went back the following day to look for the sign and saw that out of the four entrances, only two had posted signs. While they did display the words “Closes at dusk,” it was not easily noticeable, especially for those who do not understand English very well.

At Roosevelt Park, Columbus Park, a park between East Broadway and Market Street, and Collect Pond Park at Lafayette Street, most of the entrances have posted signs listing the closing time in a larger size, but hours vary from park to park. Some close at dusk while others close at 11 P.M.

Many complained that most parks in Chinatown did not have a gate. In general, many Chinese residents do not even conceive of parks closing. Furthermore, in the past, people who stayed in the park after dusk did not receive a citation.

The head of the Fujianese Association stressed to the community that some people will not only stay past hours, they end up disturbing the neighborhood, which leads to local complaints. He reminded people to follow park rules. At the same time, the organization will ask the Department of Parks & Recreation to post signs in Chinese.

By Qian Cao, World Journal, 6 August 2010. Translated from Chinese by Connie Yik Kong.