29 to express their appreciation for the cultural sensitivity and effectiveness of the
officers working there—but their primary purpose was to beseech Mayor Daley not to
follow through on rumored plans to close the outdated building and move the Town
Hall officers into existing stations. Activists speculate that the most likely candidates
for merger are the stations at Belmont and Western or Foster and Wilson.
Speakers and audience alike were passionate and vocal in their defense of the
beleaguered Town Hall station, which has been the subject of similar rumors
throughout the past two decades.
Barry Flynn, executive director of the Chicago Area Gay and Lesbian Chamber of
Commerce, told Windy City Times, ‘My understanding is that a list was published of
seven locations that might be closed, and Town Hall is on the list. Some buildings
have been on that list for many years. So it’s unclear what the exact plan might be,
but it’s important to have a neighborhood police presence when you have Wrigley
Field coexisting with so many schools, churches, residents, and gay and lesbian
businesses in such a small geographic area.’
Added Richard Streetman, 26: ‘You wake up one morning, there’ll be an X on (Town
Hall) (referring to Mayor Daley’s unilateral decision to close Meigs Field). The mayor
has policy people and functionaries—the policy people make the decisions and the
functionaries carry them out. The people don’t have much of a choice.’
Event organizer Lee Neubecker told Windy City Times that ‘in the Sunday Tribune
(May 25), there was an article stating that the current Town Hall facility does not
meet their needs and that they’re looking for land right now. So that directly
contradicts statements that there are no plans to move. I’ve also heard from a
number of credible sources that this thing is really happening, from elected officials
and others within the city. The fact that both Ald. Helen Shiller and Ald. Tom Tunney
are here lends credence to the possibility that this might really happen. When you
consider how dense Lakeview is, there are 30,000 people per square mile in this
neighborhood. In NYC the average is 23,000. So to not have a station here,
regardless of the beat situation, would be unacceptable. We welcome clarification
from the mayor’s office of their plans. We’re hopeful they’ll see how important this
station is.’
During the rally, Neubecker related three personal stories of anti-gay violence: in
1984, his cousin Jack was followed home from work by two men who suffocated
him with socks while sodomizing him; then, in 1989, another cousin of
Neubecker’s, Bobby Berger, and his lover were attacked by a man who broke into
Berger’s house and shot both men in the backs of their heads; then, in April 2003,
Lee himself became a victim of anti-gay bias. As he walked down Halsted, four men
from out of town, visiting for a Cubs game, began to verbally harass Neubecker. A
patrol car witnessed the harassment and gave chase; eventually two attackers were
arrested, charged, and convicted of the hate crime. Neubecker credited the quick
action of the responding Town Hall officers with not only preventing further violence
against him, but also sending a message to the attackers that anti-gay crime is not
tolerated in Lakeview.
The speakers list included several past and present representatives from the
Lakeview Citizens Council as well as spokespersons for Horizons, the Gay and
Lesbian Chamber, and the Lakeview Action Coalition. All agreed that both the
commander and officers of the Town Hall Station, as well as Mayor Daley, deserved
accolades for their sensitive approach to gay and lesbian issues.
Lee Hubbel, of the Lakeview Action Coalition, told the crowd that the nighttime bike
patrol his organization championed and that Town Hall officers wholeheartedly
supported cut hate crimes in Lakeview to less than 50 percent of their previous
level.
However, they cautioned Daley not to grow complacent because of the success of
policing initiatives in the Town Hall district. Maureen Martino, executive director of the
East Lakeview Chamber of Commerce, called Lakeview ‘the most condensed area
in the city. It’s an entertainment district, with over 650 merchants in East Lakeview
and thousands more in West Lakeview. Security for businesses, tourists, and
residents is supremely important. We need to make sure that people spending and
investing money in Lakeview are protected.’
Gregg Kiriazes, GLBT Issues Chair with the Lakeview Chamber of Commerce,
warned that ‘anti-gay verbal harassment is so common in this neighborhood, I don’t
even notice it anymore.’ Activists are concerned that if the neighborhood loses its
visible police presence, the already common verbal assaults might turn
physical—and perhaps, deadly.
44th Ward Ald. Tom Tunney told WCT that because of the city’s budget issues, the
2003 threat to close Town Hall is more serious than similar threats occurring in
1983 and 1992. ‘With the budget issues, and the fact that the crime rate around the
city is so high (while Lakeview’s crime rate is among the lowest in Chicago), the
mayor is looking at deployment issues to bring the overall crime rate down. There’s
a heightened concern about stations consolidating. All the districts are being
redrawn. A strong show of support is very important. I’ve been a victim of crime in
this ward, so it’s personal. … It’s a volatile situation—there are 40,000 people
coming into this community 80 times per year (to attend Cubs games) who are
drinking alcohol. This community could be a target for real danger.’
Why is it important that Town Hall officers remain at the Halsted Street station rather
than be redeployed to another location which would still serve the area? ‘It’s a
question of proximity,’ says Tunney. ‘In theory, it can be said that the community
would still be covered, but instant response time, bike patrols— all those would
suffer immensely. I think Town Hall is the symbolic home of the police presence in
the 44th ward, with its proximity to both Wrigley Field and the gay and lesbian
community. You don’t want to send the message to would-be perpetrators that
Halsted Street lacks a solid police presence. The end result of that could be very
tragic for the entire city.’
One idea being floated is a ‘swap’ of the proposed GLBT Center on Halsted
property, on the same block as Town Hall, to provide police with a larger facility.
Some GLBT activists view a Center located in the Town Hall station as more
financially feasible.