CONCERNED CITIZENS SPEAK OUT ABOUT THE DANGEROUS STUNTS BEING DONE BY VEHICLES AT THE INTERSECTION OF WYLIE AVENUE AND FULLERTON STREET IN THE HILL DISTRICT. PICTURED AT LEFT IS BRENDA TATE; AT RIGHT IS REGGIE HOWZE SR. (PHOTOS BY J.L. MARTELLO)
Occurs on Wylie and Fullerton on some weekend nights
What happens in the dark has come to the light in the Hill District.
Some Friday or Saturday nights, maybe 11 p.m. to 1 a.m. or so, dozens of cars converge in the Lower Hill, at Wylie Avenue and Fullerton Street, about a block south of Freedom Corner. The vehicles are doing what some people call dangerous “donuts,” or spinning around in a circular motion, leaving thick black tire marks that probably are viewable from the moon. The people involved in the car stunts are recording it on video, causing a loud commotion, and it’s not sitting well with some senior citizens who live nearby in the K. Leroy Irvis Towers.
A NEWS CONFERENCE HELD, JUNE 15, BY SENIORS WHO WANT ILLEGAL CAR STUNTS TO END IN THE LOWER HILL DISTRICT. (PHOTOS BY J.L. MARTELLO)
The seniors held a press conference at the site of the action, Thursday, June 15. Reggie Howze Sr. was among the crew that’s determined to put an end to it.
“I’ve seen it myself three times, 75 to 100 cars,” Howze told the New Pittsburgh Courier. Howze has only been living at the towers for a few months. “If this exact same scenario was going on anywhere in Squirrel Hill or Fox Chapel, it wouldn’t have lasted 20 minutes, let alone two years. The fact that it’s the Hill District is why nothing’s been done (about it), I’m convinced of that.”
“The danger to public safety, damage to property and noise level disruption is of great concern and needs to stop,” Tate, a retired Pittsburgh Police detective, said in a statement. “Seniors living at K. Leroy Irvis Towers are being tormented by the noise during the night and causing them fear as this is happening just yards from their building.”
Tate said it’s difficult to know exactly when the entourage of cars will show up in the Lower Hill, performing their best “Fast and Furious” stunts, like they’re in a movie. Messages permeate the online community, but they’re encrypted, or said in a way that masks exactly when the pop-up event will take place. It doesn’t give the seniors a chance to warn Pittsburgh Police beforehand.
GLORIA JONES
SENIORS DEMAND THAT THE CAR STUNTS IN THE LOWER HILL DISTRICT CEASE.
Inside the actual City of Pittsburgh, it’s hard to find room to perform the illegal car stunts, burnouts, etc. But in other cities that aren’t as dense, like Chicago, New Orleans, Atlanta and Detroit, this activity is commonplace, although police attempt to “break it up” when they see it happening. It just so happens that the Lower Hill is in the process of being transformed into the headquarters for First National Bank, as a 24-story structure is in the making. The Civic Arena is long gone, the area now a bunch of open space and parking lots, and Wylie and Fullerton is a somewhat-hidden intersection there that is only regularly used by PRT buses, which has turned into Ground Zero for the car stunts.
The seniors, like Gloria Jones, said at the news conference in the Hill that they’ve “called the Pittsburgh Police several times, and they seem to come but they leave and the racing still continues.”
BRENDA TATE
Tate said: “We’re not here to bash the city, but what we’re here for is to make sure (the seniors’) voices are heard.”
In a statement, Tate added: “This is a public safety issue and a nuisance to seniors who wake up in fear every night that it takes place. It is also dangerous to the young people who perform this stunt burnout driving while crowds stand around them and cheer as the vehicles spin out of control.”
City of Pittsburgh Public Information Officer Cara Cruz told the Courier on June 27 that the car stunts do happen “in other parts of the city from time to time.” But specific to Wylie and Fullerton, she said that “officers respond to disrupt the behavior and issue citations when they can. It’s important to note that officers will not pursue vehicles that flee from the area.”
C. DENISE JOHNSON, AMONG THE SENIORS WANTING CAR STUNTS IN THE LOWER HILL TO END.
Cruz also said that “because this is not a well-traveled spot, police don’t often know about it until someone calls when the noise becomes disruptive. Still, police encourage anyone who witnesses this behavior to call them immediately.”
REGGIE HOWZE
Howze, one of the seniors, told the Courier that Pittsburgh Police need to make stopping the activity in the Lower Hill a priority. “If the police give it respect, the other people will give it respect, too.”
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