Victim of an Incident at Woodstock Senior Center

FIND Aid for the Aged, Inc.
160 West 71st Street, Suite 2F
New York, NY 10023

Attn: Mr. David Gillcrist

Executive Director

Dear Mr. Gillcrist
I was the victim of an Incident that took place on February 12, 2010 where a fellow member of the Woodstock Senior Center at 127 West 43rd St., N.Y., attacked me and tried to pummel me.
  I complained to the Woodstock Center Director and presented him with a Complaint Statement, and asked for a meeting when a determination was reached.  I initiated the meeting and was told that the determination was two members having an altercation.  My problem with this determination was that I had my video camera secretly rolling and captured the incident on this media and presented the evidence to your staff. You can clearly hear who is at fault.  On my own initiative, I met with Denice Jones and another person who I think shares her office.  Possibly Barbara Blackman.  I was told the person who attacked me is no longer at the Woodstock Senior Center. 

Even though this fellow who attacked me is not at the Center anymore, this incident is not closed for me. The month or so leading up to this incident, the incident itself and the meetings I had with your staff, need to be discussed.  I would like to know if it is possible to meet with you and discuss these events and issues.

I recently emailed Ms. Jones several times for a written determination of this incident, but as of yet, I have not heard from her. 

**The best way to contact me is email**.

Sincerely,

Meeting With Mr. Gillcrist

IK: Why am I here? I wrote something out and I will give you a copy.

Several years ago, I was looking for places I could access a PC during the day.  Several senior centers offered PC access. I came across your center from your website, depicting a very nice atmosphere.  Quoting your Website: “Simply put, Project FIND’s five senior centers are fun places to be.” Based on your website depiction, I decided to become a member of the Woodstock Senior Center and soon after, I applied to go on a trip to the Nordic Lodge Lobster Fest.  Which was really good.  I hope you have it again.

Mr. Elvis Vargas an administrative assistant initiated the sign-up for a trip ticket.  I told him that he had a poor attitude and poor customer relation skills. A verbal argument ensued.  Even though I was arguing with him, I never gave him any indication that I was a threat to him.  He wound up chest shoving me…

DG: How long ago was that? This year?

IK: Not this year.  I’ve been at the center 3 years.  When I first came to the center…and I wasn’t used to his behavior…I had been to other centers…it was just very poor the way he was treating me. Maybe I pushed the envelop just a little, but I never had any intention of violence and was never going to touch him, but he resolved it buy chest shoving me. He could of resolved it easily, Mr. Kaplan calm down, or I’ll call the police, or I am going to get the director.  .... Something...He never said anything.  It made me more angry.  But anyway, he did chest shove me.   He had every opportunity to resolve the situation but preferred violence.

 Mr. Marti, the Center Director asked me if I wanted to call the police and press charges.  I declined to do so, not wanting to cause any more animosity.  He indicated to me that he would fire Mr. Vargas.  I suggested to him not to, and refrained from pursuing this incident.  (I now believe that the Police should have been called).

I had been coming to the center sporadically on and off for at least 3 years, mostly to use the PC room.  I realized that the atmosphere of this center was a little rough around the edges, but I pursued a “Live and Let Live” philosophy and kept a low profile.  On several occasions, I began to notice loud boisterous talking and foul language (like the “N” word and “M….F….” and some racist comments being articulated),....at different times...in the dining room. 

The day of the incident, and I heard some “N” words…I was sitting down for breakfast… and other inappropriate language coming from the table of my attacker…which was right behind me.  3:44 I decided to secretly record the table’s conversation (with my mini “Flip” camera), to present to the center’s director.  I turned on my recorder and almost immediately; I heard a blast from a canned-air-canister.  Have you ever seen those?  It's an air horn. 

DG: OK, yeah!

IK: He blasted it in the dining room...at me...eating breakfast.  An attack on me ensued....of course I turned around in surprise...I didn't say anything, but he got out of his chair...I have a transcript of  the recording.

DG: I've seen the recording!

IK: OK, I have a transcript if you want to see that.

An attack on me ensued without any provocation, and when I complained to your staff about the incident, the reaction of your staff was very oddly nonchalant, and yet for me it was traumatizing.  (Again, I now believe the Police should have been summoned).  I asked Mr. Marti for a meeting to present my case, but I was told his boss was aware of the situation. 

A week went by and I didn’t hear anything, so I initiated a meeting with Mr. Marti and he told me that this incident was an altercation between two people, both equally at fault. I was not satisfied with his decision.  I had a compelling recording of me being attacked and when I asked him if he had played the recorded evidence, he told me “no, he was unable to play it”.  By the way, I had mentioned to him…When I gave it to him…if he had any problems playing the recording I would play it for him. ...I didn't write that down...Mr. Marti then told me that this person who attacked me was temporarily removed from the senior center, for reasons other than the ones pertaining to my incident.  

I decided to call and speak with Denice Jones, Director of Find’s Senior Centers, to pursue this matter further. To avoid phone tag, I went to see her. She stated that she heard my recording and also related to me, the person who attacked me was temporarily removed from accessing the Woodstock Senior Center.  My meeting with Ms. Jones was oddly reserved and did not resolve anything, nor did it change the determination Mr. Marti had presented to me.   

I believe my attacker did not seem to be in a normal state of mind, and the incident conjures up all kinds of scenarios and questions:  (..and I made a list of questions...)

• Was my attacker on illegal drugs when he attacked me? 
• Does he have a history of mental issues? 
• Other than the air device, did he have a weapon on his person, when he attacked me?
• Does he have a criminal background? 
• What’s the real reason for his removal from the center? 
• Was this a biased attack on me, and was this also a concerted attack to intimidate, scare and bully me, into leaving this center? Which I’ll talk about in a minute.
• Was this disturbed individual not only trying to intimidate and harass me, but is it not plausible that he might have been bullying and intimidating other tenants and center patrons?
• Why is the FIND staff acting so oddly reserved, and why did Denice Jones not respond to my emails? I sent her several emails requesting a determination, and she never responded.  I gave her plenty of time.  To this day...it’s got to be several weeks....

 DG: 7:16 Well, I think people have explained.  What you refer to as a temporary ban is one of three months duration.  That’s not short.  That’s about as severe as we ever do …they did take it seriously. They acted to remove him immediately.

IK: Was it because of…I was told it was because of other reasons, initially

DG: I have an Incidence Report that speaks to the altercation, with Blanding, and speaks to your video documentation.  We take that very seriously and we have removed him immediately. Its three months.  We will monitor this guy and if that happens again then we will impose something even more severe.  It’s a big assemblage of people and there from all strata and a lot of people that have had a very tough life and very complicated are rough around the edges, 8:51 we need everybody to be sort of peace makers in that place, because there is only so much staff.  90% of them are focused on getting food out and they are in the kitchen behind the thing and they are not out there. So we need everybody’s talent to sort of make this a more peaceful place and less confrontational. Sometimes people like go off, 9:30 and it’s the slightest provocation, will send them there.  And we all need to be…figure out a way we don’t contribute to an environment…things escalate and that’s one of the things we obviously…he’s very much on our radar.  We’re very much concerned…his outbursts were unacceptable. I can’t answer a lot of the questions as to his motivation…what was his motivation directed towards you.  I have no idea.  10:33

IK: I know why I was attacked.  I know that. That doesn’t bother me. I was willing to come to the center even knowing what was around me.  My analogy is: When you have a rabid dog in your neighborhood what do you do…Well he hasn’t bitten anybody yet, so let’s leave him be.

DG: The analogy is very imperfect.

IK: In a sense there is something wrong with this guy.  I’m not a psychiatrist; I’m not a mental professional in any way. But I can tell that there is something wrong with this guy. OK…compared to the some of the other people I see there…and compared to me. He does definitely have mental issues and could be on drugs.  I don’t know.  Nobody told me anything about him.  I didn’t even know his name. Let me just finish reading this, because I think it’s important.

If any of these scenarios are true, why wasn’t the attacker being monitored more closely? The attack lasted almost 2 minutes you can check the tape…It’s almost a minute and 50 seconds.11:58

DG: What time of the day was that?

IK: It was a quarter to nine. It was breakfast time. The attack lasted 2minutes.  The person who scans the member’s cards the kitchen staff all had to see and hear the ruckus. Why didn’t they summon Mr. Marti. This person inappropriately used an air-can-device.  It was loud in the dining room.  The whole world could of heard it, but nobody helped or came to investigate. 

DG: I agree entirely with you on that. Why didn’t a staff member get alerted at that moment? So we’ve looked into and we’ve spoken to Antonio so there are some procedural things that are going to change.  It’s unfortunate that it is often things that happen that bring to light sort of weaknesses in your modeling systems.  I agree with you how does somebody have a tirade for that length of time without a staff member coming in, I don’t know.13:18 We are developing an awareness that the kinds of things people are going to have to do.  You have wet workers that aren’t thinking of themselves as staff people.  And are not thinking of themselves as lines of report.13:38 You have people checking people in that don’t think they have a monitoring responsibility. So that’s going to change.  I agree there’s some sort of monitoring protocol that were brought to light that definitely needs improvement. 14:18

IK: Maybe you need a security guard…I don’t know…on the 2^nd floor.  Look, you have all kinds of people coming and going….

DC: We’ve also run successful programs there for years and years and years and then to the extent that something happens and pentesonicly isn’t a shocker to me. 

IK: I been trying to tell you I have been coming there for 3 years…and kept a low profile

Sometimes I see other…when I have lunch…I see other diners from other centers, which is nice.  I wish more people like them…they seem to be a little different than the tenants and the people that come.  I am wondering why don’t more people come from the neighborhood?  I’ve come to the conclusion…because they’re frightened. They are not like me who is trying  to work within that atmosphere.

DC: Where do you live...you say?

IK: I live in Forest Hills, Queens.  I am retired and I am looking for things to do.  I’ve joined other centers and I know the differences I know the differences in food, and I’m trying to go to museums, be in the city just trying to be active within my means.  The Woodstock is in my favorite area, 15:33 the Times Square Area.  What’s been done to that area is wonderful.  Your place is kind of a throw back to the pre-Guilliani-era.  I’m disappointed because so much has been done to that area.  I’m not saying that the people in the center shouldn’t live or shouldn’t be accommodated or helped.  But, if you’re going to have a place like that you got to have an iron hand.  If somebody acts out of line you have to be strong …a no tolerance policy. What if he hurt me?  That would be detrimental.  That would be an end to you.

DG: He’s been banned for 3 months.

IK:  But this guy…there’s something wrong with him.  He should be looked at…you know.

DG: Let me tell you one thing.  The nature of our financing does not allow us the liberty of…to deny access to people lightly. There’s voluntary funding, voluntary contributions…you’re 60 and over or you’re 55 and live in the building you have the right to use that center. Except for rare instances where someone is wildly inebriated,…you can’t prohibit people from coming.  So our hands are tied in a lot of respects.  So we are place where…the building itself is over 60, 70% are the people coming from the homeless shelter.  That’s the nature of the financing we receive.  That’s who we are going to be serving.  That’s really the majority; we have to work with that.

IK: Then you have to add certain safeguards.  I’ll give you an example, and I kinda wrote it out:

Recently I was eating in the Woodstock dining room and I saw an altercation between two diners. One accused the other of having a knife. Mr. Marti was there in a flash.   I saw the whole incident.  And after the incident I went to Mr. Marti to tell him my rendition of this occurrence.  I went into his office and told him, I don’t want to mix in but…without allowing me to finish he told me he resolved the issue and I was mixing in.  The accuser said he saw a knife and as a precaution the Police should have been called. I’m a troublemaker now.  Mr. Marti feels threatened by me.  And maybe he should.  By the way he is the sweetest nicest man…ever…from what I see.  I really don’t know him.  From what I see….he always says hi Mr. Kaplan.  I appreciate that.    So I think he is a sweet man.  I think he is trying to do his job by not doing it.  When there is an incident with a knife, even if there wasn’t a knife…if somebody says there’s a knife, I think you should call the authorities. 18:58 He didn’t search anybody.  So how did he know there wasn’t a knife?  You know what I’m saying.

DG: I’m not going to second guess him.  He is not required to share his findings and deliberations with non-involved center members.

IK: I understand that.  In my opinion…since I had the incident…then I see another incident and the police are not called…possibly a weapon…there is something wrong.  There’s got to be some sense of danger there.  My scenario is a lot of the tenants have criminal records, a lot of tenants might have been on drugs, or are still on drugs.  A lot of the people that come in from the homeless shelter are druggies…and I met one the other day.  We were having a conversation he was on one PC and I was on another.  He kept on dosing off…he couldn’t get on line so I helped him get on line, we had a nice conversation.  I don’t mind that.  People are people.  As far as I’m concerned I’m going to interact with everybody.   As long as they are not violent. He happened to be the one who said that there was a knife.  He told me the story and I recognized him.  20:43 That he was involved in that knife incident and he insists that he saw a knife.  I think the Police should have been called. You’re right. That’s my take.  Mr. Marti made a decision and he is the decision maker and I understand that.  But my take is…..

DG: We have to take a look at…..there’s upward of 180 people that have a meal at any onetime.

IK: Could we bring in a security person? I know John does an excellent job scanning in people.  But he is not all together. 

DG: You  have no idea how poor our budgets are.  That’s a real problem.  We have to make work with making staff have more eyes on what’s going on where there is attention to something significant going on. That’s what we have to do with the existing people we have.  And some of that is training.  22:08  The big picture…I’ve been with this organization 7 plus years is that….you know…I’ll tell you this there’s been stuff that our fancy programs...ha, ha…involved people pushing each other onto the ground, is that the nice people do some weird shit too…or using drugs as much as anybody else. I know that you know that. Nothing horrible has ever happened.  This was unacceptable what happened with Mr. Blanding and his treatment towards you.  He was off his rocker. We know he’s off his rocker. So we’ve suspended him for 3 months to drive a point home. Of course there is a spotlight on him. There’s very much a spotlight on him. 22:57 We will not hesitate to take even stronger action. 23:11

I think what I have been told, is that they had told you the actions that were taken against this person, and that you were expressing dissatisfaction with that.  How often do you go to the center? It’s not a soup kitchen its not a mission. 27:10 It’s more of people that are from more of a economic distressed strata.  No ones trying to get rid of you.  Enjoy the beautiful day.  Our incidence reports that we write up are internal documents that we do not share.  I’ll write a letter that summarizes our conversation and I’ll tell you we’ve suspended Mr. Blanding for 3 months and will be monitoring Mr. Blanding.