Rant – Blaring music, partying, racing on Kenyon & SW 24th

[imsorrydave]

A couple months ago, an up-and-coming local rapper was tragically shot near Queen Anne, and his memorial was constructed around the SW 24th and Kenyon street sign, apparently near where he grew up. This is a really touchy subject and I don’t want to rub anyone the wrong way – but ever since the tragic event there has been constant commotion at this street corner.

For the first couple weeks, a group of his friends congregated at the memorial every evening into night, played the rapper’s music from their cars, and generally kept to themselves. I don’t think anybody living nearby took issue with this, it was sad, touching really, and I went out a few times to talk to the people making the memorial and connect with them. They seemed really nice, and were clearly experiencing a tragic loss.

As the weeks have gone on, the nightly gathering has gotten bigger and bigger, with more and more cars and people showing up every week. The activities have shifted as well – now every evening it’s blaring music (all sorts, not just the late rapper’s), people yelling, racing their cars, and drinking publicly. This last weekend was the most people I’ve seen so far; 30-40 people were in a big group in the middle of the road, completely blocking it, with music blasting from their cars, easy-up tents on the perimeter, with children running around in the street unsupervised while people publicly drink, fight, and yell obscenities.

Illegal activity I’ve observed:
– Blocking traffic, stopping cars and refusing to get out of the street
– Publicly drinking, and overt public intoxication (in front of SPD even)
– Racing cars up and down Kenyon St
– Blaring music from their cars well into the morning (2am+)
– Massive amounts of littering

The handful of times I’ve observed these illegal activities I’ve called SPD and made a report, and every time they say they’re aware of the group that is hanging out there, and that they are receiving multiple reports every time I call. I’ve seen patrol cars show up a number of times, but nothign ever seems to get resolved. SPD just shoos people out of the road, and the music is turned down until they leave again, when it all resumes.

I’m not sure what to do at this point – it seems like it’s gotten to be less about the memorial/remembrance and more about getting together every night and causing commotion/loitering. I don’t want to step on anyone’s toes because of the context of this tragedy, but it’s really starting to be a problem for those of us living in the nearby apartments.

/rant

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