The Battle For Lake Front

I thought of the Rage Against The Machine album while writing and rewriting the slug line for this post.

I interviewed Greg Hamm in March about a diverse array of topics. One of the points Hamm made was that General Growth Properties doesn't prosecute skateboarders at the Lake Front. This sounds encouraging, since he made the point that the property itself is seldom frequented by other residents.

Last night I discovered the loophole while talking to this unnamed sentry. GGP won't prosecute but Columbia Association will. I told him my name was Frank and that I was new in town, a recent emigrate of Baltimore. In fact, I've been banned from the Lake Front several times. Our conversation served as a testimonial to the inadequacies of their cruel and crude system.

According to the off-duty police officer who moonlights as a security guard, even stepping foot on the property with a skateboard is a hellworthy trespass. Last night I had been skating the white wooden stage at around 6:30 with no problems. I left for the mall but doubled back to the double block to retrieve my tea shades. It was then that I was informed of my transgression. After a short conversation and a well crafted ruse, he gave me a flier with dates and events on it, claiming that CA had events every day of the month.

As I sat on the double block, reading Fear & Loathing On The Campaign Trail and sipping steam through my hookah, I noticed that not a damn thing was going on. No band, no movie, business as usual.

The point of my story is this: Most of the time, the Lake Front is not being used. If the weather is nice, people may walk through the Tivoli square or fish at the docks. I've never seen people sitting on the double blocks nor have I read a newspaper article reporting on the injury and hospitalization of some young skateboarder at the Lake Front.

The laws are unfair, and the restriction of the space goes against the ideals that the space was intended to uphold. To date I haven't heard of an incident involving a skateboarder and a pedestrian. We do our thing, they do theirs. Destruction of property? Nothing has been destroyed and seldom is any of it used, except by us.

By prosecuting us, you are draining the lifeblood from the already desolate Lake Front. What else is there to do for young people, have a Singapore Sling at Clyde's?