The empty lot that made a temporary home for the 2009 Capitol Hill Garage Sale hosted another event last night but this one was more secret and featured a lot more boogeying. People’s Parking Lot reports a ‘guerrilla dance party’ broke out in the lot on Pine at Belmont last night around midnight. The Stranger’s Christopher Frizzelle was there:
The kicked up dust: New Depression-era fog machine. The cops standing outside of their vehicles, their blues and reds flashing: government-provided scenery. The music: Rhianna’s “Please Don’t Stop the Music,” Destiny’s Child’s “No, No, No,” Dolly Parton’s “9 to 5″… Which begged the question: where the fuck was the Michael Jackson? Made my way to the DJ—hats off to the DJ for sticking his neck out like that and for getting all his gear set up out there—to request some Michael Jackson, and the DJ replied, “No, sorry, this is the last song.” And then the cops were upon us.
The PPL post also gathers some choice Tweets about the event by a none-too-happy neighbor.
Heard on the scanner from the East Precinct’s response to the flash mob:
- A scramble to find an unlocked police car to haul a public address speaker to tell the dancers to go home, presumably
- A report that westbound Pine was briefly blocked by revelers
- A relieved sounding officer reporting the crowd was dispersing around 12:30 AM.
Elsewhere on the Hill last night, a strong-arm robbery at Chop Suey sent a man to the hospital and officers also responded to an assault outside the Rosebud where there was a report of a man attacking a woman and a fight breaking out.
while i think the idea of a dance party (or anything really) in that lot is pretty cool, the execution really sucked. blasting music at midnight in violation of noise ordinances only goes to show how selfish and self-centered some people on the hill can be. why not have the dance party earlier like at 9pm? you know, when most people probably AREN’T sleeping.
and i’m sure my comment will bring up the retort of “you live in the city, you should just get over it” or “you live in a fun neighborhood and should expect noise”. true, i do expect noise and routinely sleep with my windows open during the summer with normal traffic and sidewalk noise. what i don’t expect is “da club” to be outside my window at midnight and i’m sure neither did the neighbor who called the cops.
i say all this because i’m constantly seeing people comment about how that space should be taken back; to have something cool happen on a regular basis there. but it’s hard for the neighborhood, as a whole, to embrace it when you have individuals who’ve no respect for those who live nearby. if this is how the lot is going to be used i’d rather it stay a dusty field.