DIDJA'? DIDJA'? WELL, DIDJA'?

  For those of you who are wondering what the heck that is in the title, well, merely find an Old Brooklynite for interpretation. It is a contraction peculiar to NYC, mainly among those born and bred in Brooklyn. Did you morphed into a Brooklynese didja'. Didja'?

However, it is more than a Brooklyn contraction. Far more. It carries within it the attitude, the pugnaciousness, the challenge found in all Brooklyn people. Most often it is accompanied with an index finger pointing, jabbing, towards the recipient of the Didja'? In fact, rather than the question mark, it is better expressed with an exclamation point after it. Didja'!! It is defiant, challenging and plaintive at one and the same time.

Why this topic today? Simple. Didja' ever think that our Village would succumb to a challenge from within? Didja"!?

Did you ever think we would have to save ourselves not from developers but from those who say they came here because they loved the Village and its way of life and now plan to rob it all, take it all, destroying that very thing they purport to love?

Didja'?   Didja'?!   Didja'!!!

The Village cannot allow an intrusion of any element of exclusion. Not of gender. Not of religion.  Not of sect. Not of ethnicity. Not of anything. We will not, indeed, cannot tolerate a ghetto, even one self-created in what I, and many others, believe to be an ongoing planned campaign to attain and retain the Village for themselves.

There are ample pathways to having a private, self-contained development. Build from scratch. Renovate a deserted one or one that has fallen into disrepair. Right here in south Florida, the land of sun and heat, where podiatrists are valued, the land where refugees from the North can walk freely, swim freely, without worry of sneak attacks on their cherished way of life. Didja'! Didja' ever!!!!!

It cannot, must not, be allowed to insert this segregation into the Village. No matter how many times we are 'reassured' that they will remain a part of the village. No they won't. Common sense and following the bouncing ball tells us so. Of course, one can buy in the stores, patronize facilities on Saturday. That is, until the owners ban all commercial activity in the building on Saturday. Great service for the Village, right? Didja' ever?

As for parking, well, that point is moot. Cutting spaces, complete saturation of all remaining spaces overnite from Friday thru Saturday nite, including the traditional overflow spaces available to Villagers, and busy all weeklong, well .... pfft! There they go. There they went. Pfft! All gone. whatever. Didja' ever? Didja' ever - and read indignation, anger, worry and despair into those didja's.

We are further informed that the safety of congregants is a huge factor in the desired establishment of an internal new synagogue, even with their semi-illegal satellites already established within the Village. The timing of the crossing periods has been extended and is flexible by dates and seasons. Perhaps they should look to their penchant of walking on the road, in the dark, with dark clothing, challenging already challenged drivers. Not to mention the increased safety hazards of increased traffic at a busy intersection of the Village will cause. Safety concerns my foot!

 Didja' ever?! 

So, back to the bouncing ball. Follow the track record of this group. Read what has been done before. Where rules and regulations were violated. Where overcrowding became a huge disturbing factor. Where illegal institutions and buildings were established. Where the way of life for earlier residents was callously disregarded and ruined. Kind of like, no, exactly like, how the way of life in the Village will disappear, trod under by those unwilling to share it with others. No matter the words and promises which issue forth from them.

 The facts speak for themselves. The track record speaks for itself. So before the entire infrastructure of the Village is subsumed by newly empowered boards and delegates whose wish is not so much to serve the Village, but to serve their needs, to claim more of the 70!!! pools, to claim more facilities, to create more points of segregation, to buy out the WPRF facilities, well....

The warning is here. We need to heed it. We need to fight for our way of life. 

Didja' ever. Didja' ever think we would be engaged in battle at this age, just when we want a bit of peace and quiet. Didja' ever think that even those who have crossed swords before now unite in this battle for our Village, for our very homes. I have lost count of the many, including myself, who fear having to pack up and move. To where? Who can afford it? Who has the energy to begin that huge job, once again taking apart a life and reassembling it? We all thought that was over and done with. Didja' ever.

So.... DIDJA'?

DIDJA'?? (FINGER JABBING)

DIDJA'?!

DIDJA'!!!

DIDJA'.

Send in postcards and letters to the Zoning Commission. Make phone calls politely stating your concerns. Be here for the hearings, even returning for the day. It is that important. Make no mistake about it. Do not underestimate the forces we are facing.

Raise your voices.

Let your voices be heard.

Make your concerns loud and clear.

DIDJA'?!   WILLYA'??