Parks Racisim http://www.nydailynews.com/new-york/parks-dept-workers-165k-discriminationsettlement-article-1.

1300923 Daily News EXCLUSIVE: 13 Parks Department workers get $165,000 settlement after claiming race-based transfers in Battery Park City The Public Enforcement Patrol officers filed their suit after being transferred out of the area in March 2011 which came months after escalating tensions between the mostly minority agents and some residents and were replaced with white and light-skinned staffers. The workers also complained of racist graffiti in Battery Park City that was directed at them. BY GINGER ADAMS OTIS / NEW YORK DAILY NEWS PUBLISHED: WEDNESDAY, MARCH 27, 2013, 10:40 PM UPDATED: THURSDAY, MARCH 28, 2013, 2:00 AM Print JEFF BACHNER/FOR NEW YORK DAILY NEWS A view of some of the buildings near Rector Place in Battery Park City. RELATED STORIES Pelham Bay Park under attack! Birds and squirrel shot with darts after trees vandalized in Bronx green space Alaska man who killed couple, raped tot released early from prison hours before: cops Dad allegedly bashes 6-week-old girl, puts baby in freezer to stop crying Hacker faces 10 years for breaking into intelligence firm website The city will pay thousands of dollars to dark-skinned Parks Department workers who claim they were transferred out of tony Battery Park City in favor of white and light-skinned staffers amid threats and veiled complaints that they were too aggressive. The workers filed a discrimination suit after the March 2011 transfers which came after months of escalating tensions between the mostly minority agents and some residents of the ritzy enclave. Swastikas and graffiti calling the Public Enforcement Patrol officers thugs, pigs and n-----s started popping up on benches and walls, according to the suit filed by 13 workers. KEN MURRAY/NEW YORK DAILY NEWS

Public Enforcement Patrol officer Charles St. Louis is one of 13 workers who received settlement from the city after being transferred away from their post at Battery Park City. The Parks Department wrongfully transferred eight dark-skinned workers out and brought in eight white, Asian or light-skinned Hispanics after the Battery Park City Authority a private trust that pays the city $2 million for 31 PEP workers on its 32 acres complained that some officers were too aggressive in ticketing residents, the suit charged. RELATED: TRANSGENDER TEEN DENIED BY WOMEN-ONLY COLLEGE Residents of the waterfront neighborhood were pleased when PEP workers ticketed visitors but annoyed when they got tickets for the same petty violations, said Charles St. Louis, a retired NYPD officer and PEP agent who is a plaintiff in the suit. NYC PARK ADVOCATES A flier that was put up around Battery Park City targeting PEP officers. Some people think that when they pay a hefty price for us as rentals, theyre entitled to act a certain way, said St. Louis, 49. Theyre okay with us ticketing teenagers on a bench for drinking in a park, but not when its their wine and cheese party on the grass, he said. The city admitted no wrongdoing in the February agreement of $165,000 $8,000 to each of the dark-skinned workers, plus the same payment to the replacement workers, who charged they were unwittingly put in the middle of a hostile situation. NYC PARK ADVOCATES More graffiti found around Battery Park City that expressed how some residents felt about the presence of the Public Enforcement Patrol officers. RELATED: APARTHEID ACCUSATIONS HIT SWEDISH BUS OPERATOR Civil rights still need to be constantly monitored, said Joe Puleo, president of the Local 983 union that brought the suit on behalf its

PEP worker members. We all know privatization allows people to get extra privileges because of the wealth that they have, but they shouldnt be able to manipulate the law. One black worker, George Parker, 62, will get a payment of $14,000 because a white resident went after him in a fury after another park worker questioned why his dog was off-leash. NYC PARK ADVOCATES Disturbing fliers were posted all over Battery Park City. Ive been around a bit in my time, even Birmingham, Ala., and Ive not seen much that was as bad as Battery Park City, said Parker. I got a lot of I pay your salary and You work for me when I tried to enforce the rules. Geoffrey Croft, president of NYC Parks Advocates, a non-profit watchdog group, said, "It is beyond belief that something like this would be allowed to happen in this day and age. The level of incompetence is frightening. The city and the Battery Park City Authority should be ashamed of themselves." RELATED: CHIPOTLE DROPS SCOUT-O-RAMA SPONSORSHIP OVER BOY SCOUT GAY POLICY PEP worker Keshun Anderson, 40, said she was once called a f---ing n----- by the white resident who fought with Parker . Linda Cronin, the lawyer for the 13 workers who filed the suit, said the settlement didnt address the blatant disrespect. The lawsuit alleged that the outrageous and despicable comments made towards the minority officers (and) the hostile work environment ... have gone unchecked, said Cronin. City officials declined to comment. gotis@nydailynews.com