Description
On 9/29/10, New Haven truck 8 at 12:42 PM pulled into Cottage St, blocking it entirely, leaving its engine running until 12:58 so that these four lovely gentlemen could spend some quality time exclusively inside of the package store, finally emerging with quite a few brown bags.
Needless to say, I'm highly offended by this erroneously inappropriate behavior and find it absolutely unacceptable. I frequent Lulu's Coffeehouse and enjoy outside seating when the weather is agreeable, and I frequently see police officers buying booze on duty as well, but they don't usually block Cottage St or leave their engines running, and they also buy sandwiches and socialize with the folks at P&M so generally I give them the benefit of the doubt and assume hopefully that the liquor is for off-duty consumption. However I do raise an eyebrow at the practice of having to purchase alcohol while on duty, and now the extreme brazenness of the firefighters and their adding insult to injury by blocking a street and leaving their engine running, makes me second-guess myself a bit. I'm going to write a letter in regards to it every time I see a cop or firefighter buy booze on duty and anyone else who finds this behavior objectionable should possibly think about joining me if they bear witness to it, especially if they are blocking intersections/streets/are illegally parked while doing so.
Are any other Lulu's regulars who prefer outside seating really tired of seeing this sort of thing and find it to be in poor taste and at least mildly questionable? We need to speak up!
11 Comments
geefin (Registered User)
Maybe have a camera handy next time. Take lots of pictures. Be careful not to end up like this guy though:
http://www.quchronicle.com/2010/09/video-senior-arrested-after-filming-another-students-arrest/
tom in ct (Guest)
Liana (Guest)
Tom,
While I appreciate that there are folks who are willing to place themselves into burning buildings and the like in order to protect the public, I find the notion of essentially looking the other way as these folks disregard the law on the grounds of their profesion is a rather dangerous one. Just a thought.
gusbdman (Registered User)
With the crew that was on that day--(purchasing alcohol on duty--impossible). Blocking an entire road for 15 minutes without being on a call--again, highly unlikely. Like a previous post said, get your phone and/ or video camera out, and prove it.
Alcohol, regardless of its intended use, is prohibited by the city. Your local firehouse is among the most reliable, by the book, men and women. If you think they have alcohol, you can easily ask, or call the NHFD headquarters and report your suspicions. I guarantee you will be found out to be wrong--and yet, you will probably fail to apologize for your public scrutiny. What else is new.
Good luck on your witch-hunt.
juli (Registered User)
gusbdman:
i've seen them stop here as well, on a completely different date than the original poster, to do the same thing. it seems they were so comfortable inside the liquor store that one of the firefighters was actually leaning on the counter like he'd been chatting there for at least ten minutes.
so, because there is no video of what she said, you think it is unwarranted? why defend the actions of others when you aren't sure?
i think this issue is definitely something to look into.
gusbdman (Registered User)
Oh trust me Juli, I'm sure. Within the past 15 years, the NHFD has adjusted their tolerance of the "old days" to nil. No firefighter, let alone an entire crew, would openly use their piece to travel and purchase alocohol.
I don't think any neighborhood in this city, especially yours, would sit back and not say a word if this was true. I personally know that many of the business owners and neighbors know the leaders of this city very intimately, and would not tolerate those actions in that area one bit. You can make your claims all you want, but I do know that they are lies. No fire truck goes to a packy on duty and comes out with a bunch of "brown bags." Not once, or many occasions for that matter.
You are a despicable person for trying to make these firefighters and cops out to be "on-duty" drunks.
juli (Registered User)
Greg Boivin (Registered User)
Engines and Trucks will go get lunch while on the road, but picking up alcohol--NOT!--Especially with "quite a few brown bags."
Like I said--instead of see, click, fix--maybe you should make a direct complaint to the Mayor or Chiefs of the respective departments.
lc (Guest)
No use trying (Guest)
Y'ALL NEED TO CUT THESE PEOPLE SOME SLACK. IF YOUR HOUSE WAS ON FIRE AND THEY WERE DOING THIS -YES. YOU ARE MAKING ACCUSATIONS WITHOUT EVIDENCE. IF ANYONE DESERVES SOME SLACK ITS THESE GUYS.
TELL ME YALE TRANSIT DOES ANY DIFFERENT OR NOT WORSE.
Closed City of New Haven (Verified Official)