For over half a century, our community's pathway through the park has been a lifeline - a route to work, to school, to the store, to medical appointments. It's been the main artery of our neighborhood, uniting us and offering us the shortest, safest route to daily necessities. Now, egregious police harassment thwarts our simple, essential travels.

One horrifying instance involves a handicapped elderly woman who, blockade by unjustified police measures, fell and sustained severe injuries leading to a stroke. Her journey's sole purpose was reaching her dentist. She is my mother, an embodiment of an escalating issue.

Similarly, my brother faced harassment simply for endeavouring to buy food. These instances reveal an unjust pattern of impediments we face in our daily lives.

Nationally, there have been increasing reports of police harassment and over-policing in neighborhoods, disproportionately affecting marginalized communities (National Bureau of Economic Research, 2018). We too, in this community, are victims of this trend with the pathway situation being a prime example.

Having to reroute around the park, going all the way to 87th street, not only inconveniences us but risks our safety. It is unacceptable to be forbidden from using a pathway that offers the shortest, most accessible route to our daily destinations. We will not let our safety and our convenience be compromised in the guise of law enforcement.

This is a call to end the needless harassment on our park pathway. Let us safely reach our destinations without fear of baseless police intervention. Your signature is a step towards reclaiming our safe, convenient passage. Please, sign this petition.