[Photo courtesy of David Shankbone]

(We originally ran this item early yesterday morning, but since our server was down most of yesterday, we’re reposting it this morning.)

There is nothing like a little public oral sex to liven up an afternoon trip with the kids to Cobble Hill for ice cream. This is what’s being reported in a Park Slope Parents email as taking place of Friday around three in the afternoon at the 15th Street F Station (doesn’t say which exit). The parent who reports the incident was with her son and daughter. Here’s are some excerpts from this neighborhood story:

As we entered the turnstile, I looked up towards one of the staircases, and saw a man sitting on the stairs receiving oral sex from a woman whom I recognized from the local women’s shelter. I was so shocked that I just stopped in my tracks, and the man actually made eye contact with me and smiled. Ugh. I can’t quite find the words to describe how I felt (not very hungry for ice cream, anyway…). I rushed down the stairs with my kids as quickly as I could and called the police.

To make matters worse, I have often seen this same guy around the neighborhood, drunk and passed out or stumbling about. In fact, he got on the bus next to us on the way home from the ice cream trip (there went dinner). Thankfully he was too drunk again to recognize me. I feel like the security presence in the F train, both the stops at 9th street and 15th streets, keeps getting worse and worse. I kind of expect that seedy stuff happens in the stations late at night, but this was in broad daylight, and we could easily have walked down that same staircase! How can we get better security in our train stations? What else can we do here? I can’t accept this being part of our beloved neighborhood.

A subsequent email added a complaint about activity in JJ Byrne Park, though nothing as dramatic:

I’m so sorry you experienced that. What can we do generally about some of this activity around the slope. We live near the JJ byrne park and its often frequented by drunks and people generally up to no good. Why is this allowed to go on at a kids park, in a family neighborhood?…Plus that park is disgustingly dirty. Anyone want to test what is living in that constant water pool next to the drinking fountain.

And that’s today’s take on the state of the neighborhood for a Summer Sunday.