North End Safe and Sound?

When I first saw Chris Hong’s article in The Citizens Voice, Courtright Neighborhood is part ofquality housing trend in W-B, my thought was, oh thank God our city is finally on the mend, and a seemingly trustworthily professional from outside the city (Barbara Rupert, HDCNEPA) was telling us just how great Da Hood was going to be.

That article made it seem like folks would be lining up, just to have the opportunity, to live in our city.

Then I opened my paper today only to find a horrifying letter to the editor from a lifelong North End, city resident (Margaret Gatusky) titled New projectis in center of deteriorating North End. 

Mrs. Gatusk delivers quotes like

• Barbara Rupert, manager of the Housing Development Corporation of Northeast Pennsylvania stated, "The neighborhood is vastly improved, (and) the safety issues are gone."

• On what planet does Ms. Rupert live?

• She has got to be kidding!

• My neighborhood is not "vastly improved," and to state that "the safety issues are gone" is absolutely ludicrous.

Now I’m confused, is it great or not?

Well at the crime watch meeting in the "deteriorating North End" last night, I heard from residents who talked about

Bad News

• Shots Fired, as a regular nightly occurrence

• 4 separate houses with drug activity

• Over Doses from the afore mentioned drug houses

• Out of town landlords

• Mysterious suitcase activity all over the North End

Good News

• No Home Invasions 

Seriously folks that was the good news, as if they expected home invasions. It happens so often that when any month goes by where one little section of our city doesn’t see home invasions they tout it as a success story. 

How Sad for our North End that a non crime is considered good news.

So with that it’s my guess that as we have seen many lifelong city residents fleeing the city, like rats from a sinking ship, It would be a safe bet that it’s not as great as we were lead to believe, but then again this isn’t the first time we were asked to BELIEVE!!

Wake Up Wilkes Barre

Thank you Mrs. Gatusky for having the courage to tell it like it is.