Greenwood block party cut short by Ann Arbor police
The Greenwood block party is as synonymous with the end of the school year at the University of Michigan as the Naked Mile was a decade ago.Â
But just as the Naked Mile attracted plenty of attention from law enforcement, this year the Greenwood tradition was cut short by local police.
Ann Arbor police parked on the street and waited for people to disperse after 11:30 p.m. at the annual Greenwood Avenue block party Friday.
Angela Cesere | AnnArbor.com
Ann Arbor police ended the party at about 11:30 p.m. in response to a noise violation. By midnight all that existed of the block party was blue and red cups littering the street.
An end-of-the-year tradition, the Greenwood block party draws hundreds of students to laugh, cry, tell stories, drink, smoke, break-up and make-up before final exams.
On Friday, it wasn't without a few tense moments.
After a group of men got too rambunctious standing on top of a car parked on Greenwood, a friend of the owner almost settled the dispute with his fists. Cars trying to drive through the one-way street were met by students sitting on the hood or on top of the moving vehicle.
And apparently someone thought the scene was too loud and called police. Once officers arrived, they wasted no time making their presence felt.Â
A female officer almost busted a student for public intoxication, but it turned out he was just drinking an energy drink.Â
Another student flipped the bird to the patrol car as he stumbled out of the block party. Within seconds, he was cuffed and in the back of the squad car.
The officer let him go after coming to an understanding with the man's friends: All your friend will get is a ticket if you make sure he gets home as soon as possible. The young man was ticketed for being a minor in possession of alcohol.
Underage undergraduates returned to the dorms or to smaller parties, while upperclassmen left for smaller parties or the bar.
U-M senior Howard Swig said he's seen police shut down the block party before. When they do, Swig said, he and his housemates have their kegs ready for an afterparty at 920 Oakland.
"The police barely let the party go for an hour. That's crazy," Swig said. "That's why we have our own thing going."
Ann Arbor native Larry Lewis, 19, has known about the U-M party scene for years. Lewis, a student at Washtenaw Community College, even remembers when the Naked Mile was still the big end-of-year tradition.
The Naked Mile ended in 2001 as a result of technology and increased police presence. As the ranks of spectators grew to nearly 10,000 - many armed with cameras - police said they had to take action because the annual event was getting dangerous.
Students tried to keep the tradition going after 2001 but "the painted mile" and "the partially-clothed mile" just don't have the same novelty as the original.
Lewis said he's sad to see the Greenwood party getting smaller and ending earlier each year.
"I'm heartbroken," Lewis said of the short-lived nature of the block party. "You don't see block parties get this big and they're trying to kill it the way they killed the Naked Mile. But this is one of the things that makes Ann Arbor cool. "
James David Dickson can be reached at JamesDickson@AnnArbor.com.
Comments
DianeCantor
Sun, Apr 25, 2010 : 12:24 p.m.
I like the part where the 19 year old kid reminisces about the good ol days of the naked mile...in 2001...which means he was 10.
jcj
Sun, Apr 25, 2010 : 10:50 a.m.
@EG Maybe the cops should have been out ticketing jaywalkers (as you suggest in a post on a different topic)? Instead of harassing drunks. "And I REALLY do think Ann Arbor needs to start ticketing jaywalkers. They're unsafe to themselves, drivers, and bikers." Your words not mine.
jcj
Sun, Apr 25, 2010 : 10:17 a.m.
@awakened Ditto! I agree.
Awakened
Sun, Apr 25, 2010 : 9:17 a.m.
At MSU and Western (and schools around the country)these parties get larger and have resulted in riot-like clashes with both cops and students getting hurt. AAPD's policy of nipping the problem in the bud is far more efficient and safe. Good job. And good job to James on the story. I've noted several stories he's done that give us a better view of what actually happened than a three line blurb about something happening. I think the quality of the articles on annarbor.com is noticably improving since the demise of the Ann Arbor News.
SMOKEYBOB
Sun, Apr 25, 2010 : 8:31 a.m.
The ACLU is Americas biggest problem in my opinion. Maybe if they weren't aways worrying about schools allowing prayer and religous groups on school grounds they kids wouldn't be so carefree.
jcj
Sun, Apr 25, 2010 : 8:10 a.m.
@badgerbaby Whaa Whaa! The police wouldn't let me distroy anymore! I'm going to tell my momma. If the police did not have to baby sit a bunch of immature freeloading spoiled brats. They would have time to other things. Why don't you guy's make yourselves useful ( I know the word useful sounds foreign) and set up a watch group to help find the arsonist. But then maybe it could be one of your own.
Inde
Sat, Apr 24, 2010 : 11:06 p.m.
Well isnt this a biased article. If the POLICE didnt have to play babysitter to you college kids, maybe they could actually fight crime. Imagine that a block party for finishing school and people start to damage others property. Maybe if you kids didnt drink and party so much you could remember to LOCK YOU DOORS the crap your mommy and daddy bought wouldnt get stolen. Lets make it safer for everyone. "Ann Arbor native So and so 19, been around for what how many years?? Lameo And I hope one day YOU need the POLICE and they are too busy taking a report about stolen property, because the dumbass forgot to lock his car!
Victoria
Sat, Apr 24, 2010 : 10:31 p.m.
Even nicer video, go throw your cups, and bottles on the floor at mom and dads, jump on the car, and urinate on the floor, I'm sure they want to know what a higher education looks like.
Victoria
Sat, Apr 24, 2010 : 10:25 p.m.
Wow, I cannot believe the stupidity of these comments, the police are at fault because UM students want to underage drink, be disruptive, and act like children? And UM has the brightest and the best? Who are we kidding here. Drunk, stupid, and needing a diaper change. Grow up.
jcj
Sat, Apr 24, 2010 : 8:12 p.m.
@EG Your better hope they do profiling based on age! Suppose you had a 13 year old driving down the road. Would you want them stopped because they looked too young to drink? @get reel I bet you would think the story had some relevance if some idiot drunk was walking on the hood of YOUR car! @superliberal You have it right! Look at the comments about who the lions drafted. You would think THAT really mattered. These same "students" are always whining because they can't get a free education! I am tired of drunken parties getting out of control and being dismissed as fun or free speech. How would they like my expression of free speech if I met their "child's" play with a kick in the butt!
getreel
Sat, Apr 24, 2010 : 7:13 p.m.
Did some high school kid write this story? Is it really "news" or have any relevance to life at all? Did editors still exist? Yet another horrid example of dumb "journalism" from the good ole A2.com. It's hard to believe it's worse now than it was when it was still hard copy...but it is! And is a "slide show" really necessary? Keep up the outstanding work in Tree Town there, folks. Good grief!
Mark S
Sat, Apr 24, 2010 : 6:09 p.m.
These same students that were on the diag a week ago [counter] protesting for bigger government, higher taxes, and more regulation, are now suddenly whining about what a buzz-kill the G-man can be when you want a little freedom. The contradiction is enough to bring a tear to the eye.
URmaster
Sat, Apr 24, 2010 : 5:02 p.m.
Many things were different before the advent of technology. People died of treatable diseases, privacy rights weren't put to the test (see reference to Naked Mile), and parties were smaller and more intimate; I barely recognized a sole the last time I went to a get together because SO many folks present didn't even go to my school. Times have changed, maybe we need to as well? Hey, students could always have their traditional party on Second Life? :)
hotsauce_gm
Sat, Apr 24, 2010 : 2:09 p.m.
Oh, good ol' Greenwood... I miss the days of partying down there.
mike from saline
Sat, Apr 24, 2010 : 1:22 p.m.
where's Doug Harvey when you need him??
chapmaja
Sat, Apr 24, 2010 : 1:21 p.m.
GobluebeatOSU, Do you really think there wasn't a more obvious reason to detain this supect who flipped the bird to the officers. The fact that he left the scene with an MIP ticket likely meant the officers figured he was intoxicated in public (public intoxication is against the law). They detailed him for that and decided to ticket him for the MIP and let him go home. Students need to be aware it doesn't take a lot for a police officer to detain someone on public property. All it takes is reasonable suspesion that a crime has been or is being committed. Someone at a block party flipping the bird to the police is reasonable enough suspecion that he was in fact intoxicated (and was in public), thus he could lawfully be detained. If this was just some guy walking down the street at mid-day who flipped an officer the bird the case for detaining him would be much harder to make, given the case in Arizona (which is a different state and subject to different state laws).
mike from saline
Sat, Apr 24, 2010 : 1:18 p.m.
Assuming that most of these young men and women were UofM students, and came here from somewhere else, I'm wondering how many of these folks would pull this crap in there own home towns?
Rugkey
Sat, Apr 24, 2010 : 12:08 p.m.
Did you miss the parts about why the block party was disrupted? The police didn't intervene because everyone was having a good time and minding their own business; they were called to the scene because idiots who can't control their drinking were harassing passersby and potentially damaging private property. The police were doing their jobs. The party goers rained on their own party by behaving like idiots. Public intoxication has nothing to do with age profiling. The article never mentioned that the student with the energy drink was underage.
GoblueBeatOSU
Sat, Apr 24, 2010 : 11:57 a.m.
Cops need to be careful..."A student flipped the bird to the patrol car as he stumbled out of the block party. Within seconds, he was cuffed and in the back of the squad car."...Are the AA Cops aware that when another police department gave a guy a ticket for flipping the cops the bird....it cost the police department (well taxpayers) $4,000. Courts have ruled you can't ticket someone that flips the bird to a cop. Check it out. http://www.kansascity.com/2010/04/15/1880735/to-man-who-flipped-off-olathe.html The best part of the story...."As part of the out-of-court settlement of Schapers civil rights complaint, Olathe police also must train officers to take such abuse."... I don't know...is this funny...or sad???
Craig Lounsbury
Sat, Apr 24, 2010 : 11:51 a.m.
I must add that as an "old geezer" living on the south east side of town I feel much safer knowing these young whippersnappers are overindulging in adult beverages on Greenwood rather than wantonly running naked down South U.
Craig Lounsbury
Sat, Apr 24, 2010 : 11:44 a.m.
I bet this wasn't the first nor will it be the last time the police broke up a party in the streets of America. I can't believe I'm even commenting on it....except to pad my post count so I can win one of those swell prizes I'm sure is out there.
Christine
Sat, Apr 24, 2010 : 11:33 a.m.
Remember this when they are whining about budget cuts and reducing the force. Let them cut the budget. Please do reduce the force. Then change the name to what they really are: Department of Revenue. These cops are a joke. Send them to the unemployment office where they belong. This is America, land of the free? Yeah, maybe not! Who are they protecting from what when the majority wants a year end party? Your tax dollars pay their salaries!! Vote for budget cuts and reduction in force!
InsideTheHall
Sat, Apr 24, 2010 : 11:27 a.m.
The old liberal windbags forget what it was like 40 years ago. My God, they have turned into puritans!