Saturday afternoon, after Hamden residents had not quite gotten the message to not come in close contact with one another, a yellow Parks and Recreation Department pickup truck drove onto the basketball court at Bassett Park and took down the basketball hoop.
Mayor Curt Leng stood nearby filming and streaming the video live on Facebook.
“Seeing that saddens me. But I think we’re doing it for the right reasons,” he said as he held his phone pointed toward the court.
Leng had made the call earlier to take extra steps to discourage people from gathering after residents did not heed orders to avoid close contact with one another. He said he had seen a group of people playing basketball, and that people were packed into the Hamden Dog Park. So he decided to close the dog park and take down the nets.
“After visiting a bunch of our town playgrounds and sports areas, unfortunately there was just a lot of close contact sports going on still, and so we had to take some additional measures,” he said as he introduced his Facebook video. He said he was filming the process to give residents a visual of the precautions he had decided to take.
The video showed a yellow Parks and Recreation Department truck on the tennis court. Two people stood on the bed and unscrewed the basketball hoop.
Leng then panned to the tennis court.
“And tennis courts are the same way. And down come…” he sighed. “Down come the nets.”
Leng said the town would be doing the same at all basketball, tennis, and other courts and fields in town, including at schools.
Parks, he said, remain open, and he encouraged people to continue to use them. People should just use their discretion, and not go to a park if it appears full. They should maintain six feet from other people at all times.
if taking down the nets is the only way people will follow the guidance of public health and other officials, then that’s what it will take. “They have to take it really seriously and they have to do the things that are being recommended by health professionals,” he said. “we’re in a situation where it’s not normal. We can’t act normal.”
Thank you Mayor Leng for taking action where and when action needed to be taken!! Great leadership requires clear and decisive action!! The unfortunate and disappointing reality in our society, and in this case our town, is that some people remain self-centered and irresponsible in the face of a situation that could result in their own demise or the demise of others. As if you have nothing better to do than babysit people who's common sense and judgement is absent. You have our family's 100% support in your actions today.