Abstract
Chris Myslenski shares his experiences growing up in the Tremont neighborhood during the 1940s and 1950s. Born to Polish immigrant parents in 1938, he discusses the cultural and social dynamics of his community, emphasizing the importance of family and local traditions. Myslenski reflects on his education at local schools and the impact of neighborhood organizations, including the church, on his upbringing. He recounts childhood activities, such as playing in the streets and participating in community events, as well as the challenges faced by families during economic downturns. The narrative also addresses the changes in Tremont over the years, including urban development and demographic shifts, providing a personal perspective on the neighborhood's evolution.
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Interviewee
Myslenski, Chris (interviewee)
Project
Tremont History Project
Date
2003
Document Type
Oral History
Duration
38 minutes
Recommended Citation
"Chris Myslenski interview, 2003" (2003). Cleveland Regional Oral History Collection. Interview 223055.
https://engagedscholarship.csuohio.edu/crohc000/1389
Transcript
Interviewer [00:00:03] 2002, side of A. What is your name?
Chris Myslenski [00:00:07] Chris Myslenski.
Interviewer [00:00:09] Can you spell that for me, please?
Chris Myslenski [00:00:10] It’s C, H, R, I, S. M, Y, S, L, E, N, S, K I.
Interviewer [00:00:15] Okay, give us a brief history of where you grew up, where you were born prior to your moving to Tremont.
Chris Myslenski [00:00:23] Okay. Well, I was born in Poughkeepsie, New York, 1973. I lived there four years and then moved to Cleveland with my mother when my parents were divorced at age 4. And all of my family’s from Ohio originally, so that was an easy move. And I lived here, went to grade school on the west side, went to Our Lady of Angels kindergarten, then I went to St. Patrick’s West Park. From there, my mom and I moved to Parma, and I attended St. Anthony’s of Padua till fourth grade. And then for fifth grade, I moved back to Poughkeepsie, New York, lived there for. Lived there till eighth grade and then moved back to Cleveland for high school. Now, I went to Parma High for two years. I went to Holy Name for two years, and then I ended up moving out on my own to Lakewood. I lived there for a few years, and in 1997, ’98, I moved to Tremont.
Interviewer [00:01:36] Okay, so you’ve been living in Tremont for a little over five years now?
Chris Myslenski [00:01:39] A little over five years.
Interviewer [00:01:42] Why did you decide to move to Tremont?
Chris Myslenski [00:01:45] Well, a lot of reasons. I mean, I like the diversity. I liked I wanted to be close to downtown due to school and work.
Interviewer [00:01:57] Sorry to interrupt. What were some of your thoughts on Tremont, or what did you know about Tremont before you moved to the area?
Chris Myslenski [00:02:09] Well, actually, what I knew was kind of a mixed neighborhood. I knew that there was some rough elements to it, you know, as far as inner city goes. I knew that. That there was a higher crime rate than there may be in the suburbs. But there was also. It was in close proximity to downtown. I worked in the restaurant industry. I’m very much into music and art, and there was a lot of musicians and artists in the area, so I had a few friends in the area. Actually, my first experience with Tremont was when I was 16. My friend Mike Candy used to pick me up, and on the weekends, we’d take his mom’s car over to Professor Market and buy beer. And so that was one of the early- [crosstalk] Yeah, it was one of the first early places where we could get beer. So that was actually my first experience. And I didn’t even know what the neighborhood was called at that time. But then when I got older, I actually lived in moving from Lakewood. I moved to Ohio City. Actually, I missed that. I moved to Ohio City right before Tremont, and so I was exposed to the area. I knew the general area, and I liked the neighborhood. I like the diversity.
Interviewer [00:03:26] Okay, where approximately do you live in Tremont?
Chris Myslenski [00:03:30] Right now, I’m over on Fairfield.
Interviewer [00:03:32] And that is in relation to- Can you give me maybe an overview of the landmarks in the area around [inaudible]?
Chris Myslenski [00:03:39] Okay, well, when you enter Tremont, Tremont is kind of like a little island. Okay? On the north side, you are separated by the valley and by the Cuyahoga River. And then on the south side, it levels off, and it’s kind of like a little plateau. And on the south side, you have all the steel mills. And then it’s cut right in the middle by, is it 90. cuts right through it and kind of separates it from the neighborhood called Duck Island, which is between Ohio City and Tremont. But basically, to get into Tremont, there’s many ways to go, but there’s a few that are the main way. There’s Abbey Road, which is a bridge, and that connects basically the Ohio City-West Side Market area with Tremont. And then there’s West 14th, which is what you would take to get to all your southern suburbs and western suburbs. But. So I’m over by Abbey Road, and you’ve probably heard of Sokolowski’s. That’s on the end of 11th. And if you go a few lights south, a few stop signs south. Actually, it’s one stop sign south on 11th. That’s Fairfield. And I’m right on Fairfield.
Interviewer [00:05:02] Just give me a description of the type of neighbors, maybe in your area, ethnically, agewise, if there’s anything that really stands out of your neighbors or the neighborhood.
Chris Myslenski [00:05:22] To tell you the truth, it’s a wide range of people. I mean, we have, you know, everything from, like, redneck hillbillies to upper-class, you know, doctors, lawyers, too.
Interviewer [00:05:40] They’re all in the same few houses.
Chris Myslenski [00:05:43] Yeah, actually, the social- The range of, like. I mean, like, just on my street alone, there’s probably maybe 10 houses. Within those 10 houses, actually. Okay, I’ll give you the rundown. You know, there’s our house. The people who live behind us are. It’s a guy who’s a musician. The lady who lives upstairs works at Cleveland State. She- I don’t- I think she’s in the- Yeah, I don’t remember what department, but she does work at Cleveland State. I think she’s in billing or something. The guy to- The girl to my right is a musician, waitress. The lady to my left works as an accountant. People across the street, the guy’s a businessman, drives a Mercedes. The other guy to the left across the street owns these like, name’s Keith Brown, he’s a big. Owns a lot of real estate treatment. One of the biggest land holders in Tremont.
Interviewer [00:06:48] Can you repeat his name for me?
Chris Myslenski [00:06:49] Keith Brown. Yeah. And so it’s just a wide range, you know. And then down the street, you know, there’s housing projects in the area. So there is one major, I think it’s called Valleyview or Valley something, Valley Crest. That’s like a major housing project. Low income. And then there’s a wide range. There really is. There’s, you know, there’s- There’s guys that are just kind of trash, you know, there’s like a whole white trash element. There’s a whole- There’s the alcoholics who live under the bridge. There’s quite a wide range of people doing different things.
Interviewer [00:07:27] And you said that you were in the restaurant business, service industry, yeah. Did you work at any particular place in Tremont?
Chris Myslenski [00:07:37] Yeah, well, currently I work at the Lava Lounge. I DJ at the Lava Lounge every Saturday.
Interviewer [00:07:44] Where is that located?
Chris Myslenski [00:07:45] And that’s over on Auburn Avenue, which is on the south side of Tremont. It’s actually right before you leave the historic borderline, the boundary. And I’ve also worked at Miracles when it was open, which it’s no longer open. And that’s right on Lincoln Park. I’ve worked at Fat Cats briefly, served there. I’ve DJed at the High and Dry, and where else have I worked in Tremont? I think that’s about it. [inaudible]
Interviewer [00:08:36] So, okay, what do you do? You said you DJ during the day? I understand that you are in education?
Chris Myslenski [00:08:46] Yes.
Interviewer [00:08:48] Where are you currently teaching?
Chris Myslenski [00:08:53] Right now I’m teaching at Luis Muñoz Marín, which is over on Clark Avenue. I think it’s right around 6th and Clark. West 6th and Clark. Might be 7th. Basically, if you head south on 14th, you’ll get, you’ll reach Clark, so it’s very close to Tremont. Actually, a lot of the students who attend that school live in Tremont.
Interviewer [00:09:25] Have you ever taught in Tremont at all or done any work with inside Tremont?
Chris Myslenski [00:09:32] Yes, I taught at Tremont Elementary. I did a volunteer, some volunteer teaching with the Junior Achievement, and I taught a first grade class and second grade class.
Interviewer [00:09:48] Can you describe the makeup of the students, both racially, economically, ethnically, of the students in Tremont?
Chris Myslenski [00:09:58] Mm hmm. Ethnically and racially the first and second grade classes were very mixed. I would say racially they were 50–50. If not, I’d say it was maybe a third to a quarter Black, another maybe quarter white, and the rest would be Latino, Hispanic, other ethnicities. But the socioeconomic status, I would say is on the lower end of the spectrum. Most of the kids were poor, on the poor end of the spectrum. A few middle class. You could tell there’s a few middle-class kids, but on the whole, I would say it’s lower income.
Interviewer [00:10:50] So would you say that you would, in your opinion, the children that live in Fremont, would they be sent out to maybe a private school or would they-
Chris Myslenski [00:11:01] You mean the children who were of a higher-
Interviewer [00:11:04] Yeah, of a higher class?
Chris Myslenski [00:11:05] I would think that there’d be a percentage that would be in private schools, but I’m not really sure. I’m not sure if I can accurately answer that.
Interviewer [00:11:15] Okay. What do you think if you were to teach a lesson on Tremont, what do you think would be important to include. If you were to teach junior high, junior high school, middle school students? What do you think, of the aspects of living in Tremont and teaching in Tremont and the neighborhood, what do you think would really be an important point to get across to students who live in the suburbs, who aren’t familiar with the urban community, urban setting?
Chris Myslenski [00:11:53] I think it would just be the point that you have such a wide variety of people living in this small, relatively small area, and that they’re coming from all different backgrounds and different socioeconomic classes, and it works. I mean, people are getting along. There’s a lot of art. There’s a lot of- A lot of art, a lot of music and a lot of- A lot of- It’s just- It’s just a good example of people from all different walks of life kind of getting together and creating a community. It’s the sense of community that you get with being with a wide variety of people. They’re- I think one of the things about Tremont is cool too, is that there’s no corporate, like, there’s no McDonald’s. There’s no, like, major corporate. There’s no, you know, shopping, there’s no shopping strips or any kind of corporatized elements. It’s pretty much- It’s like there’s a lot of small businesses, a lot of things on that level.
Interviewer [00:13:26] With the infusion of money and condominiums and housing coming into Tremont, where do you see Tremont? What direction do you see them headed with gentrification and things like that?
Chris Myslenski [00:13:40] Well, it’s definitely- I mean, the property values have been increasing. I mean, it’s one of the shining examples of the urban renewal movement, I guess you’d say. Which is another thing you could look at Tremont as an example of, I mean, if you were teaching, if you’re teaching anything, it’s just that you can take a community, that you can fix it up, that you know, that you can make it a nice place to live for everybody to live, no matter where you’re from. But, I mean, I see that it’s definitely- I mean, it’s. There’s a lot of money being put into it. There’s a lot of investment. If anything, I would just say it’s gonna, the property values will continue to increase. I know they’re supposed to tear down the school relatively soon, and I don’t know what-
Interviewer [00:14:29] The middle school?
Chris Myslenski [00:14:30] Yeah, they’re gonna actually tear it down, which is a shame because they just put millions of dollars into installing all-new windows in the whole building last like within the past couple years. But I don’t know what their plans are for a new school. [crosstalk] But overall, it’s on the rise.
Interviewer [00:14:48] Do you think people, the older aspect of treatment with the steel mills in the old industry, think that that will get lost? They’ll- The older- As the influx of people, business type people move in the older, the families and the ethnic areas, the neighborhoods areas. Do you think that will get lost while the gentrification process and renewal occurs?
Chris Myslenski [00:15:18] When you say gentrification, what do you mean by that?
Interviewer [00:15:25] Like, I mean a rebuilding of a community from the outside, people from the outside putting money to build up-
Chris Myslenski [00:15:39] Do I think that that’ll dilute, that it’ll lose its kind of character-
Interviewer [00:15:44] Yeah.
Chris Myslenski [00:15:45] That makes it up-
Interviewer [00:15:46] Because it started blue-collar, you know, [crosstalk] really ethnic know really. A lot of churches on the corner. I mean there’s-
Chris Myslenski [00:15:53] Yeah, there’s still- There’s- So there’s probably 15, 20 churches within I don’t know how many square miles. But yeah, there’s a lot of churches in Tremont. And I’m not sure, you know. I mean, you have a certain- You have- You have your. You have a large. A large amount of the properties are rental properties. So you have a certain portion that’s. That is used for renters. And then you have your homeowners. And I don’t know how, you know, the turnover on homeowners- I want to say no, because I think Tremont kind of attracts a wide- There’s a lot of different people that come into the area for different reasons. I think you have your you know, your young professionals that want to live close to downtown. I think, you know, again, there’s a- It’s a big art community. So you’re gonna have- There’s a lot of- A lot of art galleries in Tremont, which is another reason I moved down there. So you’re gonna have, you know, you’re gonna have a segment that wants to- You’re gonna have a portion that wants to go down there for music for our- You want to have kids. There’s a lot of bars in the area. So there’s a lot of people just come down because they like, you know, the bar scene. They like being in a small community where there’s neighborhood bars and they can, you know, socialize. There’s- So you have people down there for that. There’s people that just enjoy, you know, living in an urban environment where their neighbors are white, Black and all different races. And there’s a. There’s a big mix of people. So I think that, you know, the draw of the neighborhood. Neighborhood appeals to a lot of people. And I don’t- I think you’re going to continue to have that diversity. I don’t think it’s going to get monopolized by, you know, one or the other. I think it’s going to stay pretty, pretty mixed. [crosstalk] As far as the blue-collar thing goes, though, I mean, I know the steel mills, you know, there seems to be less activity, but a lot of that industry is on the outskirts of Tremont. It’s not directly in the neighborhood. I mean, it kind of surrounds the neighborhood. And, you know, a lot of those industries aren’t doing as well as they were. They’re not booming. I can tell you that. The steel mills have slowed down a lot. I could say there’s probably less pollution. There’s slightly less pollution there than when I lived there, when I first moved there.
Interviewer [00:18:03] You said that one of the reasons you moved to Tremont was because of the art. Are you an artist or what?
Chris Myslenski [00:18:12] I’m a musician. That was my-
Interviewer [00:18:14] Art galleries?
Chris Myslenski [00:18:15] Yeah, they do an ArtWalk the second Friday of every month and that- And all the art galleries basically have new shows. And they have a small map that maps out all the galleries. And, you know, it’s kind of a thing. People go and they just go from gallery to gallery and see all the new art.
Interviewer [00:18:39] Do you think that would be an aspect of education for students? Or do you think that- Would that be something that someone could touch on for Tremont, maybe the art gallery?
Chris Myslenski [00:18:54] Oh, sure, sure. Just the art community in general there.
Interviewer [00:18:58] Just describe that a Little bit. What kind of art?
Chris Myslenski [00:19:00] Well, there’s all kinds. I mean, I’d say there’s probably 15 to 20 galleries. Not all of ’em are open every month. You know, some of ’em you probably have to make appointments or, you know, to actually go in and check out. But I think there’s probably a good 15 that are listed on the ArtWalk, and I think for any art student, they would be, you know, it would be a great resource or a great place to visit and see what’s going on. Mostly local artists, you know, mostly artists who live in the area. Different shows every month. For me, I’m more of a musician than an artist, but I appreciate art. And, you know, I know I’ve enjoyed the shows, walking around and checking out the galleries. So for anybody who’s into that, I think it’d be great.
Interviewer [00:19:56] Okay. Getting back to the education aspect of Tremont. Did you know the history of Tremont before you moved there, growing up? Did you probably- Did you learn anything about Tremont, maybe in Parma or in Lakewood or when you were going to high school or anything? Or did you maybe learn at all when you moved into Tremont?
Chris Myslenski [00:20:24] Well, my- I actually learned about- The first exposure I had to it was with my aunt, and she taught at Tremont Elementary. Yeah, she taught at Tremont Elementary for I think, eight years. And so I heard about it from her and she said, you know, I just heard that it was a rougher neighborhood that, you know, and I think it was back then. It was a lot rougher.
Interviewer [00:21:00] And what timeframe would that be?
Chris Myslenski [00:21:02] Oh, boy. That was prior to 19- That would have to be before ’90, or ’89.
Interviewer [00:21:21] What grade did your aunt teach?
Chris Myslenski [00:21:25] She taught kindergarten.
Interviewer [00:21:28] Is that how you got involved with Tremont? Was that first or second grade?
Chris Myslenski [00:21:33] No, that was through Junior Achievement. That was from, through Cleveland State.
Interviewer [00:21:41] Just wondered. You said that there are like churches in Tremont. Just wondered if you could maybe give me a description. You know, do you go participate in any- [inaudible]
Chris Myslenski [00:21:58] I don’t. I do not participate in any of the churches in Tremont. There are quite a few. St. John Cantius is one of the major ones. There’s St. Augustine’s. There’s- Boy, there’s- There’s a whole handful. And I couldn’t even tell you. I’m not the- I’m not an expert by any means, but I have- Actually, when I first moved into the neighborhood, I did take my friend’s camera and I just walked around taking pictures of all of ’em. And there’s some really beautiful, very beautiful buildings.
Interviewer [00:22:31] The architecture?
Chris Myslenski [00:22:32] Yeah, great architecture. [tape stops and restarts]
Interviewer [00:22:36] Okay. Would you like to talk about some of the businesses, small businesses you mentioned? There’s a lot of small bars, cafes, restaurants in Tremont.
Chris Myslenski [00:22:49] Yeah, there’s quite a few, actually. There’s a lot of bars in Tremont. There’s a lot of restaurants, fine dining as well as casual. There’s a few social clubs, again, a lot of art galleries, a lot of churches, only one laundromat, and a couple of convenient marts, like corner stores type marts. And then of course, we have the West Side Market, which is right across Abbey Road Bridge, which is probably the best place to shop. And then from there, if you wanted to get a grocery store, it’d be Dave’s, which is not my favorite grocery store, but. So, yeah, there’s quite a few little small businesses in the area.
Interviewer [00:23:41] What kind of restaurants would you say there are? Are they higher class, upper end, or-
Chris Myslenski [00:23:46] Yeah, there’s fine dining, there’s a few sub shops, a few sandwich shops, there’s two coffee shops. And then, you know, a handful, probably a good six or seven, you know, fine dining establishments, good food.
Interviewer [00:24:06] Does it seem odd that these restaurants of the community in Tremont, the majority of the community can’t afford to go to these restaurants?
Chris Myslenski [00:24:17] I wouldn’t say the majority. Again, it’s, it’s. It’s pretty mixed.
Interviewer [00:21:21] That’s the picture that’s painted by us people that are outside. We get the feeling, or I do, that there’s poor- There’s a bunch of poor people in Tremont, and then there’s a bunch of nice places that people from the suburbs come.
Chris Myslenski [00:24:37] Okay.
Interviewer [00:24:38] And then they come, they spend their money, they leave.
Chris Myslenski [00:24:41] Right.
Interviewer [00:24:41] And the people in Tremont, actual people in Tremont, are kind of left to the curb. Is that, is that a-
Chris Myslenski [00:24:47] Well, to a degree. I mean, I think that the restaurants definitely depend upon people from the suburbs coming in and spending their money there. Yes. If it were just dependent on itself, I don’t think, you know, there might be one or two or maybe three small, you know, restaurants. But yes, we did, definitely I think that the business definitely. The businesses definitely depend on people from a separate structure coming in. But again, I mean, there’s- There’s quite a- I think the image of Tremont being, the majority of people in Tremont being poor is not quite the truth. I think it’s pretty, pretty mixed. I mean, the actual housing before the projects area is actually a very small area of Tremont. But.
Interviewer [00:25:39] Okay. I just wanted to discuss a little bit about the makeup of Tremont in relation to the Innerbelt pretty much cutting the community in half. I was wondering if you could maybe give me a little bit of information on, like, how the whole dichotomy up Tremont is. Is a little bit askew because it’s two separate communities almost within Tremont because of the interval that cuts across.
Chris Myslenski [00:26:15] Well, actually, no, the Innerbelt, like, is the border. It doesn’t. It doesn’t stretch beyond that, so.
Interviewer [00:26:22] Oh, really? Okay.
Chris Myslenski [00:26:23] I wouldn’t say that it cuts it in half.
Interviewer [00:26:26] Okay. It’s a misrepresentation on my part.
Chris Myslenski [00:26:29] Yes.
Interviewer [00:26:30] Thank you for correcting me.
Chris Myslenski [00:26:40] One of the interesting things about Tremont, too, is it actually was- The whole neighborhood was based on a university, and that’s why you have, like, Professor Avenue and there’s a few other streets that have the university. There’s a few other streets that are named after the university. But if you go down over by 7th Street, there’s actually a big, it’s like, it’s the actual university that used to be there. It’s a huge building. And I don’t know what time it, you know, I don’t know when. At what year they- What, the year. What year they closed it. But.
Interviewer [00:27:16] About how long ago was this? Was the-
Chris Myslenski [00:27:20] Was the university there?
Interviewer [00:27:21] Yeah.
Chris Myslenski [00:27:21] Oh, God, I don’t know. I’d say late 1800s.
Interviewer [00:27:24] Oh, really?
Chris Myslenski [00:27:26] Early 1900s. I’m not sure, though, but it’s a guess.
Interviewer [00:27:30] Quite a long time ago.
Chris Myslenski [00:27:31] Yeah, a while ago.
Interviewer [00:27:32] Before our time.
Chris Myslenski [00:27:34] That’s fair to say.
Interviewer [00:27:37] Okay.
Chris Myslenski [00:27:46] Let’s see. What else can I tell you?
Interviewer [00:27:49] If there’s anything else that comes to mind, maybe, like I told you, I’m trying to relate this to a teaching of a class on an urban community in relation to a larger community and in respect, from teaching suburban students to urban and urban living in urban community. Is there anything maybe we haven’t covered, maybe that you could help?
Chris Myslenski [00:28:17] One of the things I like about Tremont also, and it goes in with the community, is that it is kind of like a separate little island. I mean, it’s almost like a little island and kind of- And so you have all these different people kind of like in their own little community. It’s not like, you know, on the west side where it’s kind of spread out and you really can’t tell the difference between one area or the other or the communities kind of are interwoven. It’s kind of like a little isolated place, which I think kind of gives you a sense. It’s like, gives you a sense of home or a sense of community. I know teaching at the school, I really enjoyed it because, you know, I see those kids, you know, I’ll walk up to the store and see the same kids in school and you know, I see their brothers and I see their parents and I like that a lot. And I think as a teacher, if you were living in Tremont and you’re teaching in Tremont, it’d be a challenge because of the poverty. But in the same context it’s kind of nice because, you know, you’re teaching these kids who are maybe not as well off as you are and maybe have some challenges ahead of them, but you can make a difference that way and you can kind of see where they’re coming from. You’re actually living there with them. You’re not, you’re not coming in from a suburb to the setting where you have no idea what’s going on and you’re just kind of trying to teach them. You’re actually living right next to them. So even though you’re not in the situation, you’re in the same community and you, you can understand them on that level. And I think it’s, it opens your, it can be, you know, an eye-opening experience just to see how different people live and to see, you know, such a wide range, wide variety of people all living so close to each other.
Interviewer [00:30:06] Is there, is there busing in Tremont, to Tremont or out of Tremont? [00:30:09]
Chris Myslenski [00:30:10] Like for school?
Interviewer [00:30:11] For schooling.
Chris Myslenski [00:30:12] Yeah.
Interviewer [00:30:13] There is?
Chris Myslenski [00:30:14] I don’t know if you’re, if you mean from like other communities. I’m not sure, but I know that they do have, they do have public school buses-
Interviewer [00:30:22] Inside Tremont, but not out? Not sending out or sending in?
Chris Myslenski [00:30:25] I’m not sure.
Interviewer [00:30:27] I didn’t, I didn’t know.
Chris Myslenski [00:30:33] But the school’s not in bad shape. I mean the school is-
Interviewer [00:30:35] So they’re tearing down the school?
Chris Myslenski [00:30:37] They are going to be tearing down the school in a few years. And from what I’ve seen about two years ago they did a major- They put like all new windows in the entire school, which is like a major project. And the condition in school didn’t look that bad to me. [I guess it was way a lot worse because the windows had been bad for a long time. But yeah, they’re supposedly supposed to tear it down. So I don’t know.
Interviewer [00:31:06] Do you know of what the plan is, where the students are going to go?
Chris Myslenski [00:31:09] No, I have no idea.
Interviewer [00:31:10] They haven’t said? No. Or decided- What are they turning it down for? Just to rebuild or-
Chris Myslenski [00:31:18] It’s too big.
Interviewer [00:31:20] In such a small space? They don’t utilize all the-
Chris Myslenski [00:31:23] Size, right.
Interviewer [00:31:26] Do you envision at one time that it was a pretty cool school then?
Chris Myslenski [00:31:31] Yeah, I would think so. [
Interviewer [00:31:32] Back when the industry, steel mills and-
Chris Myslenski [00:31:34] I would think, yeah. [tape stops and restarts]
Interviewer [00:31:41] What kind of crime? Have you had any problems or any friends or neighbors with crime in the area?
Chris Myslenski [00:31:52] Well, there, there is a significant amount of crime. There’s a decent amount of crime. I mean there’s. I know that there’s been. Since I’ve lived there, my car has been broken into. It’s been stolen. It’s been stolen. Broken into. Stolen once. It’s been broken into probably three times with windows smashed out.
Interviewer [00:32:13] Same car?
Chris Myslenski [00:32:14] Yeah, same car. Actually, it was really interesting. I lived- I used to live at the end of Thurman Alley and there’s a parking lot in the back. And I got a call from a friend of mine who worked at a restaurant next door to where I lived, asking me if I knew where my car was. And I had since moved from there maybe about a quarter mile away over on Tremont Avenue by the school. And I got a call and she wanted to know if I knew where my car was. So, yeah, I know where my car is. It’s in my yard, you know, backyard. I haven’t driven it in probably a couple days, but it’s back there. Well, she said she thought I better come down there and check this out. So I go down to where my old address was and my car was there. And apparently some kids had stolen it from my new house, joy-rided it to this lot, which happens to be the lot I used to live at, and parked it there. And kids from the neighborhood and playing in it for like two days. We just been like, it was like the neighborhood- Everybody whoever stole it told the kids and they were just having fun in it. Well, my old neighbor thought that I had parked it there. She didn’t realize was stolen and she just thought a window was broken up. So, so, so that was kind of interesting. But then, yeah, it’s been, you know, you can’t, you got to be, got to have a little bit of- Gotta have some street smarts about it. You can’t leave anything in your car that, you know, could potentially be stolen. You don’t want to leave any bags in your car, you don’t want to leave, you know, your radio unprotected. You know, I leave my doors open now I don’t even deal with it. I just make sure that there’s nothing to take. And I have a nice column lock on my car. But I haven’t experienced any break-ins or anything like that. I don’t really know anybody who’s had their house broken into. But I’ve heard, I’ve heard of a few, few stories. I know not long ago a lady jogging got stabbed in the park.
Interviewer [00:34:05] In Lincoln Park?
Chris Myslenski [00:34:06] Yeah, in Lincoln Park. I know that when I lived on Thurman Alley, there were numerous robberies by gunpoint. You know, you have your regular vandals. There’s, you know, there’s drug dealers around. There’s some street dealers in certain areas and so, you know, you want to avoid that.
Interviewer [00:34:25] Does this seem, it’s overall interesting that though, that there’s an influx of higher, higher-end housing going up and condos in a neighborhood where it’s- Would you, I don’t know, would you characterize it rampant crime or.
Chris Myslenski [00:34:42] No, it’s, it’s just intermittent. You know, it would be, it exists. I’m not going to say it’s a major threat.
Interviewer [00:34:48] It’s not on par with other communities.
Chris Myslenski [00:34:49] I’m not saying you shouldn’t worry. I’m not saying that you should be like going in there with your mace out and being prepared to be attacked. But you should- You have to be smart. You have to, you know, know that you could. That there is crime in the area. And then you just have to be smart about it and you’re fine.
Interviewer [00:35:06] People come in from the suburbs, they’re not used to this kind of-
Chris Myslenski [00:35:10] Right. And those are usually the people who get robbed or - like you. [crosstalk] What do you mean?
Interviewer [00:35:16] Getting a car broken into.
Chris Myslenski [00:35:18] Oh. Right. Yeah. Well, when I was new there, I didn’t know and I’d leave things in my car and I’d find my window busted out, things gone. But you learn quick. And-
Interviewer [00:35:29] What kind of enforcement do they have? Do they have a precinct in the area?
Chris Myslenski [00:35:33] Yeah, there’s Second District, which we had some interesting incidents with them. They’re pretty- I don’t know what to say. There’s some stories of- Yeah, there’s been some instances of police brutality within the past year or two that I’m aware of. And other than that, I mean, I have no qualms about the police.
Interviewer [00:36:02] Do you like to elaborate at all on these incidences? I mean, what were they noted in the, in the public or in the-
Chris Myslenski [00:36:13] Yeah, well, actually- [crosstalk] Well, yeah, we had- Okay, story goes, a couple friends of mine, actually my neighbors, who are also my friends, the neighbor next to me and the neighbor behind me, we all kind of share a yard. And so we decided to have a party and invited some friends over. And I’d say overall, you know, all together it’s maybe 100 people there. And so the police showed up. We had some music. The police showed up and started- Somebody said something. One of the officers got mad and slammed the kid down. And basically what should have been just a really small incident turned into basically almost a riot. They had 10 cop cars, a helicopter, like, the whole deal, and a few people got beat up pretty good. But-
Interviewer [00:37:09] Any closing comments?
Chris Myslenski [00:37:12] Well, I just want to thank you for. Thanks for having me. I think it’s interesting, you know, it’s fun to talk about. I like the neighborhood a lot overall. It’s been a good stay for me. I’ve enjoyed living there and great place to- Great place to visit. Come on down and have a drink sometime, Tom.
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