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By Carolyn Freundlich
7/25/2010
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SUMMIT, NJ - Residents remain shocked by the tragic death of Abelino Mazariego. Last Saturday evening, the Summit resident was beaten to death by two teenagers while he sat on a park bench in the downtown Promenade.
No one thought the ongoing problem of misruly teenagers in downtown Summit could escalate to murder.
Nanette Kryston, owner of local business Kryston’s Hardware and president of Summit Downtown, said that throngs of teenagers hanging around the downtown has been a longtime problem. "Kids hang out around downtown and cause mischief. They do things like silly string the side walks and break planters. But, none of us thought it would escalate to something like this."
Another local merchant, who requested not to be named, said that his store has frequently been harassed by teenagers. "The Promenade gets rowdy, with more than thirty or forty kids hanging around."
The merchant said that he has contacted the police about the problem and not much has been done. "I don’t want to put pressure on the police. I know they are doing all they can considering the cuts," he said.
The City of Summit lost $700,000 in state aid to its 2010 municipal budget, forcing the Common Council to make compensatory cuts. When the budget was adopted on June 16th, 2010, the reductions heavily effected the Summit Police Department -- two officers weren’t replaced, another two were let go and their overtime was cut.
Residents and members of the governing body raised safety concerns over the Council’s choice to reduce the police presence in Summit. According to an article by The Alternative Press reporter Bob Faszczewski on June 16th, 2010, "Mayor Jordan Glatt said he could not support a budget which put the city in jeopardy."
"We did email the police chief to ask if they could have a stronger presence downtown," Kryston said in conjunction with Summit Downtown. "We got an email from the police chief saying we’re doing all we can do, but don’t have the police force to have a constant presence down there. He said to have the merchants call whenever there is a problem."
Kryston said that when there has been a problem the cops have responded immediately. "They always handle any situations right away," she said.
"Some of the teenagers are very rowdy and disrespectful, and we tell the police who they are," the unnamed merchant said, echoing Kryston’s sentiments. "But I can’t see any of the teens hitting someone. I knew Mazariego, he came to my store once or twice a week. A very, very nice man. It’s devastating, I can’t see why someone would do something like that. It’s brutal...I can’t imagine anyone from our town doing that."
Editor’s Note: Mayor Jordan Glatt was unavailable for comment for this story. The Summit Police Department declined to comment.
Photo above: A photo of Abelino Mazariego was placed on the bench at the Promenade in Summit where he was killed.
Photo by Michael Shapiro
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