My final visit to Gracie See Pizzeria

Last time at Gracie See from Frank Nemecek on Vimeo.
Gracie See Pizzeria has been an institution in the Warrendale neighborhood since they opened in 1969. For almost half a century have been what sociologists like Ray Oldenburg call "the third space" - places that are neither work nor home; places where neighbors can gather to catch up on each other's lives and share stories.

Places like this are part of what makes Detroit - or any other city - a truly livable community. For the past few years, it has been an honor to have Gracie See Pizzeria as a sponsor of this blog and a joy to host a monthly pizza party there.

It was with no small amount of sadness, therefore, that I walked into Gracie See Pizzeria for the final time before they closed. I will miss them. I will miss every single one of the people who made it a special place for decades.

While it doesn't diminish my sadness about losing Gracie's, I also remain thankful for Chick's Bar, Tijuana's Mexican Kitchen, Nick's and the dozens of other such places that remain in the Warrendale neighborhood.

The Warrendale (Detroit) Blog will return in earnest on Monday, February 1.

Last Party at Gracie's EVER

Pizza party at Gracie See Pizzeria - Photo by Frank Nemecek

I have hosted monthly pizza parties at Gracie See Pizzeria (6889 Greenfield Rd.) since 2008. They've been a great opportunity for friends and neighbors to come together to talk and share our lives. Unfortunately, they will soon come to an end.

Gracie See Pizzeria has been sold. The business will close on January 31. That location as well as the vacant liquor store north of there will be demolished for a new strip mall.

While it's sad to see an institution like this come to end, I feel it appropriate for us to gather one last time. My final pizza party at Gracie See Pizzeria will be on Wednesday, January 27 at 6:30.

I expect a large crowd for this one. Many former residents of the neighborhood have indicated that they will travel many miles for one last visit to the place that has been a Warrendale institution for nearly half a century.

RSVPs to the Facebook page are appreciated, but by no means necessary. I hope to see as many readers of this blog there as possible.

The Warrendale (Detroit) Blog will return in earnest on Monday, February 1.

Warrendale on Detroit Public Television

Back in May of this year, I was interviewed by a crew from Detroit Public Television about life in the Warrendale neighborhood. This was part of a larger series that DPTV did on Detroit's neighborhoods post-bankruptcy.

The clip on Warrendale aired on the American Black Journal recently. It is currently available on Detroit Public Television's YouTube channel and is embedded above.

I couldn't help but notice that the segment on Warrendale has received more YouTube views than anything else that DPTV has posted. I think that is a good indicator of the fact that there is an audience that wants to see more of the Warrendale neighborhood.

This blog will return in earnest on Monday, February 1.

Dr. Ben Carson from Detroit

Dr. Ben Carson - Photo by Michael Vadon

Retired brain surgeon and Republican presidential candidate, Dr. Ben Carson, has been at the center a media firestorm in recent weeks. Much of it centers over details from his past, such as questions as to whether or not the story that he once stabbed a man as a teenager is true.

I don't normally discuss presidential politics on this blog. While Dr. Carson isn't from the Warrendale neighborhood, he is from Detroit. There is at least one portion of this scandal that I feel an overwhelming urge to opine about.

That is this: You know someone is from Detroit when them not stabbing another person is the basis for a presidential scandal.

And that, quite frankly, is all that I feel needs to be said about this matter.

Looking back on the Ransom Gillis House

The Ransom Gillis House has stood vacant in Detroit's Brush Park neighborhood for decades. Various attempts have been made to save this historic home over the years, but it looks like Nicole Curtis is going to be the one to make it work.

Nicole Curtis, of course, is the hostess of Rehab Addict on HGTV. She has rehabbed historic homes across the country but has concentrated on Detroit. The Ransom Gillis House is one of her latest projects.

Her work on this historic home has garnered a significant amount of media attention. Curbed Detroit, Detroit Free Press, Detroit News, MLive, and WXYZ-TV are just some of the media outlets that have covered the redevelopment of this house. I'm excited to see this home come back to back to life and am grateful to Nicole Curtis for all of her hard work.

The media attention, though, does make me want to share a documentary short that I made with former Warrendale resident Lee Runchey back in the summer of 2007. Our film Held for Ranson is embedded above.

Detroit Police Commission issues annual report

The Board of Police Commissioners, which is a civilian board mandated by the City Charter to oversee the Detroit Police Department, released their 2014 annual report. This report includes statistics regarding complaints that citizens have registered against police officers or the department in general. More importantly, it documents a 20% increase in the number of complaints filed

Of the 6,461 complaints filed against the Detroit Police Department in 2014, 3,838 - or approximately 59% of the total - were related to allegations that an officer did not follow established procedures or allegations related to his demeanor. The remaining 41% related to arrests made, entry into a property, damages made to property, searches, use of force, or general harassment.

I spoke with Ricardo Moore, who represents Warrendale and the surrounding neighborhoods on the commission, about this spike. He believes a large portion of this spike in complaints has to do a similar increase in news stories and social media posts about the police. He went on to add that body cameras will soon come to the Detroit Police Department.

The full text of this 58-page report from the Detroit Board of Police Commissioners is available below.

2014 Annual Report of Detroit Police Commissioners

The report itself is fine. However, I believe it would have been useful if they provided some comparison with other departments of a similar size to Detroit.

Santana scares teens straight

For all the haters out there this special message is for you. Several months ago myself and my homie Raphael B. Johnson...
Posted by Harvey Santana on Tuesday, July 21, 2015

State Representative Harvey Santana posted this story to his Facebook page the other day. Please click "see more" to see the rest of this story. I think it is a great example of the power that we have to help teens turn their lives around.

My thanks go out to Santana and Johnson for doing their part.