3/12/2010 10:29:00 AM Follow-up: Ducking Stool Park 'We're just trying to make a living' Men who gather at public park, deemed a nuisance by some, are friendly and helpful to others
* Photo by Sirkka Huish. ‘Doing nothing wrong’: Unemployed Troy Hassell says people have got the wrong idea about him and his friends who hang out at Ducking Stool Park in Pembroke. Mr. Hassell says they are only sitting around “waiting for a hustle”.
* File photo. Unsightly mess: Residents and local business owners have hit out at the group of men for constructing makeshift tents out of crates and tarpaulin.
The men who have been accused of taking control of a popular park say they are "only waiting around for a hustle".
The group of unemployed friends yesterday hit back at their critics, saying Ducking Stool Park on North Shore Road was simply "their hustle spot".
The middle-aged pals say they have a few beers at the park, near Blackwatch Pass in Pembroke, on a daily basis but insist: "We aren't doing anything wrong."
They say they spend most of their time sitting on a bench in front of the park sign "watching traffic and looking out for people we know."
The men spoke to us after the Bermuda Sun reported on Wednesday that they were begging for money, being abusive to passers-by and had set up makeshift living quarters.
Troy Hassell, who was speaking on behalf of the group, said: "All we are doing is sitting off and waiting for work. This is our hustle spot.
"People know where to find us and they'll stop by if they need us for a little hustle.
"We'll do any work if it pays. We'll help move furniture, paint houses, load trucks, people know that."
The painter, who has been out of work for about two years, added: "We'd much rather be working full-time. We are only in the park because we don't have work.
"We try to get on the Hustle Truck, but there's just no room. There are only three trucks and once they are full, that is it."
Mr. Hassell said up to eight men had been getting together at Ducking Stool Park for about ten years. They meet up first thing in the morning and stay until about 7pm.
He insisted they returned to their homes at night and did not sleep in the park.
Mr. Hassell of Somerset said: "No-one sleeps here, there's not even a tent here.
"We get the tarpaulin out for shelter from the sun and rain, we make sure we roll it up again at night.
"We don't mind Parks or the police coming to check up on us. We aren't doing anything wrong, nothing at all.
"We won't deny we drink a few beers, but we aren't snatching handbags or robbing people."
Lost business
Andrew Correia said in Wednesday's paper that his grocery store business C-Mart was losing out as "they have set up home and made the park their own."
Mr. Hassell said they had to put up trash bags and to made sure no litter was left in the park. He did however agree that a portable toilet needed to be installed as they currently had to go "overboard" or "nip to a friend's house".
Mr. Hassell said they preferred to be in the fresh air than at home in front of the TV.
He said: "This is all down to the public's perception, if people see a group of men they fear the worst.
"But we aren't young guys causing trouble. We keep this park clean, we don't leave litter lying around."
Ducking Stool Park was busy with workers eating their lunch or buying food from the car park's lunch cart yesterday lunchtime.
A Hamilton businessman, who said he had been having lunch in the park for 13 years, said: "These guys are not a problem to anyone. It's the poor man's thing to sit off and have a few beers, there's nothing wrong with it, those with more money just tend to do it in their homes or go to a bar.
"They are just waiting on jobs, they are unemployed because of our country's system and now people are perceiving them in completely the wrong way."
Another worker said he had been "having lunch with the guys in the park" for about three years.
He said: "These guys are real friendly, they are no trouble at all. They may always be hanging around, but that's not a crime. Lots of the things people have been saying about them are exaggerated."
However, Rebecca Madeiros, who lives next door to the park, complained about the group of men saying things had got "very bad" in the last year.
The mom-of-three said one man had urinated into her garden exposing himself to her young children and water had been stolen from an out building.
Mrs. Madeiros said: "They are drinking, dropping litter and the language is pretty foul. It's the noise and the stench that are really bad.
"It's just a real nuisance and nothing seems to be done about it. I wouldn't go to that park if I was a tourist."
