Man has been threatening people on the Brooklyn Heights Promenade

BROOKLYN HEIGHTS — Someone has been harassing and threatening people on the Brooklyn Heights Promenade, and authorities want residents to be on the alert.

Heights resident Thomas Tyler was sitting with his partner of 33 years on a shady bench in the circular north end of the Promenade on the afternoon of Monday, Aug. 31, when a man started to verbally harass him and his partner, who is in a motorized wheelchair. Both men are in their 70s.

“I noticed he was just standing there but I didn’t think anything of it,” Tyler told the Brooklyn Eagle. “[Then] he said, ‘Stop staring at me; stop looking at me.’

“I said, ‘I’m not looking at you, please stop,’” Tyler said. “He moved to the other side of us and proceeded to threaten us. He mumbled, ‘I’m going to slice you up; I’m going to rob you.’

“I said to my partner, ‘Let’s get out of here,’” Tyler said. “There was another gentleman there [in the circular area] reading a book. I said to him, ‘Did you hear what was going on over there? If I was you, I would leave.’ He got up and left.”

Tyler said it was hard to be certain of the man’s description from a distance, but he appeared to be in his 30s, very dark African American, “almost physically like Chris Rock but a little bit taller. He had a little black bag.”

Another Heights resident, who does not want her name used, told the Eagle that about a month ago she also noticed a threatening person on the Promenade in the circular section at the north end.

“I walk the Promenade every day, and would see a man sitting on those benches, and sometimes he could be heard shouting or starting to get aggressive.” She said she didn’t get close enough to get a good description of the man. “I also know that there is more than one homeless person with mental health issues seen in that area,” she added.