A little maintenance was carried out at People’s Park on Friday when UC Berkeley staff took down a platform in a tree following a man’s tree-sit the day prior, according to police.
A man was protesting in a tree at the northeast corner of the park against a stay-away order the county district attorney had issued to another individual in the park who had been causing conflict, according to UCPD Capt. Margo Bennett.
The Berkeley Daily Planet reported that Hate Man, a well-known figure in the park, was issued a stay-away order by the district attorney Monday.
Bennett added that the man in the tree told police he was protesting against what he called “phase two” of maintenance work in the park.
This week’s protest comes after the campus began maintenance work in December of last year to create more visibility in the park and help reduce the rat infestation problem there — a move that upset many park-goers who said elements of their garden and community projects in the west end of the park were destroyed.
According to Christine Shaff, communications director of the campus’ Facilities Services Department , the rest of the maintenance work includes putting lights and new trash can in the park, as well as filling in space under the stage to deter rats.
These projects, Shaff said, have not been started yet.
Annie Sciacca covers city government.
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I have never gone into People’s Park. It never seemed safe or clean or more park like than any alley. I am curious if any of the Cal students reading this article have actually spent any time in the park?
Hate Man needs to be on meds.
He’s pretty coherent for a street person, but he clearly has some kind of mental disorder.
Maintaining People’s Park is wasting not only my tuition but also my tax dollars. The University either needs to sell the Park to the city (lol I wonder if the city even wants it) or bulldoze it for more student housing
send this guy to san quentin
Downtown Berkeley, Telegraph Avenue, Peoples Park- what other minor, unimportant city in the world has its own urban, live-among-us zoo! And the city government is too stupid to charge admission!
Napalm B, it is the only solution to the festering sore that is people’s park.
The tired old sitcom known as the City of Berkeley continues on into Season Forty-something. While this may be mildly entertaining for us alumni (I’m surprised that the Hate Man is still alive given he’s been doing his schtick for over 20 years now – apparently the so-called “homeless” don’t have it that bad after all), it hardly passes as “news”, merely another example of (apologies to Walt Disney) The Maddest Place on Earth.