Public commenters press council on youth curfew, building safety and transit access

Several members of the public used the standing committees public-comment period on July 15 to press Pittsburgh City Council for action on youth policies, neighborhood safety and access to services.

Dylan Basescu, who identified himself as a South Side Flats resident, criticized the city's summer curfew zone as a policy that "restricts" rather than resourcing young people. "Young people, the city has decided not to empower, not to resource, but to restrict," Basescu said, arguing the curfew disproportionately affects poorer and Black youth and urging the council to invest in opportunities and community resources.

Carlino Giampolo, who said he has repeatedly raised the issue over the last year, urged the council to close the Oakland Do-It-Yourself skate park, framing the request as a moral imperative and appealing to members' sense of "dignity" and conscience.

Javonette Brown said she lives at Katie Rivers Towers and described repeated safety and harassment incidents in the building, including assaults she recounted in the meeting. Brown also raised transit-access concerns, saying scheduled routing in recent plans would force some residents to take two buses for routine trips rather than a single transfer. She criticized the responsiveness of council and county officials and asked that officials come to affected buildings to see conditions in person.

Comments made during public comment are not council actions; they request or urge staff and elected officials to act. In this session the council did not take immediate policy votes in response to those specific requests. The meeting record shows staff follow-up on several committee items (including a request for a cost breakdown of event-related EMS billing), but no immediate procedural actions tied to the public comments were recorded.