'Hunting Of Man': Quote On Brooklyn Precinct Wall Spurs Outcry

NEW YORK CITY — The wall of Crown Heights' precinct pays homage to "the hunting of man" with a disturbing quote from one of America's most celebrated authors, according to police and a new report.

A photo taken inside Crown Heights' 71st precinct shows the Ernest Hemingway quote printed in all block letters between a locker and a big screen television, the Gothamist report shows.

"There is no hunting like the hunting of man," the quote reads. "And those who have hunted armed men long enough and liked it never care for anything else thereafter."

The quote comes from the Hemingway's "On The Blue Water," a short story published in Esquire in 1936, in which the author compares hunting armed men to drinking the corrosive substance lye.

"Their interest rarely holds because after the other thing ordinary life is as flat as the taste of wine when the taste buds have been burned off your tongue," the passage continues.

This grimmer consequence of hunting human beings is not printed on the 71st precinct wall, as seen in the image printed by Gothamist.

News of the quotation spurred outrage from New Yorkers who criticized the Brooklyn precinct for glorifying violence and using language typically targeted at animals.

"This is why New Yorkers don't trust your police department," tweeted organizer Molly Griffard. "Shame on @NYPDnews & @NYPD71Pct for proudly decorating their walls with this violent vitriol about hunting men."

"Cool quote," added @nitetek. "Especially since @NYPD71Pct officers have (separately) killed two Black men undergoing mental health crises in the past few years. Makin us feel safe out here."

Ninetek may have been referring to Eudes Pierre — a bipolar man shot dead by police in what officials deemed, but his family disputes, was "suicide by cop" — and Saheed Vassell, who was killed by police who believed the pipe in his hand was a gun.

The quote has stood on the 71st precinct wall since February 1998, according to NYPD spokesperson Deputy Commissioner John Miller.

"Many police officers and detectives have been injured, wounded, or killed in the course of tracking down and attempting to take violent fugitives into custody," Miller said in an email.

"To insinuate any meaning to the Hemingway quote other than the fact that tracking and arresting violent, armed criminals can be exhilarating, rewarding, and often dangerous is a disservice to the meaning of the Hemingway quote and to the officers who do this work."

Miller added the quote is among the best known from the prolific author whose novels include "For Whom The Bell Tolls," "A Farewell to Arms" and "The Sun Also Rises."

It does not appear on Penguin's list of notable Hemingway quotes, which includes quotations from short stories, letters and novels.

The quotation's appearance on the precinct wall was made public the same week Mayor Eric Adams announced the deployment of his controversial anti-gun teams, which will replace the controversial and disbanded plainclothes unit.

The 71 precinct is among 30 which will see this reboot of the plainclothes unit dispatched.

This connection was not lost on the grassroots organization The Justice Committee, which raised concerns about what the quotation meant for the future of the anti-gun teams.

"Cops are trained + encouraged to "hunt" other human beings - it's deeply disturbing but also nothing new," the organization tweeted. "It's one clear example why @NYCMayor's plainclothes units won't be different - the culture remains the same."