LAST GASP: Live From The 94th Precinct Community Council Meeting

Tonight’s proceedings were short and sweet. However, there were plenty of items of interest and naturally I shot footage. Without further ado, here it is along with a little commentary.

INTRODUCTION

  • A general run-down of the previous month’s meeting is given.
  • Attendees are made aware of the City’s Community Liaison’s web site.
  • The first guest speaker of the evening is announced: Dennis Gagan of the Brooklyn District Attorney’s Office.
  • When asked if crime is up or down he says down.
  • Phyllis (a 94th Community Council institution) disagrees and quotes Winston Churchill.
  • Mr. Gagan then proceeds to outline a stringent jail-time versus drug treatment program.
  • One Greenpointer mentions that a regular offender seems to be in and out of jail for drug-related crimes on a regular basis and asks what he should do if he catches this chap breaking into his car. The following discussion elicits dark laughter from the audience. D. I. Hurson steps in.

PART II: Tim Duffy, the LGBT Liaison for the NYPD introduces himself and D. I. Hurson gives a rundown of crime statistics.

  • Any and all interested parties can get Mr. Duffy’s contact information by clicking here.
  • Here’s the skinny per D. I. Hurson:
    1. Narcotics arrests were up 50%
    2. Traffic-related citations were up 25%
    3. Overall crime was down 4% HOWEVER:
    4. Robberies were up.
    5. Domestic violence was up.
    6. Car break-ins— especially on the “Northside” (specifically between North 4 and North 7 Street)— were up.
    7. In regards to last month’s bank robbery at HSBC: the perpetrators were arrested.
    8. The hate crime which occurred at North 4 Street and Wythe Avenue has yet to be solved.
    9. There was an arrest regarding the shooting.

PART III: Community Board 1 Member Tom Burrows Speaks and the Q & A Session Commences

  • Mr. Burrows disambiguates (once again) the hoopla regarding a so-called moratorium on liquor licenses.
  • The issue of the Brooklyn Night Bazaar is addressed. Once again.
  • Mr. Burrows implores people to call 311 about eating and drinking establishments which pose a public nuisance— and to forward this information to the local Community Board. If the Community Board does not know such an establishment poses an issue to the community, they cannot do anything about. In others words: if you see something, SAY SOMETHING@
  • The issue of truck and— get this— MTA bus traffic on Kent Street is raised. NOTE: Kent Street is not on a bus route. The issue of motorcyclists and installing speed bumps is brought up as well. Hurson says speed bumps cannot be installed on bus routes. The ladies present assure him Kent Street is not on a bus route and he  offers to lend a hand. (Ed. Note: I later advised these ladies to take up the matter with our Community Board’s Transportation Chair, Karen Nieves.)

PART IV: Q & A Session Continues

  • The subject of graffiti is once more raised and D. I. Hurson explains how to get it fixed.
  • Diane Jackson of the Cooper Houses voices concerns about men from the adjacent homeless shelter breaking curfew and sleeping in the halls of said housing. Apparently 60 Kingsland Avenue has the biggest problem.
  • More about the drug-dealing situation on Kent Street.

At this point it seemed like everything was over. But it wasn’t.

PART V: Carlos Menchaca of Councilwoman Christine Quinn’s Office Introduces Himself

NEW YORK SHITTY ANALYSIS/WRAP-UP

After this meeting adjourned I arrived home to find this in my inbox.

Jan (who sent me the above photograph) writes:

Hi Heather –

The attached is what I was greeted with yesterday afternoon when I went to go pick up the car at the parking lot on N.9th St. to do errands.  Since the interior wasn’t wet, I am going to assume this happened really late Saturday or early Sunday.  Oh, and my cover was taken off too, so someone was interested in seeing what was under the wrapping.

This is my 64 Impala that I’ve had through thick and thin since 1983.  Apparently someone thought it would be fun to walk over the car with ladies sized shoes (with a steel heel) and went into my windshield.  We have this problem with someone leaving the gate open and stuff getting stolen once in a while, but I bet that bar across the street has something to do with it.  Thanks kiddies, your little bit of fun walking across my 48 year old car is going to cost me a cool grand to fix the busted windshield, not to mention figuring out how to fix the dents in the roof.

Here’s the deal: as a result of virtually no awareness raised by the powers that be and/or lack effective outreach by our local Community Board I receive a lot of complaints. I gladly field them and post the most relevant ones here. However, it has come to my attention that a great many of these complaints are redundant in nature. Follows is the “top three”:

  • Complaints about “eating and drinking” establishments— usually about noise, disorderly behavior, property damage and litter.
  • Traffic/transportation-related complaints.
  • Parks-related complaints.

What I would like to do so as to address this problem, serve my community; and perhaps preserve some semblance of my own sanity is create some customized version of a page which Jeremiah, of Vanishing New York, has on his site. It is entitled “How To Complain”. Follows is an excerpt.

You can (and should) read the rest here. In order to make this happen here’s what I need from you, dear readers from Brooklyn’s Community Board 1:

What do YOU want to complain about “effectively”? We have a number of very dedicated people on our Community Board. What is lacking is communication— and you! Do I need to hyperlink to Community Board 1’s calendar— including sub-committee meetings? Would monthly reminders about the 94th (and/or 90th) Precinct Community Council meetings be helpful? Contact information for elected officials, perhaps? Please tender your suggestions via comments or email at missheather (at) thatgreenpointblog (dot) com.

Thank you.

Miss Heather

Greenpoint Photo du Jour: Maker’s Mark

April 13, 2011 ·
Filed under: 11222, Greenpoint, Greenpoint Brooklyn, Greenpoint Magic 

From Driggs Avenue.

Miss Heather

New York Shitty Day Ender: Sunset

April 10, 2011 ·
Filed under: 11222, Greenpoint, Greenpoint Brooklyn, Greenpoint Magic 

Taken April 10, 2011.

Miss Heather

The Word On The Street: That’s What They Said

March 28, 2011 ·
Filed under: 11211, Street Art, Williamsburg, Williamsburg Brooklyn 

From Driggs Avenue.

Miss Heather

New York Shitty Day Ender: P.S. 1

From McCarren Park.

Miss Heather

Greenburg Photo du Jour: McCarren Park

Taken March 15, 2011.

Miss Heather

Lost at North 7 Street & Bedford Avenue: Yorkie

March 14, 2011 ·
Filed under: 11211, Williamsburg, Williamsburg Brooklyn 

I spied this flier today at the corner of Driggs Avenue and North 7 Street. If anyone has seen this pup or knows of his/her whereabouts please contact his “person” at the above-listed telephone number. Thanks!

Miss Heather

Reader Contribution du Jour: Little Boots

February 23, 2011 ·
Filed under: 11222, Greenpoint, Greenpoint Brooklyn, Greenpoint Magic, Urban Fur 

This handsome chap (?) was spied waiting for his best friend in front of Enids and was captured on camera by Donna Marsh.

Miss Heather

Notes From the 94th Precinct Community Council Meeting

It was a pretty subdued meeting last night (and no spitting was spied by yours truly). Without further ado here is some footage with commentary.

PREFACE: a roll call was held and minutes from the previous meeting recited. Moving forward all 94th Precinct Community Council Meetings will be conducted at the Church of the Ascension:

127 Kent Street
Brooklyn, New York 11222

Click here for this year’s schedule of 94th Precinct Community Council Meetings.*

Various and sundry police officer introduced themselves:

  • Lieutenant  Marvin Louis, Community Affairs Officer for North Brooklyn Task Force.
  • Sargent Mullen: Head Inspector for the 94th Precinct. She mentions that an elderly woman was mugged on a Sunday en route to St. Stanislaus Kostka Church. The perpetrator of this crime has been caught.

Part I: D.I. Hurson give a run-down of crime statistics.

  • Crime was down 19% last month
  • Car break-ins are still the biggest problem.
  • Last month there were three car break-ins in as many weeks. This is good. And our multiple snow storms had something to do with it, as he notes.
  • Transportation/traffic enforcement is up 37%
  • The Phil Collins Parade is noted.
  • An attendee brings up the robbery at the Greenpoint Reformed Church. This came to pass during Friday night Bible study and I have been told that residents of both the Greenpoint Hotel and the 3/4 house have been ruled out as suspects.
  • The subject of the aforementioned mugging is resumed.
  • Traffic issues are discussed.

A representative from the Organized Crime Control Bureau (which covers drugs, prostitution, gambling and automobile theft) speaks. He advises everyone in attendance that if he/she sees any of the aforementioned activity to report it at: (646) 610-6610. Your identity will remain anonymous if you so desire.

Part II: Lincoln Restler introduces himself and suggests a cooperative policing model be established in north Greenpoint.

Part III: A Greenpointer reminisces about the bad old days and expounds upon about public policing. This garners much applause.

Part IV: A couple of citizens complain about graffiti

  • Interesting fact: per D.I. Hurson north Brooklyn leads the city in graffiti arrests.

Miss Heather

*A “Who’s Who” of whom to contact about various and sundry police issues can be found here.

New York Shitty Day Ender: Rooftops

February 21, 2011 ·
Filed under: 11222, Criminal Activity, Greenpoint, Greenpoint Brooklyn, Greenpoint Magic 

52/365 - Snowy North Greenpoint rooftops, Midtown Skyline.

I leave you this evening with this lovely image taken by Gina Herold. Otherwise to close on a totally unrelated note yours truly attended this evening’s 94th Precinct Community Council Meeting. Although it was a pretty uneventful affair I learned two things I found rather disturbing:

  1. The Greenpoint Reformed Church was held up during Friday Evening Bible Study.
  2. An elderly woman was mugged on her way to St. Stanislaus Kostka at 7:30 a.m. on a Sunday morning. The good news is (if you can call it that) is the “perp” was caught.

Naturally I shot footage and took notes. You can look forward to both of the previous soon!

Miss Heather

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