Noting the need for more police coverage in the communities served by the 102nd Precinct, City Councilman Eric Ulrich has issued a call for the NYPD to assign more officers to the area.
At the 102nd Precinct Community Council monthly meeting on Tuesday, attendees voiced their complaints over several issues they said required police attention.
One Woodhaven resident, who declined to give his name, complained that he
had heard more frequent stories about people breaking into cars in Woodhaven recently.
Community Board 9 member James Coccovillo, of Woodhaven, also voiced his concerns at the meeting about an increase of late night and weekend traffic in certain parts of the neighborhood lately.
Another woman, who also declined to give her name, complained that earlier on Tuesday at P.S. 161 in Jamaica, a man had approached children and had asked them to rub lotion on his genital area before running off.
“It seems that the mayor and the commissioner always forget about the 102 and the 106 precincts,” Richmond Hill resident and local block association member Simcha Waisman said at the meeting.
After the meeting, Sgt. Joseph DeMarco of the 102nd Precinct said the city had been sending several officers from his precinct—along with other precincts including the 106th—to deal with protestors involved with the ‘Occupy Wall Street’ march in Manhattan as recently as this week.
“You got to concentrate on one area at a time, but sometimes we have to wear a lot of different hats,” said Sgt. DeMarco, a 19-year veteran of the department.
Ulrich said he and other politicians had spoken with Police Commissioner Ray Kelly’s office recently and requested that more police officers be added to neighboring police districts. He noted that a stronger police presence is required in neighborhoods such as South Ozone Park with the recent opening of the Resorts World casino.
While very happy with the casino, calling it a ‘very good neighbor’, Ulrich said that precincts like the 106th need more man power to deal with the ensuing crowds that will likely frequent the casino.
“We need more human power to deal with the traffic congestion, to deal with the degenerates, to deal with the people who are not coming here in good faith and the people who lost their money and are not very happy about it,” Ulrich said.
“The city of New York really needs to step up to the plate—the police commissioner and the mayor, in particular—to deal with these quality of life concerns,” he added. “We were here first. We bought our homes here, we bought our apartments here, and we have the right to expect a decent quality of life living in this community.”
Maria Thomson, the precinct council president, commended the 102nd Precinct on the job they were doing despite the apparent lack of manpower they face. She noted that according to a recent survey, the precinct was ranked No. 22 among the safest police precincts In New York City, a good sign for the precinct.
By Jean-Paul Salamanca
jp.salamanca@theforumnewsgroup.com
