Concerns over bail reform dominate NYPD 6th Precinct meeting
BY EDDY MARTINEZ
Concerns over New York’s bail
reform law drew dozens of
residents to a NYPD 6th Precinct
community meeting with Assistant
District Attorney Kelly Stankiewicz at
the Orthopedic Institute in Greenwich
Village on Jan. 29.
Residents and police officers expressed
worries that the newly enacted law emboldens
criminals and hampers police
effectiveness because it ends cash bail for
most misdemeanor offenses, which they
say allows people to commit additional
crimes after they are released pretrial.
Deputy Inspector Robert O’Hare, from
the 6th Precinct, began the meeting by
reciting a list of recent offenses that he
claims shows some criminals taking advantage
of the reform. A homeless man
who attacked a woman in Midtown on
Jan. 11., is one example, O’Hare said.
“We had an individual…who assaulted,
unprovoked, a woman at 6:15 in the
morning, knocked her teeth out and then
continued on his rampage in Midtown,”
said O’Hare. “Then (the homeless man)
came back into my office eight hours
later.” The suspect was released from police
custody after the attack and arrested a
second time for “aggressive panhandling”
near a bank in Greenwich Village. O’Hare
then claimed that CompStat data shows
there has been an increase in offenses
compared to last year.
Stankiewicz explained to residents that
there are two types of violent offenses
that can lead to an automatic release,
second-degree burglary and seconddegree
robbery but only under certain
circumstances.
Deputy Inspector O’Hare later
claimed that burglary suspects are taking
advantage of this law. “(One) burglar, he
walked out of court and he had the nerve
to ask my cops: ‘Can you give me a ride
back to the sixth precinct? I’m gonna get
my property back.’ That’s a true story.”
But state Senator Brad Hoylman, who
was also present at the meeting, said that
law enforcement experts and district attorneys
were included in discussions leading
up to passage of the law. Hoylman
went on to say that “yeah, there is a three
incident uptick in burglaries over the last
month that I don’t think tells a story that
we need to be certainly examining.”
According to Chelsea public defender
Eliza Orlins, also present at the meeting,
reminded residents that they should think
about those who have been victimized by
cash bail.
“In this country, we say that you have
the presumption of innocence, you are
innocent until proven guilty,” she said.
“Unfortunately, my clients who weren’t
able to buy their freedom, it certainly
State Senator Brad Hoylman spoke about the benefits of bail reform at
a recent 6th police precinct community meeting.
didn’t feel that way for them.” The Brennan
Center for Justice has previously
written that there is no proof that the
elimination of cash bail leads to increases
in violent crime.
Some in the audience expressed worry
that the law went too far, including one
resident who complained that the police
were being prevented from doing their
jobs. Jean Luc Callet, 72, who lives in
Greenwich Village, says that the real
issue is not the police. “It’s the judicial
system, they need to put more money in
PHOTO BY EDDY MARTINEZ
that, rather than blame the cops, tie their
hands and let the crews run wild. I mean,
it makes me nuts.”
Orlins pointed out that the room was
mostly white. “There were fewer than five
people of color in the room. I don’t think
the people in this room have necessarily
had a family member impacted by the
criminal legal system. And if they did
have a family member arrested, that person
would likely be treated fairly, would
be able to hire an attorney and would be
able to post bail if bail were set.”
West Village now has its eyes on bus clocks
BY ALEX MITCHELL
It may not make the buses come any
faster, but West Village residents will
have a better sense of travel time
thanks to newly installed countdown
clocks at Bleecker Street and 8th Avenue
in Manhattan.
Speaker Corey Johnson joined Manhattan
Department of Transportation Borough
Commissioner Edward Pincar and West
Village commuters to cut a green ribbon,
officially unveiling the timely asset for
M14A & M20 riders.
“New Yorkers need to have a better
sense of when the buses will be coming,”
the speaker said on a drizzly Tuesday morning
across from Abingdon Square Park.
“We know that residents wanted this,”
Johnson said while noting that it was an
overwhelmingly popular item in his district’s
participatory budgeting.
“New Yorkers really care about their
neighborhoods,” he added.
This countdown clock was the third installed
for Johnson’s district since the start
of the year and there’s an expected 16 more
on the way before the end of December,
Speaker Corey Johnson joins Manhattan DOT Commissioner Edward
Pincar and West Village residents to celebrate the newly installed
MTA bus countdown clocks at Bleecker Street and 8th Avenue.
the speaker explained while also indicating
the $510,000 he’s allocated for countdown
clocks since 2015.
As to why it’s taken so long to install
countdown clocks throughout the city, “it
is a real technical challenge,” according to
PHOTO BY ALEX MITCHELL
Pincar.
He also said that the wiring, pipes, and
utilities below city concrete is similar to
that of spaghetti, hence making it a challenge
for installers to find a sweet spot to
dig without interfering in other services.
Pincar also said that there’s been over
600 countdown clocks installed “and many
more are on the way.”
Johnson also spoke with amNewYork
Metro about other transit priorities
throughout the city, saying that the subways
are “the most important stuff.”
“It effects the most number of people,”
Johnson said about the MTA subway system
and the ongoing delays and issues faced.
“Most people judge the progress of the
city from their walk from their apartment
or their home to the bus or to the subway,”
the speaker continued.
On the topic of automotive public transit,
Johnson called 14th Street Busway “a
really smashing success,” adding his belief
that congestion pricing will improve bus
speeds, particularly in the West Village.
Another transit priority for Johnson is
making intersections safer, specifically in
Midtown, he said.
“We saw a record number of pedestrians
and cyclists killed in 2019 so we’ve been
working with the department of transportation
particularly in Hell Kitchen near Times
Square on making intersections safer for
pedestrians,” the speaker explained.
4 February 6, 2020 Schneps Media