WWW.QNS.COM RIDGEWOOD TIMES JULY 20, 2017 17
Police Commissioner James O’Neill
touts neighborhood policing program
BY ANTHONY GIUDICE
AGIUDICE@RIDGEWOODTIMES.COM
@A_GIUDICEREPORT
The city’s top cop, Police Commissioner
James O’Neill, paid a
visit to Woodhaven on Tuesday
evening to take questions from the residents
and update them on important
police initiatives such as the Neighborhood
Policing Program, which would
bring patrol cops back to the streets.
It was standing room only at the
American Legion Post 118 as residents
from across the borough fi lled the
small space to hear what O’Neill had
to say.
O’Neill announced that neighborhood
policing would soon come to
the 102nd Precinct, which patrols
Woodhaven and other surrounding
communities.
Neighborhood policing involves the
same cops being assigned to the same
sectors every day in order to foster a
better relationship between the police
force and the community. Eventually,
all NYPD precincts will have this
program in place, according to O’Neill.
“In 43 out of the 77 precincts, we are
up and running with neighborhood
policing,” O’Neill said. “We are giving
our cops the opportunity to go out
there and meet the people they are
sworn to protect and serve.”
One of the most important things
a neighborhood policing program
would bring about, according to
O’Neill, is the fact that nearly one-third
of an offi cer’s day where they would
normally be answering 911 calls would
now be dedicated to talking to people,
meeting the residents of the neighborhood,
and attending important
community meetings.
The Neighborhood Policing program
will involve cops patrolling the
community in their vehicles as well as
walking the beat.
“Neighborhood policing is our way
forward,” O’Neill said.
The commissioner also noted that
the number of police offi cers on patrol
throughout the city is climbing back
up with the addition of approximately
2,000 offi cers for a total of about
36,000 cops.
O’Neill also answered residents’
questions regarding the NYPD’s recent
change on the issuance of civil
summonses over criminal summonses
for minor infractions. He said that
police have the ability to use their own
discretion in handing out summonses
to individuals.
Bob Monahan, president of the
Greater Ridgewood Youth Council
(GRYC) probed the Commissioner on
if the NYPD can get more funding for
youth programs such as the Police Athletic
League (PAL) and the Explorers
Program which introduces youths to
the police force.
“There might be some funding available,”
O’Neill responded. “There’s a
lot of things the NYPD does for young
people. We have the Explorer Program
… we also have a youth camp that
we bring kids away to.”
The special meeting with O’Neill
was put together by Assemblyman
Mike Miller and the Woodhaven
Residents’ Block Association (WRBA).
Photo by Anthony Giudice/Ridgewood Times
Police Commissioner James O'Neill
visited Woodhaven on Tuesday
night.
Ridgewood Reservoir gains supporter in push for federal wetland designation
BY ANTHONY GIUDICE
AGIUDICE@RIDGEWOODTIMES.COM
@A_GIUDICEREPORT
The push to grant the Ridgewood
Reservoir federal recognition
as a wetland under the Freshwater
Wetlands Act got another
supporter: Congresswoman Nydia
Velázquez.
On July 11, the Congresswoman
wrote a letter to Eileen Murphy, the
director of Congressional and Federal
Aff airs with the New York State
Department of Environmental Conservation
(NYSDEC), outlining her
support of the reservoir becoming
designated as a wetland.
“The Ridgewood Reservoir is a
local environmental gem that we
should protect for future generations,”
Velázquez said in a statement.
“Granting the reservoir wetland status
would mean that legal environmental
protections under the Freshwater
Wetlands Act would be extended to
the reservoir, aiding its preservation.”
In her letter, Velázquez noted the
reservoir’s history of serving the
Queens and Brooklyn communities
as a water supply, as well as an asset
to Highland Park by providing fl ood
Congresswoman Nydia Velázquez wants to see the Ridgewood Reservoir receive federal Wetland Designation.
protection by holding back water and
slowing stormwater runoff .
She also pointed out the Ridgewood
Reservoir’s importance to the
ecological environments created by
the reservoir and its three basins,
and its use as an educational tool for
local schools and residents.
“We strongly believe the Ridgewood
Reservoir merits said wetland
designation with the New York State
Department of Environmental
Photo by Anthony Giudice/Ridgewood Times
Conservation for its urban, engineering
and environmental signifi
cance,” Velázquez wrote. “We
respectfully urge you to exercise
your authority and render this
designation.”
