14 THE QUEENS COURIER • NOVEMBER 1, 2018 FOR BREAKING NEWS VISIT WWW.QNS.COM
De-mapping to
clear way for
116th Precinct
BY JENNA BAGCAL
jbagcal@qns.com/ @jenna_bagcal
Plans for opening the new 116th Precinct
in southeast Queens are one step closer to
becoming a reality.
Members of Community Board 13 unanimously
approved at their general meeting
in Bellerose on Oct. 23 the de-mapping of a
city street in Rosedale as part of the project.
Th e term “de-mapping” refers to an area
or street being removed from an offi cial city
map. According to Richard Hellenbrecht,
who chairs the Land Use Committee, the
proposed de-mapped area is located on an
“unbuilt street” which would be used to
house a parking lot for police vehicles and
“police-related” vehicles.
Hellenbrecht was asked if the parking lot
would take away from existing street parking
spaces, but the chair assured the community
that no spaces would be sacrifi ced
during the process.
Th e precinct itself is slated to go up
on North Conduit Avenue next to the
105th Precinct’s satellite building and the
Rosedale Long Island Railroad Station.
QNS reported that the 116th Precinct,
which would serve Rosedale, Springfi eld
Gardens, Brookville and Laurelton, will
be the fi rst in southeast Queens in over
40 years.
NYPD opened the 105th Precinct’s satellite
location in 2007, but it was only operational
from 7 a.m. to 11 p.m. each day.
In February 2018 the satellite was expanded
into a 24-hour operation which added
18 additional offi cers and two sergeants in
order to provide a better police presence in
the southeast Queens area.
Datner Architects is the fi rm responsible
for the building’s design which will feature
a public plaza “designed to encourage
community awareness, interaction, and
engagement with the NYPD 116th Precinct
team, as well as connect the neighborhood
with the LIRR Rosedale station entrance.”
According to Datner’s website, the building
is slated to be complete in 2021.
When the plan for the precinct was
fi rst unveiled in July 2017, Mayor Bill de
Blasio and NYPD Commissioner James
O’Neill said that the 105th Precinct’s satellite
building would house the new 116th
Precinct. But in April 2018, the mayor
secured $70 million in the executive budget
for the construction of a brand-new
precinct for the area.
For years, residents in the area were
served by the 105th Precinct, which reportedly
had an average emergency response
time of 9 minutes, two minutes slower
than the citywide average of 7 minutes. Th e
precinct is the fi ft h largest in the city, covering
12.43 square miles and 354 miles of
roadway in southeast Queens.
“Our investment in a new 116th Precinct
will … help reduce response times, and
bring an additional police presence to the
fast-growing neighborhoods in southeast
Queens,” de Blasio told the Daily News
back in April.
Sanitation gets a cash boost to clean south Qns. streets
BY NAEISHA ROSE
nrose@cnglocal.com
@QNS
During a press conference in front
of Gino’s Pizzeria in Howard Beach,
Councilman Eric Ulrich announced on
Oct. 23 that he’s allocated over $150,000
toward Department of Sanitation initiatives
Photo courtesy of City Councilman Eric Ulrich
City Councilman Eric Ulrich and Sanitation Commissioner Kathryn Garcia announced last week
enhancements of sanitation services along several major roadways in his district.
Police union surrounds mayor at Rockaway town hall
BY MARK HALLUM
mhallum@cnglocal.com
Mayor Bill de Blasio side-stepped
a major Patrolman’s Benevolent
Association rally outside a town hall in
Arverne but later praised the NYPD’s
work in the Oct. 24 bomb scare in
Manhattan.
With roaring chants from more than
500 PBA members saying “Billy, come
out. We’ve got you surrounded,” de
Blasio entered the building through an
entrance on the diff erent side of the
school.
PBA President Pat Lynch, a Bayside
resident, said the union was there to
bring the mayor to the table for contract
negotiations — which have not taken
place in a year and a half — to bring
NYPD wages to levels more in line with
the statewide average for law enforcement
offi cers.
“We’re here to welcome the mayor to
the Rockaways,” Lynch said, claiming de
Blasio has never been to the Rockaways
when he held a town hall in Belle Harbor
in December 2017. “But where we really
want him to go is to the negotiating
table. He refuses to negotiate with New
York City police offi cers. Today is the
day when police offi cers were needed
more than most and everyone dialed 911
and called us. Except the mayor refuses
to recognize that, to recognize that we
are the ones who make this city safe, that
we’re the ones who put ourselves at risk.
And he’s off ering us zero raises, to get
back our pension, take our health benefi
ts, that’s an absolute disgrace.”
Although a spokesman for the administration
declined to comment on the
demonstration, de Blasio spoke highly
of NYPD’s work securing the site at
Columbus Circle where a bomb, among
several others targeting Democrats, was
found Wednesday morning.
“We’ve seen this time and time again.
Th is is not the fi rst time we’ve been
attacked to say the least, what’s amazing
is the resiliency of our people,” de
Blasio said. “We also are blessed because
we know that when something like this
happens we have the fi nest police force
in this entire country to depend upon …
I’ve watched NYPD time and time and
again and they always fi nd the people
who do these things.”
But the PBA demonstration was not
the only focal point of the town hall.
Councilman Donovan Richards listed
off series of improvements to his
district in the gymnasium of P.S. 42,
which included sewer and infrastructure
upgrades.
Progress in the Sandy recovery with
Build It Back drawing to a close in the
coming months aft er six years in the
making, according to program director
Amy Peterson.
“Build It Back is about to shut down,
there’s only a handful of properties left
and then reimbursement for anything
else is about to shut down entirely,” de
Blasio said. “We’re going to do an entirely
diff erent approach if we ever have to
deal with anything like this again.”
Members of the audience brought up
the topic of medical care on the peninsula,
which was also discussed at the
December town hall in Belle Harbor with
Councilman Eric Ulrich following the
death of Th omas Curly, 12, who had to
be transported to a Long Island trauma
center aft er being pulled from the blaze.
Some other concerns were that of gentrifi
cation which the mayor touted new
aff ordable housing in the Rockaways
with preferential rent for local residents
and teens from the Rockaway Youth
Task Force requested a commitment
from de Blasio to put a pause on low level
summons for black and Latinx youth to
keep them out of the justice system.
so that over 60 routes in his district
have better cleanup services.
Some of the neighborhoods within
his district to benefi t from the cleanup
include Woodhaven, Ozone Park
and Howard Beach, and cover 63
routes across Cross Bay, Rockaway,
Woodhaven and Leff erts Boulevards
that will receive improved services.
“I am thrilled to again be partnering
with the Sanitation Department to add
these much-needed services throughout
my district. Ensuring the quality of life
for my constituents is a priority, and this
partnership with DSNY makes our community
a better place to live and work,”
Ulrich said.
Th e funds are going toward mechanical
broom sweeping services and
additional basket pickups along various
commercial corridors, according
to his spokeswoman. Department
of Sanitation Commissioner Kathryn
Garcia was excited about the new equipment
and what it would do for the community.
“Th e Department of Sanitation is
thrilled to be able to work again with the
councilman, and to be out here in southeastern
Queens to make sure that Cross
Bay Boulevard, Leff erts Boulevard and
all the other major commercial streets
are clean,” Garcia said. “Th is is one of
those things that people see right away
and it makes a diff erence with how residents
feel about their community.”
On Tuesdays and Fridays, nine routes
have received an additional two hours of
basket truck pickups and drop-off s for
$40,560. On Wednesdays fi ve of those
routes have more mechanical broom
sweepers for eight hours for $16,216.
Wednesdays and Fridays and another
mechanical broom sweepers are keeping
an additional 24 routes tidy for
$65,000. On Th ursdays, those same 24
routes have an additional two-hour basket
pickup and drop-off for $30,000,
according to Ulrich’s offi ce.
Civic and community leaders such
as Community Board 10 Chairwoman
Betty Braton, President Joann Ariola of
the Howard Beach Lindenwood Civic
Association and Ozone Tudor Civic
Association President Frank Dardani
were thankful for the additional sanitary
services.
“On the Ozone Park side, we are very
pleased that Cross Bay Boulevard is
going to get a nice cleanup thanks to
the councilman and the hard work of
Sanitation,” Dardani said.
Mark Hallum/THE COURIER
Patrolman’s Benevolent Assocation President
Pat Lynch called on Mayor Bill de Blasio to
renegotiate NYPD’s contract for more pay at
an Arverne town hall.
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