Live From The 94th Precinct Community Council Meeting

It was all smiles at last night’s first Community Council meeting of the New Year. This is not to suggest that there were not serious topics discussed, however. There most certainly were! Among them:

1. A general synopsis of crime statistics for 2012 (NOTE: a more detailed presentation will be given next month, so mark your calendars!). Yours truly found the rape statistics particularly sobering (12 versus 3 in 2011).
2. A discussion of the homeless situation in Greenpoint. The good news: the ten bed respite center for our local homeless is up and running at the Greenpoint Reformed Church. The bad news: neighbors of this facility have already commenced complaining.
3. The graffiti yours truly happened upon recently at Java Street Pop-Up Park. I’ll go into more detail on that in bit. Without further ado, here we go!

General Introduction/Preliminary Business

D.I. Hurson Gives The Rundown

• Mr. Hurson recognizes two “Cops of The Month” who caught a sexual assault in progress.
• Overall crime was up 14% over 2011. Foremost among them: burglary. D.I. Hurson cites new development as attracting burglars. There were 12 rapes versus three in 2011. There were three shootings.
• A presentation of 2012 statistics will come to pass at next month’s meeting.
• New Year’s Eve was lively. The foremost complaint, unsurprisingly, was noise.

Detective Komar Gives The Traffic Report/Question & Answer Session Commences

• Pedestrian accidents were down: 55 in 2012 versus 75 in 2011.
• Bicyclist accidents were up: 78 in 2012 versus 67 in 2011.
• Truck accidents are down: 385 in 2012 versus 441 in 2011.
• A concern about confusion arising as a result of the Nassau Avenue construction is raised by a member of the Community Council. Lincoln Restler promises to follow up with the MTA.
• Public Safety Chair Tom Burrows queries D.I. Hurson about all-night party permits (there were 8 issued New Year’s Eve in the 94th) and advocated that the Community Board be notified moving forward.

On The Subject Of The “Swastika” Graffiti

• It is posited by the 94th that the graffiti might be the handiwork of youths who frequented the waterfront a couple of years ago and therefore may be old.
• Nonetheless, they have brought it to the attention of the Hate Crimes Unit and are attempting to contact the owner of the property so as to get all the graffiti removed.

POST-SCRIPT: While I readily conceded to Mr. Komar (and in fact, HOPED) they were correct that in their assessment this graffiti was a few years old and I simply missed it on previous forays this is not the case. After the meeting I remembered that I had documented the conditions at the India Street Pier and the surrounding environs back on August 29th, 2012. While I did not have any photographs of the section of wall in question, I did capture it on video. Follows is what I found:

As of August 29, 2012 it was not there.

Thus this graffiti is, at the very most, just shy of four months old. But don’t take my word for it: watch the footage for yourself.

I have since brought this to the 94th’s attention.

• A question is raised about 400 McGuinness. More specifically: does it address Greenpoint’s homeless population.

Elizabeth Hulson, Community Council Headmistress Extraordinaire, Gets Well Deserved Props!

Councilman Levin Speaks

• Mr. Levin gives a rundown about the new ten bed respite center for our local homeless. This is located at the Greenpoint Reformed Church and administered by Common Ground.
• He clarifies 400 McGuinness is an assessment center. Upon entering an intake center men are sent to this facility, assessed and then sent to more permanent housing.
• A question is raised by a citizen about panhandling. Mr. Levin posits that the men of which this lady speaks may be residents of either the Greenpoint Hotel (which is located at 1109 Manhattan Avenue, not 1155 as Mr. Levin states) or the 3/4 house located around the corner: 66-68 Clay Street. He outlines the history and deplorable conditions of these facilities. Those of you who have wondered what is going on thereabouts, please give this a listen.
• Anyone in the Greenpoint community who experienced flooding as a result of Sandy is encouraged to apply for grants via FEMA.

And that’s all she wrote!