By Emma Tucker
Residents of a predominantly Black area of Queens had mixed
feelings over the summer when New York City lawmakers eliminated
funding for the long-awaited creation of a new police precinct and
the construction of a precinct station house in their
community.
Mayor Bill de Blasio and the city council scrapped spending on
the project as part of the budget they approved on June 30
following weeks of large-scale protests over the killing of George
Floyd, a Black man, in police custody in Minneapolis. Black Lives
Matter protesters had called for defunding the NYPD and other
departments around the country, and investing in social services
and economic mobility for Black communities.
Many residents in southeast Queens agreed with the calls to end
police brutality, but some were torn that plans for a new precinct
were once again placed in limbo. Since the late 1970s, longtime
dwellers have been advocating for the precinct, which would have
been designated the 116th. They saw the precinct and the station
house as a community benefit that would have improved
police-response times to 911 calls in the area, increased the
quality of life and enhanced community relations by offering public
space and a youth center.
"There is no better way to bring the community together, build
trust with the department and ensure that you are not only
reimagining what policing looks like, but also what the space looks
like within the community," City Councilman Donovan Richards, a
Queens Democrat, said of the precinct. Mr. Richards said he is
still working to reinstate the funding.
The 116th Precinct, referred to by some southeast Queens
residents as the "40-Year Dream," was envisioned by the local
community as a model for future police precincts in New York City
and across the country. Mr. de Blasio, a Democrat, announced the
site of the new 116th Precinct station house in 2017.
The new precinct would have covered the neighborhoods of
Rosedale, Springfield Gardens, Brookville, Laurelton and the
southern area of Cambria Heights, and would have absorbed over half
of the 105th Precinct's geographic area. The 105th is currently one
of the largest precincts in the city in terms of geographic
boundaries. Many residents in the 105th say that its size leads to
slower police-response times to 911 calls.
Some longtime residents said the new precinct is needed more
than ever to help stem the rise in crime in Queens this year.
Shootings and murders in New York City have risen sharply since
the city began a phased reopening of its economy in June after
months of lockdown restrictions to contain the spread of the new
coronavirus. Overall major felony crime in the 105th Precinct is up
nearly 12% for the year so far compared with the same period in
2019, NYPD figures show.
Franck Joseph, a 30-year-old who is a member of local community
groups, said he advocated for the precinct and helped secure
resources for southeast Queens as a staffer for Mr. Richards from
2013 to 2016. The precinct should still be created, Mr. Joseph
said, but there should be ample accountability and reimagining of
what policing looks like in a predominantly Black community.
"We need to ensure the resources and response times we're
receiving are equitable to other areas," he said. "But we have to
reconcile that with the trauma within the community due to the
violence we have seen against Black bodies."
For many young residents in Queens, however, the effort to build
the precinct is at odds with the movement to reform policing around
the country. Deandra Simon, a 23-year-old lifelong resident of
southeast Queens, said the city should instead invest in more
advanced police body cameras, patrol cars and other equipment to
better hold officers accountable.
"People are being surveilled by police in southeast Queens, and
yet we still don't see quicker response times or feel like the
police are there to protect us," she said, referring to an NYPD sky
watchtower in a section of southeastern Queens.
The NYPD didn't respond to a request for comment about Ms.
Simon's comments.
The city budget approved in June trimmed nearly $1 billion in
funding for the NYPD. The mayor said $500 million would be taken
from the NYPD's capital budget and reinvested into improving youth
centers and public housing. Advocates for defunding the police and
some members of the city council criticized the cuts, saying that
the city needed to implement systemic change rather than shift
funds.
As part of the budget deal, $92 million previously allocated for
the 116th Precinct in 2017 was diverted to a new community center
for young people in Jamaica, Queens.
Mayoral spokesman Mitchell Schwartz said the mayor's office
worked with the city council to pass a budget that "balanced public
safety with real, substantive reforms."
"We're looking forward to keeping the conversation going with
advocates, elected officials, and community leaders across the five
boroughs," Mr. Schwartz said.
An NYPD spokeswoman referred to a comment from the mayor over
the summer that said one of the goals of the city this year was to
reallocate resources for young people.
A coalition of 20 north and southeast Queens civic associations
and other community groups started an initiative after the budget
cuts to lobby to get funding back into the precinct.
"Having been in this struggle for decades, I just can't give
up," said Bess DeBetham, co-chair of the 116th Precinct Task
Force.
Mr. Richards, who voted against the city budget, said the budget
cuts didn't go far enough in addressing internal issues within the
police department. He said the 116th Precinct's funding should have
remained but the budget should have reined in police overtime and
forced the department to address implicit bias among officers.
"We should be able to have safe streets and a department that
provides services to the community," he said. "It shouldn't be one
or the other."
Write to Emma Tucker at emma.tucker@wsj.com
(END) Dow Jones Newswires
October 28, 2020 08:14 ET (12:14 GMT)
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