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)

Copyright (c) 2020 Dow Jones & Company, Inc.