The NYPD is set to install new security cameras in 38 locations across East Harlem, Harlem, Washington Heights, and Inwood, with funding secured by Rep. Adriano Espaillat (D-Manhattan/Bronx) for a million-dollar security initiative aimed at protecting bodegas and other small businesses from crime.
Espaillat announced details of the camera initiative on Monday at Harlem’s 25th Precinct on East 119th Street alongside Police Commissioner Jessica Tisch, NYPD Chief of Patrol Philip Rivera, and United Bodegas of America President Fernando Radhamés Rodríguez.
“It’s important that we continue to invest in public safety,” Espaillat said, noting that though violent crime rates have gone down in recent months, New Yorkers continue to report feeling unsafe, leaving a negative impact on quality of life.
Cameras protecting bodegas
Tisch said the new cameras will be installed within the next one or two months, and the NYPD will focus on locations near small businesses in upper Manhattan — particularly bodegas, which she asserted face disproportionate rates of crime against workers and property.
The top cop also noted the use of camera surveillance in tracking down the alleged attacker in a May assault on Randall’s Island.
“NYPD officers cannot be everywhere all at once,” Tisch said, emphasizing the NYPD’s reliance on 24/7 surveillance technology, which she said is “essential to crime fighting.”
In recent years, crime against bodega workers has increased, leading to some bodega owners across the city calling on local and federal officials to provide anti-crime resources. In 2023, over 230 bodega owners in New York City applied for gun licenses amid rising crime against bodegas, according to United Bodegas of America.
Rivera thanked Espaillat for his support of the NYPD and for having “never forgotten where he came from.” The NYPD, Rivera said, has “doubled down on precision policing” over blanket enforcement, focusing on areas that police have identified as high risk or particularly vulnerable to crime.
Rodríguez spoke to the community value of bodegas and the importance of protecting bodegas and their owners from crime. He said his organization has been “asking for many years” for greater protection from the NYPD against violence.
Responding to a question about concerns among residents about surveillance, particularly with local and federal initiatives to implement mask bans at protests and a rise in Immigration and Customs Enforcement detentions across the city, Tisch said the NYPD is committed to following the law regarding how footage collected from cameras is used and distributed.
ICE concerns
After the press conference, Espaillat took questions from reporters outside about his recent attempt to access a detention center in lower Manhattan where detained immigrants are being held by ICE. Officers denied access to Espaillat and Rep. Nydia Velázquez (D-Brooklyn/Queens).
Espaillat said the Congressional Hispanic Caucus, which he chairs, held an emergency Zoom meeting about the incident on Sunday evening. He said he is returning to Washington on Monday and will be meeting with lawyers to discuss the legality of the detention center’s restriction of access.
“It is clear that the Constitution gives us oversight powers to go into any facility,” Espaillat said. “So, to not get access to the 10th floor at 26 Federal Plaza is troubling. We will be back.”
Espaillat is part of a growing group of New York politicians speaking out against the detention of immigrants by plainclothes, masked ICE officers at immigration courts across the city.
Regarding the escalating protests in Los Angeles and isolated demonstrations in New York City over ICE’s increasingly aggressive tactics against immigrants, the Congress member said he encourages protesters to remain peaceful and criticized President Donald Trump’s administration for sending the National Guard to Los Angeles.
Espaillat described Trump’s decision to send the National Guard to Los Angeles as a “knee-jerk reaction.” The decision to send the National Guard, Espaillat said, lies with a state’s governor.
