BY SEAN EGAN | The community came out in full force — two-dozen strong — on Wed., Mar. 30, to attend the 10th Precinct’s monthly Community Council meeting. While the precinct’s commanding officer, Deputy Inspector Michelle Irizarry, was absent due to a prior engagement, Executive Officer Captain Angel Figueroa took the podium and helmed the session capably. He opened the meeting by noting to the standing-room-only crowd that the precinct was down almost 20% in crime for the year so far. In addition, he stated that enforcement was up, particularly singling out traffic violations, in accordance with Vision Zero policies. He then took a few moments to praise the efforts of the community in aiding in the fight against crime.
“I always like to emphasize at every meeting the importance of you guys in helping,” he said. “It is important that you spread the word.” He then went on to give a few tips about preventing avoidable crimes — particularly involving thefts from unattended bags, especially at nighttime hotspots.
“When you’re on the dance floor or having that drink, no one else is watching that for you,” Figueroa warned — except, perhaps, the people you don’t want watching your bag, waiting for an opportunity to snatch valuables or empty bank accounts.
He then opened the meeting for discussion, which was kicked off by Stanley Bulbach of the West 15th Street 100 & 200 Block Association, who brought to the public’s attention a number of worrying traffic situations.
First, he noted that the crosswalk striking fades too quickly, and very much needs to be replaced, at the northwest to northeast corner of W. 14th St. and Eighth Ave. — but 311 calls take too long to work.
“It’s less expensive to repaint a crosswalk than take someone to the hospital,” Blubach quipped.
Later in the meeting, Bulbach brought up the continuous problems surrounding the repeated closure of W. 17th St. since a fire struck on Oct. 20, 2015, which causes traffic to backup near the intersection of W. 15th St. and Seventh Ave. — as well as the frequent closure of W. 15th St. to allow for construction on the Google Building.
“We have never seen complete street block-offs handed out like candy,” stated Bulbach, a W. 15th St. resident since 1969.
After the meeting, Chelsea Now learned via an email correspondence that, through the efforts of Bulbach and the office of Councilmember Corey Johnson, the contractor doing work on W. 17th St. has agreed to display detour signage in order to mitigate the traffic problems at W. 15th St. and Seventh Ave.
With the floodgates opened, others chimed in with various traffic issues they had noticed around the neighborhood, which Figueroa listened to while noting the progress being made by the precinct.
“There’s an array of traffic issues we deal with…a multitude,” observed Figueroa. “It’s not something we’ve ignored.”
Another large portion of the meeting was spent focusing on the issue of a homeless encampment in the parking lot of Fulton Houses (btw. W. 16th & W. 19th Sts. and Ninth & 10th Aves.), which is home to a man who locals say has regularly harassed, and been confrontational with, tenants of the buildings. A group of five concerned individuals attended the meeting in order to present their case on the matter, prepared with a photo of the encampment, and a petition signed by residents of the building seeking a solution to the pressing problem.
Further compounding their discontent that evening was the fact the individual — who they identified as “Rico” — was arrested the night before, after beating his wife, and had to be corralled by about 10 cops. By the day of the meeting, however, Rico was out of jail and once again at the encampment.
“I have a very soft spot for homeless people,” one of the residents in attendance asserted. “This is a different situation. This is a violent man.”
Another resident present, a physician, expressed serious concern for the man’s health, and advised that he be screened and examined at Bellevue Hospital.
Miguel Acevedo, president of the Fulton Houses Tenants’ Association, was also in attendance, and able to provide a little background on the situation. According to Acevedo, who has known Rico for nearly 20 years, “He’s been under our buildings, in our parks,” and that because he grew up at the complex, “he comes right back to us at Fulton Houses,” after any troubles or run-ins with the law.
“There’s nothing legally we can do about it,” said Figueroa, who explained that the police were at the behest of new policies in place from the Department of Homeless Services (DHS), which did not permit them to take a more aggressive approach (such as throwing out belongings) in combatting the problem. “We cannot do a removal without DHS saying we can do a removal,” he noted, explaining that police can only intervene when the individual is a clear and imminent danger to himself or others.
“We always know where he is,” assured Detective Mike Petrillo, who praised the “great work” those assembled had done thus far. “The next step is pressure,” he noted, that “has to go from you guys to DHS.” Petrillo then provided the group with contact information for the Department.
Figueroa wrapped up the meeting quickly by thanking those who came out once more, and inviting them back for next month’s Community Council meeting: 7 p.m., Wed., Apr. 27, at the 10th Precinct (230 W. 20th St., btw. Seventh & Eighth Aves.).
