70th Precinct Community Council
February 2017 Meeting Minutes
E-mail: HYPERLINK "mailto:70PctCC@gmail.com"70PctCC@gmail.com
Blog: HYPERLINK "http://70PctCC.blogspot.com"http://70PctCC.blogspot.com
Wednesday, February, 22nd 2017
7:30 PM
P.S. 249 The United Cerebral Palsey Center
175 Lawrence street, Brooklyn, New York Officers
Ed Powell, President
Mary McRae, Vice President
Maria Hazelwood, Treasurer
Nathan Thompson, Secretary
Giselle Nakhid, Sergeant-at-Arms
NYPD, Elected Officials & Other Guests
DI James Palumbo, Commanding Officer
Captain OMalley, Executive Officer
Officer Mike Smith, Community Affairs
Det. Kim Walker, Community Affairs
Marty for Congresswoman Yvette Clarke
Mike Gregorio for Senator Felder
Shawn Campbell for Community Board 14
Becky Stern for Councilmember Greenfield
Nefertiti MaCauley for Assemblymember Diana Richardson
Taryn O’Brien for Kings County DA’s Office
Jacob Gold for Council Member Jumaane Williams
Walter McQueen for East 21st Street Tenant
Soumia Chraibi for Council Member Mathieu Eugene
Ramona Cabreja for Council Member Mathieu Eugene
Himself Assemblymember Robert Carroll
Rona Taylor for Assemblymember Rodneyse Bichotte
Vicky May for The Street Vendor Project
Imani Henry for Equality for Flatbush
Pinkus Hikind for Comptrollers Office
Penny Ringel for the Mayors Office
Reverend Jean F. Beaulieu, Mohommad Nazir, Rabbi Perlstein and Yahuda Eps Clergy Liaisons
Roz Sokol for Steve Cymborwitz
Tovah Chasinough for Councilmember Duetsch
Wayne Lamont and Walter Mqueen for East 21st Block Association
Eric Kumar and Taryn OBrien for District Attorneys Office
Valentin Morales Vamos Unidas
Aziz Putt and Raja Azid Pakistani Merchants Assoc
The regular monthly meeting of the 70th Precinct Community Council was called to order. PCC President Ed Powell greeted all and invited everyone to join him in the recitation of the Pledge of Allegiance.
He then acknowledged the various representatives of public officials and other distinguished guests present at the meeting (see above).
1.Robert (Bobby) Carroll.
Bobby introduced himself as the replacement for Jim Brennan as he did last meeting. He came to highlight 3 pieces of the state budget.
1.) If the ACA is repealed, it could cost the state $3.5 billion overnight if no replacement is immediate. This would be 15% hole in our medicaid budget
2.) The governor tried to cut 65 million from the MTA budget. He will be fighting to get it back.
3.) There are further proposed budget cuts of $20 million from senior centers in NYC. This would result in 65 senior centers closing. He asked us to reach out to his office 718 788 7221. Call even if you are not in his district.
2. CB14s Shawn Campbell announces Youth Conference
CB14s 10th annual Youth Conference will be on March 14th. She has flyers in various languages and related info on the website. Around 60 organizations represent at this event.
3. Lise Derrick has an announcement from Assemblymember Rodenyse Bichotte
She announced that the State of the District Address was forced to reschedule due to a snowstorm. The new date is Monday Feb 27th, at Brooklyn College Student Center from 6 to 8 pm. You must RSVP.
4. Eric Kumar from the District Attorneys office
Mr. Kumar announced that he had fliers for their Black History Month celebration.
5. Jacob Gold for Councilmember Williams
Jacob explained that City Council had passed a bill called the Commuter Van Safety Act. It cracks down on illegal vans and arranges for more vans to get properly licensed.
He also spoke about the immigration event which had over 200 people attend. He also explained that the office has an in house lawyer available to give advice on Mondays.
6. Nefertiti MaCauley from Assemblymember Diana Richardsons Office
It was Ms. MaCualeys' first Precinct Meeting. She announced an Education Council Meeting at 400 Empire Blvd on March 2nd. There is also a monthly meeting open to all to learn about what is going on in the community. She was particularly focused on a merging of 5 hospitals and the effect it will have on the community.
9.) Councilmember David Greenfield speaks.
Councilmember Greenfieldwelcomed Megan OMalley at the new XO. He explained that he teaches at Brooklyn Law School on Wednesday nights and usually misses these meetings. He explained that he had been involved in helping negotiate the new PBA contract. He also wanted to remind us that the NYPD is a friend of the immigrant community. There will never be immigration consequences for calling the police. He reminded us that NYPD does not work in cooperation with INS.
10.) Vicki Mao from the Street Vendors Project and for Equality For Flatbush
She explained that sometimes the complicated rules and regulations for street vendors are sometimes hard to follow. The vending laws have not been updated in 30 years. She explained that there have a been a lot of tickets and that she feels it can amount to harassment. She asked us to give them the benefit of the doubt about them being well meaning with the rules. The CO will be having a private meeting with this group so they can talk more specifically.
11.) Commander James Palumbo speaks.
He explained that today was the Sgts exam and it is very stressful. So he did not ask the Officers to return tonight for Cop Of The Month. He thanked Councilmember Greenfield for his help in reinitiating the PBA contract. This new contract resulted in some Officers who had been waiting, to retire. One of these Officers was Mike Smith who is being replaced in Community Affairs with Detective Scott Nuzzi.
Crime is up slightly this year. The increase is in robbery and burglary was minuscule, literally one extra robbery and two extra burglaries. But that driving the rise was stolen cars, particularly Honda Accords. They had made an arrest for Grand Larceny auto and are hoping they got the guys responsible.
There was a domestic violence homicide that made news. An arrest has been made and has confessed.
Grand Larcenies are up, specifically identity theft from ATM skimming devices. TD Bank seems to be having much more of a problem than other banks. Car break-ins did spike but the CO acknowledged that the Shomrim had been very helpful in catching these guys lately. They have made 8 arrests for GLA. Shooting incidents for the year remain at zero.
They had a narcotics take down of a deli, including it's proprietor. The business has been shut down. 311 issues have spiked. He thinks it is due to warm weather street activity. The calls are related to quality of life issues. The Cancun Bar is next in his sights for a shutdown. It has been a problematic location for noise, and public urination.
The CO then took questions and comments. Duane Joseph told him that he over heard word on the street from "not so nice characters" that the cops were being a pain in "their behinds". Duane wanted to thank the NYPD for that and other work they have been doing.
A representative from Prospect Park South called out NCO Officers Sesay and Callender for just keeping everyone happy over there. Shawn Campbell from CB14 followed that with another compliment for the NCOs regarding their role in street vendor enforcement. It was her sense that the NCOs are approaching the issue quite sensitively.
This included in some cases reaching out to the CB office for suggestions for alternate places the vendors could sell. The CO used this moment to re affirm that he will be having a private meeting the vendors to clarify the rules.
Monique Waterman from the East 29th tenants association spoke passionately. She had brought a group of 15 people last month with a long checklist of complaints to a previous meeting. She was here to thank them for hitting every single one of the issues. "Words cannot describe our gratitude".
12.) Ed Powell Calls out NCO Sgt Blain
He credited the Sgt for all the NCO successes and many of the compliments of the evening.
Respectfully submitted,
Nathan Thompson
Minutes of February 2017
70 Pct. Community Council, NYPD
