70TH PRECINCT COMMUNITY COUNCIL
154 Lawrence Ave. Brooklyn, NY 11230
MEETING MINUTES OF MARCH 25, 2026
Ed Powell, President
Nathan Thompson, Vice President
Dovi Zeitlin, Treasurer
Florencia Chang-Ageda, Secretary
James Sanon, Assistant Secretary
Giselle Nakhid, Sergeant-of-Arms
The 70th Precinct Community Council Meeting for the month of March was held in Sector David at the Caton Markets.
President Mr. Ed Powell did the salute to the flag and the opening remarks. He stated that he loves moving the meeting around so that more people can have access to the meetings. It was noted that the meetings are usually held at ADAPT, which was formerly UCP, and is located across the street from the precinct at 175 Lawrence Avenue. The meeting on April 29, 2026 will be held there.
Pastor James Thornton President of the 70 Precinct Interfaith Clergy Council did the greeting for the clergy. He acknowledged the good work that our esteemed President of the Precinct Community Council is doing. He said he deemed it important to attend the meeting especially because of tensions due do the political climate in our country, and that he hoped we don’t allow the rhetoric from the capital not divide us. He acknowledged Ramadan, Passover and the Lenten season. He continued, that God created us to flow together in unity. He also stated that the 70 PICC is looking for members of all faith because it is an Interfaith Clergy.
Mary Jo the Manager of Flatbush Central welcomed everyone and thanked the Community Affairs Dept of the precinct, who always responds to her calls. She also reminded us that the space is there for the community. They have a food hall, commercial kitchen, design studio and they are available to be rented. She did provide snacks and drinks for all who was in attendance.
Lauren Collins of Church/Flatbush Community Alliance announced their Church Avenue Street Fair, which is sponsored with the Precinct Council, coming up on May 3rd. They have flyers and vendor forms available. This year there will be a crafts fair as well. In addition, there will be a public art outside of the Church Avenue BQ station at East 18th Street. Anyone with photographs of parents or who grew up in the community can submit their photos. She wanted to talk to the residents who live upstairs regarding an idea she has.
President Powell then announced that the Council was working with Community Board 14 to host a Legislative Breakfast and welcomed Shawn Campell, CB 14 Brooklyn’s District Manager to elaborate.
Shawn Campell, CB 14 Brooklyn’s District Manager announced that a legislative breakfast was being organized in order to discuss the state of the 70th precinct house. It has been in need of repairs for more than 30 years. In 1987, it was on the capital priorities list in the district. 2006, it was funded. 2013, it was supposed to be built on Avenue H and Ocean Avenue. If you've looked over there lately, you might have noticed it wasn't. In the meantime, the current precinct house has gotten worse. Hopefully we can get the attention of local elected officials to ensure that the OMB, Office of Management and Budget, and NYPD Capital, and all of the agencies that need to focus on this, refocuses on it, since they forgot to include it in this year’s citywide statement of needs. She thanked Ed, and Florencia, and the whole precinct council for organizing the breakfast and for getting our elected officials together. She thanked Dovi for always agreeing to help in delicious ways.
*The 70 Precinct Council and CB14 Legislative Breakfast was held on Friday, April 17, 2026.
In addition, she announced the transportation committee meeting, which would be the following night, Thursday 4/26/2026. IBX was on the agenda. The following week would be on Monday. Both were done virtually.
She also thanked CB 14 members Ian Hayes, Eric Ost, Joe Dweck, and Florencia Chang-Ageda who was recently awarded Woman of Distinction Award. She said Florencia well deserves it. She also introduced the new chair of Community Board 14, Jerrell Gray, who was present.
Jerrell Gray CB 14 New Chair stated that he just became Community Board Chair for a couple weeks ago. He said it has been great to hit the ground running, and he was happy to be working with the 70 going forward. He also thanked the officers for protecting his community. He remarked that he lives around the block from where the meeting was being held and that he was a part of the team that helped redevelop this market. So, it was great being back in this beautiful space compared to how it used to be.
Nancy Lulu from the Brooklyn DA's Office acknowledged the change of space and that it was nice. She extended greetings on behalf of DA Eric Gonzalez to everyone. She announced that if there was anything that anyone would like to address with the DA's office or bring to their attention, they are free to call the Action Center at 718-250-2340 or visit brooklynda.org.
Meagan Flemming-White from Councilmember Farah Louis’ Office She is the Constituent Liaison. She announced that they hosted a community recreation celebration on March 8th at the Shirley Chisholm Center located at 3105 Farragut Road. She said it’s a state of the art facility with lots of amenities for the community. Also, the office successfully hosted three property tax workshops in collaboration with the Department of Finance, NHS Brooklyn, and Live On NY. Over 75 property owners registered for the event. They received direct information on how to apply for different exemptions and submit all their applications that same day. It was a great opportunity for homeowners. This will be a repeated event for next year. There would be a spring extravaganza done in partnership with DRUM, PS152, and PS315 on Saturday, April 4th, from 1 to 4 p.m. Their office is located at 1434 Flatbush Avenue. Their phone number is 718-629-2900.
Eli Slavin from Congresswoman Yvette Clarke’s Office announced that it was a pleasure to present congressional citations to honor the four police officers for the months of January and February. The office is located at 222 Lenox Road between Rogers and Nostrand. The phone number is 718-287-1142. Their office handles all federal issues, and even though lots of things are happening in D.C. the office is there to address the needs of residents in the community. He suggested that we visit the website at clarke.house.gov. There you can find all the bills that the Member is supporting or presenting. People who are planning to travel, make sure that your passports have six months of validity on it. We have congressional liaisons in the office and 99.99% of the time we are able to get you an emergency passport.
Bob Moskowitz from Flatbush Shomrim acknowledged everybody who's celebrating the holidays, Passover or Easter. He then said there is no better precinct president that Mr. Ed Powell. His organization works with a lot of officers and the 70 officers are tops. He also announced that they assisted in getting some good arrests. They got a group of gypsy scammers that were preying on the elderly.
Matt Septimus from Fisk Terrace said he loves being in the neighborhood and the 7-0. Recently the residents noticed that there has been some patrol cars monitoring traffic and giving out tickets, and they really appreciate that because people drive crazy in their neighborhood, and so it's always appreciated. He also wanted to appreciate the 7-0 precinct for clearing up the no-standing zone, because as an EMS worker it helps.
President Powell acknowledged Joe Dweck from CB14 and thanked him for always supporting the Council. He also acknowledged Reverend John Beaulieu who is anywhere you see 7-0.
Kenneth Mbonu of the Flatbush Junction BID thanked the 70 for their support, and noted that it was a pleasure coming to the meetings. He hopes to host the 70 Precinct Community Council meeting at Brooklyn College. It’s easy to get to. Take the #2 or #5 train to the last stop and it’s a short walk. He also stated that the junction is available for everyone. There are large, mid-sized, and small businesses of choice depending on the size of one’s pocket.
Lauren Collins also stated that she can arrange for the council meeting to be held at Brooklyn College as well.
President Powell then acknowledged his good friend John Williams, who is another big-time supporter of 7-0, and the agency that Ed works for, NYC Emergency Management. He said John always invites OEM to table at Mr. William’s events.
COMMANDER INSPECTOR JOSEPH WERNERSBACH’S REPORT
Inspector Wernersbach thanked the community, elected officials, community board 14, and the 70 precinct community council. He thanked everyone for giving up their time to come and support their community meetings. Since the meeting was being held in a new location he reintroduced himself for those who were visiting the council meeting for the first time.
He informed them that before being assigned to the 70 as Commanding Officer, he was a cop in this same precinct for seven years. He is also very familiar with the Flatbush Junction before it became closed off to traffic. He agreed that there are good businesses there. The community has been supportive to him, whenever he was in need and he said he loves and appreciates this community.
Next, awards were given out to January Cops of the Month PO V. Osorio and PO S. Murukkuwadura for their astuteness, bravery and diligence while on duty.
CRIME STAT REPORT
From the last 28 day report, this community down 44% in major crimes. That's 44 or less victims, and currently, we have 76 less victims of major crime than we did last year. It's about a 95% decrease in major crime 33 years ago. Since ComStat began in 1993, data prior to that time isn’t available. From 2016 to 2026, this is the lowest that crime has ever been, major crime has ever been in several precincts. This reduction is reflective of the great work that the cops do every single day, the leadership and the partnership with the community as well.
Next: Pedestrian collisions are down 29%, which is great, and bicycle collisions are down 64% versus last year.
Grand Larceny is mostly because of identity theft type grand losses, so beware of emails or even phone calls from financial institutions claiming to be Chase, Bank of America, saying you owe money, or directing you to click a link. Please ignore them, and call your bank directly.
It’s tax season, but know that the IRS is never going to call you pay any amount of money to them. They will not threaten to arrest you either. Also please do not give your social security number to anyone.
He also urged residents not to leave valuable items, or wallets or bags visible to sight in their cars. Inspector Wernersbach said this was one of the reason for car break-ins. The other was depending on the model of car, if the sideview mirrors are out they know that the car is unlocked. All they have to do is pull the handle and they have access.
QUESTIONS
Resident: I live in the front of the building, so I'm watching the hangouts and the loud noise being present, motorcycles running up and down the block. I live right here on this block, East 21st Street, between Caton and Woodruff. So I walk down the block with my antennas on. I'm asking for an increased presence, because as of next month, probably April, when the temperature rises above 70 degrees, we get the hangouts. And the hangouts, it's not so bad, it's that they become very disrespectful with the hangouts. The constant loud noises at 2 or 3 o'clock in the morning, you know, we have one particular gentleman. I understand that you can't be everywhere at the same time.
The CO acknowledge and stated that there was a plan already in place to address the matter. He said he was well aware and that the Q-Team is also aware. He said that there is going to be a special ops teams out there as well, and that that zone will be pulled forward.
Fisk Terrace Resident: I'm kind of working with the board to be a liaison with the 7-0. And I don't get to go to meetings that often, but the last meeting I was at was when you were introducing the new initiative from the commissioner, and there was a sheet given out for names of officers who I can contact for my neighborhood. And luckily, our neighborhood has been very safe and quiet, and it's a wonderful place. And so I don't have to call that often. But the one time that I did, I called the officer, and he called me right back, but he said, I'm not the liaison anymore. So I don't know if there's a lot of change going on throughout that. Is there a way to get the updated numbers of the people for that?
Inspector Wernersbach responded that they moved from the NCO model as a police department to the Q-Team model. It wasn't a command decision. It was an NYPD decision. As a result, some of the positions changed mostly due to new assignments. He asked that the resident speak to the Q-Team officers after the meeting adjourned. He also reported that now there are only two Youth Officers versus the six that used to be there.
Marianne: I'm a full-time resident…and I just want to say thank you for all the things that you all have been doing…That being said, my son is in his 30s was on his way to a restaurant one night, and was assaulted. I called 911 and two officers from the precinct called me right away. The work that they did was amazing. They took my son to the site…other cops came soon after. Thank you… I gave out robbery flyers throughout Dorchester and that area following my son’s assault.
Inspector Wernersbach remembered the crime, and called up the crime prevention officer and thanked him and his team for solving the crime. He also wanted the community to know that the officer does the preventive work. It’s not just catching somebody after the fact.
Resident: Do you have anything to do with ICE? I'm concerned about ICE coming here. I always get an ICE question, as I am sure you do. It's important to get information out. I am concerned for my neighbors. I told them just come to my house if you are scared. So, my question really is, you know, there's a lot of back and forth about the public policies, So I was just wondering if there's some clarity in that.
Inspector Wernersbach said he hopes ICE doesn't continue what they've done in other places. He repeated that the resident was asking, what's the NYPD's involvement in ICE? He then explained that ICE is a civil enforcement agency. Federal, but still civil enforcement. The NYPD doesn't do civil enforcement; they do criminal enforcement. He said, the extent that the NYPD would be involved with ICE, is if an ICE agent were to get attacked, just like any other victim, they obviously have to protect people from injury and criminality, but they don't give information with them. He further explained that their first and only priority, is community.
Next, he thanked everyone for the unity, family, and respect for each other. He also thanked Ed for bringing us together, being the tool, so strong and imperative, for thinking about the precinct and caring so much and bringing the community’s issues to the forefront.
Mr. Ed Powell our President, thanked Inspector Wernersbach for being there in partnership with all communities to show such exemplary leadership. He expressed gratitude. He then shared that the next meeting will be at Adept Community Network right across the street from the precinct. It will be on April 29, 2026 at 7:30pm.
He then thanked everyone for coming out, and wishing everyone get home safe.
Meeting adjourned.
