70TH PRECINCT COMMUNITY COUNCIL MEETING MINUTES OF May, 2026
7:30PM
ADAPT Community Network
175 Lawrence Ave. Brooklyn, NY 11230
OFFICERS PRESENT
Ed Powell, President
Dovi Zeitlin, Treasurer
James Sanon, Assistant Secretary
Absent:Florencia Chang-Ageda, Secretary, Nathan Thompson, Vice President
President Mr. Ed Powell commenced the meeting with greetings to the parents and children in attendance and the Pledge of Allegiance.
Reverend Balieu reminded us that everyone here at the meeting was performing a task and blessed us all.
ANNOUNCEMENTS
Ed Powell Asked us to take Took a moment of silence to remember a past president Pat Reddick who had recently passed.
Eli Slavin from Congresswoman Clarkes Office spoke on recent events. But requested that we go to clarke.house.gov to get a quick picture of what is going on lately. They left two fliers about getting passports and clarified that they now have 3 offices.
Megan Fleming White from Councilmember Farah Lewis’ office spoke on recent events. She explained that participatory budgeting had been successful this year. She specifically thanked Flatbush Development Corporation for the help in doing outreach on the process. More than 25,000 residents participated in voting for how to spend the money. She also thanked the 70th for help regarding a protest that happened along Avenue L. Mrs Fleming also announced the Councilmember is a proud Co-sponsor of Intro 001, a bill the would require the Commissioner to establish a plan that would address and contain the risk of physical obstruction, physical injury, intimidation and interference of places of worship, while preserving and protecting freedom of speech, assembly and protesting.
Tysha Allen from Assemblymember Rodeynse Bichotte Hermyln. Mrs Allen announced that with Bichotte Hermyln’s support, they passed a $500 million dollar education budget. She is still in Albany hammering out the rest of the budget. They are having their annual Clergy Luncheon on Thursday June 25th, all clergy leaders are welcome.
COMMANDING OFFICER’S REPORT
Deputy Inspector Wernersbach annouced that we were honored by the presence of Inspector Delvana. Delving reminded us that Officers are out there to protect houses of Worship. e.
Wernersbach then went into 3 gun collars from 3 different special opps teams who were being given “Cop Of The Month”. The first was Officer Flash who saw an idling car and asked for ID. The driver jumped out of the window and ran. Flash chased him down and towed the car to discover a loaded firearm in the car. The perp, had been collared for murder and is now in Federal custody. The second incident involved Officer Mahmoud on April 16th who responded to a suspicious person call; two individuals on a roof. Upon making the arrest for trespassing they noticed a bag to side which contained a loaded firearm. Office Manos on April 14th observed a guy acting suspicious and could see the Lshape of a gun in the bag. They approached and found a drugs and a loaded firearm. Three loaded guns were taken off the street. “This is why we are down in shootings’ said the CO. Eli Slavin presented awards of recognition from the Congresswoman’s office to each of the officers.
The CO then reminded us that great work starts with great leadership. He called out Lt John Pierre, a special operations Lt, and Sgt Levant who was with Mahmoud. And finally Sgt Valentin who everyone knows well as running the QTeam.
Stats are darn good. Murder at 0%, Rape down 47%, Robbery down 49%,Felony Assault down 47% (thats 90 victims), Burglary is down 48%, Grand Larceny Auto is down 24%. We have a small uptick in Grand Larceny. But big picture, “major Crime” we are 383 incidents vs 545 last year. That is 162 less victims than last year; a 33% decrease. The Commanding Officer thanked all in the room reminding us our partnership is key.
The only number up is Grand Larceny. This is opportunists grabbing unattended things left in cars or at stores. The CO explained a few strategies for FIFA, specifically his partnerships with businesses speaking to the nightlife during FIFA. Creating footrests and unexpected stops.
A couple of areas have been added to the “Summer Violence Zone”. Some areas along Church Avenue have been added and will have additional footposts. You can see them today by the Church Avenue Train station for instance.
There were no questions today.
The next meeting is June 24th. A short meeting and big party. There will be a BBQ and possibly a magic show if kids show.
