Halloween Parade Tomorrow

Happy Halloween Cobble Hill! The costumes are getting their final touches and everyone's ready to trick-or-treat! The costume parade will congregate in Cobble Hill Park tomorrow, leaving at 4:00pm. We will proceed from Congress Street to Henry Street, head south on Warren Street, and turn back to Clinton Street to return to Cobble Hill Park. The residents of the Cobble Hill Health Center are looking forward to seeing our costumes when the parade passes by on Henry! The route will be led by Captain Colon, Commanding Officer of the 76th Precint, and the Packer High School Jazz Band. See you tomorrow!

Welcome New CO Captain Elliot Colon at Tuesday's Precinct 76 Meeting

Precinct 76 will have it's first meeting after the summer recess on Tuesday, September 1st at 7:30pm. The community council gathers every month at the precinct on 191 Union Street between Henry and Hicks Streets. This month residents will be introduced to our new Commanding Officer Captain Elliot Colon. The new appointment follows the retirement of Captain Natalie Maldonado in earlier this year in June.

A New Commanding Officer at the 76th Precinct After Just Four Months

Precinct 76 welcomed a new Commanding Offer Captain Elliot Colon on June 15th. The announcement comes just four months after the community was introduced to Captain Natalie Maldonado at the precinct's February Council meeting. Captain Maldonado retired from the force in June after nearly twenty years serving the NYPD. After her short command at the 76th, this change marks the fifth new Commanding Officer in under five years. Although this offers no cause for alarm, it may raise community concerns about how familiar NYPD leadership can become with its patrol when stationed for such relatively short stints.

You can find more coverage on this, and a timeline of the precinct's last five Commanding Officers on DNAinfo.

Cobble Hill Skyscrapers?

Please join us for our Spring General Meeting this Monday, May 18th at 7:30pm.  The evening will be chock full of neighborhood updates, refreshments from Ted & Honey, a few words from our local 76th precinct police captain, and a deep spotlight on imminent development and construction at LICH.

We've also received word that Fortis, the developers who now own LICH properties, will be on hand to present some early ideas and begin a fruitful community discussion.  As-of right development scenarios could legally bring 40 story towers to our neighborhood's low rise feel. Rezoning ideas already being floated could double the amount of square footage built and change the configurations of our area's beloved children's parks along Henry Street.

It is vitally important for the neighborhood to come to the meeting, hear the ideas, and be an active part of the conversation to ensure whatever gets built is a clear benefit to the community.

76th precinct Blood Drive

Cobble Hill's local precinct will be hosting a Blood Drive, sponsored by the New York Blood Center, on Thursday, May 14, 2015. The Blood Drive Bus will be parked in front of the 76th Precinct Station House at 191 Union Street and will accept blood donations from 12:30 PM, through 6:30 PM.

Giving blood is incredibly easy so if your healthy enough to donate, please do. Some reasons to give... 

• Every three seconds, someone in this country needs a lifesaving blood transfusion.
• One pint of blood can help save as many as three lives.
• The demand for transfusions is increasing as the population ages and more sophisticated medical care and surgeries, requiring transfusion support, become more commonplace.
• New York Blood Center alone requires over 2,000 volunteer blood donations each day to meet the transfusion needs of patients in close to 200 New York and New Jersey hospitals.

LICH Development Updates & more

Be sure to come to the Spring General Meeting - Monday, May 18th @ 7:30pm - for Cobble Hill neighborhood updates, including a focused discussion on guidelines for development on the former site of Long Island College Hospital.

Update from the 76th precinct

Deputy Inspector Natalie Maldonado, Commanding Officer of our local 76th precinct, recently sent along this important message for residents of Cobble Hill.

The 76th Precinct would like to make you aware that there has been a slight increase in Residential Burglaries recently. However, the good news is that during two separate incidents last week, two perpetrators were arrested for Burglary. One of the perpetrators revealed that he felt that Carroll Gardens and Cobble Hill were easy targets, because many residents are known to leave their doors unlocked.

This bold statement made by a criminal should serve as a reminder to everyone that you must, at the very least, take basic precautions to protect your home and your property by keeping your doors and accessible windows locked.

The 76th precinct and the CHA strongly urge residents to be alert at all times, call 911 if you see or suspect a crime is in progress, and to take full advantage of the excellent Crime Prevention Programs NYPD already offers free of charge. Upon request the 76th will work on sending Crime Prevention Officer Bredy to do a full home Security Survey that can identify weaknesses and make security recommendations. 

Successful crime prevention is incredibly important to keeping Cobble Hill a safe neighborhood for our residents to walk about with peace of mind. However, it takes community involvement so be sure to work with our local law enforcement and try to attend one of the 76th precinct's monthly community meetings too, held the first Tuesday of every month at 7:30pm at the precinct.

April meeting at the 76th precinct

Each month, NYPD precincts invite the community to come to a general meeting for recent updates and take any resident's concerns. Our own 76th precinct meets the first Tuesday of the month at 7:30pm at the precinct on Union Street between Clinton and Henry. If you have any pressing issues or just want to learn more about policing in the neighborhood, come out and meet Captain Natalie A Maldonado.

76th Precinct welcomes new commanding officer

New CO of the 76th, Natalie Maldonado

Every month we encourage residents to attend the 76th Precinct Community Council Meeting. February's meeting will take place tomorrow night, Tuesday, February 3, 2015, 7:30 PM, at the 76th Precinct Station House, located at 191 Union Street, between Henry Street and Hicks Street. At this meeting, we say farewell to Captain Justin Lenz and welcome the new Commanding Officer of the 76th Precinct, Captain Natalie Maldonado.

Captain Natalie Maldonado had been the commanding officer of Transit Division 32, which covers all of the subway stations in Crown Heights and its immediate surroundings, since April of 2014. Captain Justin Lenz had been leading the 76th since the fall of 2013. To review some of his stellar work, read the Red Hook Star Revue's in depth article on him from last fall.

Update from January's 76th Precinct Community Council Meeting

Last week the 76th precinct held its first meeting of 2015. Though controversial issues have thrust NYPD into the headlines recently, the vast majority of the agency's fine work goes under-reported and under-appreciated.  Thankfully, the packed room of attendees - including State Senator Daniel Squadron, Councilman Brad Lander, and representatives from both Councilman Carlos Menchaca and Assemblyman Felix Ortiz - made it clear the our community greatly appreciates the work of Captain Justin Lenz and his officers putting themselves in harm's way for our safety.

Recapping 2014 included many positive highlights within the 76th precinct including
- Crime is down by 1.6% when compared to 2013. (633 crimes in '14 vs. 643 in '13)
- The 76th had had the 5th lowest overall crime across precinct's city
- There was a 19% drop in robberies in the 76th precinct. (85 such crimes in 2014 vs 105 in 2013.)
- There were 5 local shootings in 2014 (including 1 homicide in Red Hook, where the community offered tremendous support and tips to detectives)
- The category accounting for the biggest share of local crime was grand larceny. This includes identity theft, fraudulent checks, scam emails etc. Without these incidents, the 76th would have had 150 less crimes.
- There were just 6 transit crimes in the Transit District 30 area.
- Public Housing areas saw reduced crime as well: 91 in Red Hook houses and just 40 in the Gowanus houses.
- Vision Zero focus key for Captain Lenz.  Both vehicle collisions and pedestrian injuries were down 10% when compared to 2013. Also more officers were trained to do speed enforcement and that meant there was 122% increase in speeding citations (288 in 2014). Capt Lenz also noted a 36% increases in failure to yield infractions, and overall more enforcement of bike lane blocking and double parking.
- What was especially interesting was hearing him say "I took away officers discretion to NOT get involved." They can use their judgement whether or not to issue the ticket but he said he wanted them to always get involved when they saw a potential hazard and so there were plenty more double parked cars that officers simply cleared away without stopping to write tickets.
- The precinct will only be getting 6 new officers from the newest class of recruits.
- This year will have 50 school crossing guards (over 47 last year).

Next month's community council meeting will again be at 7:30pm, February 3rd at the precinct.

Blood Drive at 76th Precinct

Earlier this week was the 76th precinct's first Community Council meeting of 2015 and tomorrow is their first blood drive. On Thursday, January 8,  a NY Blood Center Bus will be parked in front of the Precinct Station House to accept blood donations from 12:30 PM, through 6:30 PM. Please take a few minutes to give some blood and save a life.

And remember, be sure to sign up for the community affairs electronic newsletters at this hyperlink as well as follow Capt Lenz and his hard working officers on their newly created Twitter account.

January meeting of 76th Precinct Community Council

This Tuesday, January 6th, will be the first of the 76th precinct's monthly Community Council meetings. Attending these is the best way to stay informed on local events and relay any concerns of yours to Captain Lenz and his officers. If you cannot attend in person, be sure to sign up for the community affairs electronic newsletters at this hyperlink. Also be sure to follow them on their newly created Twitter account.

Tribute to D.I. Cassidy

This just in from our local Community Board, regarding the passing of Deputy Inspector Joseph Cassidy who had helped keep Cobble Hill safe as head of our local precinct beginning in 2004. Read this link for an interview with him from when he first took command of the 76th.

We regret to inform you of the passing of Deputy Inspector Joseph T. Cassidy, former Commanding Officer of the 76th Precinct.

Deputy Inspector Cassidy is being waked on Friday, November 14th from 2-4pm and7-9pm at the Clavin Funeral Home, 7722 4th Avenue, Brooklyn.

A funeral mass will be held at 9:30am on Saturday, November 15th at St. Ephrem R.C. Church, 929 Bay Ridge Parkway, Brooklyn.

Message from the 76th precinct

Last night the 76th precinct held one of its monthly Community Council meetings open to the public. Attending these is the best way to stay informed on community events and issues and relay any concerns of yours to Captain Lenz and his officers. If you cannot attend in person, be sure to sign up for the community affairs electronic newsletters at this hyperlink.

Today, that NYPD email blast gave out important information regarding Mayor De Blasio's Vision Zero program and the new 25 mph speed limit that is going into effect citywide starting this Friday.

From NYPD
Beginning November 7, 2014, the default Speed Limit in New York City will be changed from 30 MPH, to 25 MPH.  This means that anywhere within the confines of New York City where the speed limit is not posted, the default speed limit will be 25 MPH.  Otherwise, if there is a Speed Limit sign posted, obey the speed that is designated on that sign.

76th Precinct's Community Council Meeting - 9/9

Several residents in the community brought up traffic safety concerns after a serious collision in our neighborhood. At the intersection of Court Street and Atlantic Avenue, a livery cab jumped the curb and injured a young woman in front of Rite-Aid. As it was on the north side of the street, the 84th precinct is responsible for handling the investigation. However, residents should know street safety is very much a concern of our own local 76th precinct, run by Captain Lenz.

Recently, the CHA met with Captain Lenz to specifically discuss the mayor's Vision Zero initiative. We were pleased to know street safety is very much an NYPD priority in our district and the numbers are proving effective.  When we met, we compared the numbers to last year and were pleased to see collisions in the 76th were down overall (1034 last year vs 1014 this year). For the week, serious injuries were down too (31 last year vs 27 this year). These are small, but significant improvements and NYPD keeps a close eye on such data so that trends can be seen, and new tactics can be formed, in name of keeping our streets safe for all road users.

This Tuesday, September 9th, the precinct's community council meetings will resume after a brief summer hiatus. All residents are encouraged to attend and let the officers know of any issues in the neighborhood. It is also a great way to get more information about many crime prevention programs offered by NYPD from burglary to VIN etching to identify theft and more.   

76th Precinct Sunday Traffic Alert

Our officers at the local 76th precinct just shared this bit of traffic news for all to be aware of this weekend.

Please be advised that traffic in our area will be affected by following two separate events this weekend, both on Sunday, May 4, 2014:

1. Five Borough Bike Tour - Cyclists will be travelling throughout all five boroughs causing Street and Highway closures.  In our area, Atlantic Avenue, between the BQEEastbound Entrance ramps and the dead end at the Brooklyn Bridge Park andColumbia Street, between Atlantic Avenue and Congress Street will be closed to pedestrian and vehicular traffic from approximately 8:00 am, through 3:30 pm.

2. Court Street Festival - Court Street, between Union Street and W. 9th Streetwill be closed to vehicular traffic for the street fair from approximately 8:00 am, through 8:00 pm, to accommodate set-up and clean-up.  Additionally, all side streets leading into the festival route on Court Street, from Smith Street and from Clinton Street, will be closed to vehicular traffic.  The B57 Bus that runs southbound on Court Street will be re-routed via a left turn off Court Street onto Union Street, a right turn onto 3rd Avenue, a right turn onto W. 9th Street, a left turn back onto Court Street and then will continue onto it's regular route.  It will make all the corresponding stops along 3rd Avenue. 

Please plan ahead accordingly and allow extra time if you intend on drivingthis Sunday in the affected areas.

With eyes on Vision Zero, Traffic Enforcement Rises in the 76th

It's now been over a month since Mayor DeBlasio unveiled his 63 point plan called Vision Zero, a comprehensive multi-agency approached aimed at reducing traffic fatalities to zero within ten years. Immediate action has already begun with City Council hearings and community wide forums on the topic taking place, as well as ramped up police enforcement targeting the most deadly traffic violations.

With dangerous corridors like Atlantic Avenue in our neighborhood, the Cobble Hill Association is well aware that its residents frequently have pedestrian safety issues in mind. We are glad to see a renewed focus on safety by many agencies under Vision Zero and want to thank our own officers in the 76th precinct who have increased enforcement by 186%.  As mapped by WNYC, in February of 2013, they distributed a combined 22 tickets for speeding, failure to yield to pedestrians and failure to stop at traffic signal. This year that total went up to 63 tickets.

http://www.wnyc.org/story/traffic-tickets-across-city/

Many are delighted by this sea change in enforcement and hope it will continue each month. Others raise the concern that it is still not nearly as widespread as it ought to be, with observable violations far outweighing the number of tickets issued. In fact, some precincts have even given out fewer tickets than they did in the same month of 2013.

The 76th precinct holds it's monthly community council meeting the first Tuesday of each month at the precinct at 7:30 P.M. We encourage our community to visit the officers and Captain Justin Lenz to hear more about how the Vision Zero platform will be adopted by our local precinct.

76th Precinct Community Council Meeting Tuesday, Blood Drive Thursday

76th Precinct Community Council Meeting Reminder

The next 76th Precinct Community Council Meeting will be held on Tuesday, January 7, 2014, 7:30 PM, at the 76th Precinct Station House, 191 Union Street.
  
76th Precinct Blood Drive
The New York Blood Center will have their Mobile Blood Donation Busparked in front of the 76th Precinct Station House, located at 191 Union Street, on Thursday, January 9, 2014, from 12:30 PM, through 6:30 PM.

76th Precinct Community Council Meeting, Tuesday Dec. 3rd

The next 76th Precinct Community Council Meeting will be held on Tuesday, December 3, 2013, 7:30 PM at the 76th Precinct Station House, located at 191 Union Street, between Henry Street and Hicks Street. We encourage all residents to attend these meetings and get to know their local officers. Whether its complaints or compliments, this is the place to have an open discussion of what's happening in the neighborhood and what else you'd like to see.

Thank you to 76th Precinct Captain Schiff

For more than a year, Cobble Hill's safety has been in the hands of NYPD veteran, Deputy Inspector Jeffrey Schiff. Yesterday he passed along word of his reassignment to Queens' 106th precinct and we thank him for his service. Please read his message below in full and also be sure to soon welcome our new head of the precinct, Captain Justin Lenz.
-----------------------------------------------------------
Dear Friends:

After an extremely productive year and a half as the Commanding Officer of the 76th Precinct, I must inform you all that I have been transferred from the 76th Precinct to the 106th Precinct located in Howard Beach/Ozone Park Queens effective midnight tonight. Being the Commanding Officer of this precinct since April 2012 was a wonderful and exciting experience for me, one that I shall never forget!

I feel privileged and honored to have served with the hard working men and woman of the innovative 76th Precinct. I also feel privileged and honored to have known so many people who obviously care about their community as evidenced by the great number of notable arrests that were affected because of direct community intervention, the number of Auxiliary volunteers that report to the precinct each day to help out with various needs and events of the community, and the number of Youth Explores that volunteer their time working in the community. Through this police-community cooperation, we were often able to arrest those persons who were responsible for burglary patterns, car break-in patterns, and those who committed violent crimes in our community.