Locals Discuss Traffic Safety at 88th Precinct Community Council Meeting

Traffic safety was once again an issue for locals at the 88th Precinct Community Council meeting on Tuesday night – its first meeting in the New Year.

At the last meeting in November, hundreds of locals marched to demand better traffic enforcement after 9-year-old Lucian Merryweather was killed by an out-of-control driver on DeKalb Avenue.

Deputy Inspector Scott Henderson updated locals on new traffic safety measures by the precinct and crime trends in the neighborhood. Major crime was down 6.5 percent in 2013, he said. There were 11 shootings in the precinct last year, he added, compared to 14 in 2012. Undercover cops also made seven gun arrests during the year.

Three more officers were certified to issue speeding summons, and one more will be certified next month, Henderson said. The precinct also has a new radar gun. He told locals that speed bumps will be installed in March and the speed limit lowered to 20 miles per hour in the new slow zone in Clinton Hill. The slow zone – which will comprise the area between Fulton Street and Washington, Lafayette and Bedford Avenues – is slated to be voted on by Community Board 2 at its Feb. 12 meeting.

John Harrison, vice president of the 88th Precinct Community Council and a member of CB 2, reminded locals to continue to bring their concerns about speeding and pedestrian safety to the CB2 Transportation Committee meeting.

“Just because there’s one slow zone doesn’t mean there can’t be another one,” he said.

Members of Make Brooklyn Safer, the community advocacy group that organized the November march, were at the meeting. Megan Davidson, a member of the organization, asked locals to continue reporting speeding drivers, dangerous intersections and other street problems in Fort Greene to the group’s online map.

While most crime trended down, Henderson noted, there was a spike in iPhone and other smartphone thefts. In case of theft, he recommended that smartphone owners register their devices and other valuables with the NYPD’s Operation ID by filling out a form with the precinct. Henderson also reminded locals to install the Find My iPhone app, which he said had been useful in tracking stolen phones.

“Last week, we tracked a phone to East New York,” Henderson said. “It had already been pawned, but we were able to retrieve it and we have video of the suspect.”

Henderson also said that the New York City Council had just voted on a bill that will require pawn shop owners to register items.

• The precinct will start sending out a community newsletter. To sign-up for the newsletter, call Community Affairs at (718) 636-6526.
• The 88th Precinct Community Council will launch a new website next week at www.88communitycouncil.com. The current site is having technical problems, 88th Precinct Community Council President Delia Hunley-Adossa said.
• The precinct is launching its Block Watchers program. To volunteer, call Community Affairs at (718) 636-6526.

The 88th Precinct Community Council will next meet on Feb. 18 at 7 p.m. at Brown Memorial Baptist Church.