Much-Needed Lighting And Security Cameras Are Being Installed At Ingersoll Houses
Let there be light.
Now that a $4.8 million lighting installation project has been completed at Harlem’s Polo Grounds Towers public housing development, the city is continuing to go full steam ahead at the next eight (8) locations — including our very own Ingersoll Houses, where upgrades have been sorely needed and much advocated for for years.
“It’s phenomenal to see,” said Darold Burgess, co-president of the Ingersoll Houses Resident Association. “For so many years we’ve been overlooked as far as cameras and lights. And with the triple homicide, if all of those things were in place. . . New doors, locks, lights, cameras — all of those things play a part in the safety of residents and the surrounding communities. So it’s something that was long overdue, talked about years ago but never followed through with.”
The new lights will blanket both the exterior (entrances, walkways, parking areas) and interior (hallways, common areas, and, hopefully, stairwells) of Ingersoll. Installation is estimated to be complete by the end of 2017.
The other New York City Housing Authority (NYCHA) sites in the process of being lit are Butler Houses (Bronx), St. Nicholas Houses (Manhattan), Boulevard Houses (Brooklyn), Bushwick Houses (Brooklyn), Van Dyke 1 (Brooklyn), Castle Hill Houses (Bronx) and Stapleton Houses (Staten Island).
The entire project is part of the Mayor’s Action Plan (MAP) for Neighborhood Safety — an initiative to reduce crime and increase neighborhood safety at 15 NYCHA development sites with some of the highest crime rates in the city.
Here at Ingersoll, it’s not just lights, either.
“There are a lot of projects going on. It’s interior and exterior lighting, [CCTV] security cameras, the playground being updated, and a wifi system being added for both Ingersoll and Whitman,” said Burgess.
Even better? “Excellent communication” between residents and the “three different contractors working at the same time.”
“We really had to push to get this,” he noted. “Residents are pleased with what they see, happy to see that work is finally being done.”
The security camera installation should be done at all eight NYCHA developments by the end of 2018.
“Lighting is an important aspect of community safety,” said NYCHA Chair and CEO Shola Olatoye. “Following an $18M investment in security cameras and modern layered-access doors, we are proud to further our comprehensive security vision through the installation of permanent lighting. Improving safety and security in public housing is a key strategy in NextGeneration NYCHA, the Authority’s 10 year strategic plan, and these new lights will support a safer environment for both NYCHA residents and the larger community.”