BROOKLYN COMMUNITY BOARD 6
PUBLIC SAFETY/ENV PROT/PERMITS/LICENSES COMMITTEE
NOVEMBER 22, 2010
PRESENT:
P. BLAKE M. DEPALMA J. DRESSLER R. LOHIER T. MISKEL G. REILLY M. SCOTT M. SHAMES M. SILVERMAN
L. SONES B. STOLTZ
EXCUSED:
M. KENTON D. KUMMER S. MILLER
ABSENT:
T. ALEXANDER J. LODGE
GUESTS:
H. CHERNOFF S. MACAYA R. MACAYA
G. MACAYA M. LEUCK
MINUTES
Environmental Protection, Permits & Licenses, and Public Safety Committee minutes of November 22, 2010 meeting taken by Mark Shames.
Ray Lohier (Public Safety) and Gary Reilly (Environmental Protection) chaired the meeting.
A quorum was present with respect to all committee business
A motion to approve the minutes of the prior meeting, as amended to substitute the name of Mark Shames for that of Mark Kolman, was made by Lou Sones and seconded by Tom Miskel. The motion was passed unanimously.
The first agenda item discussed was the following:
Presentation and review of a renewal unenclosed sidewalk cafe permit application submitted to the Department of Consumer Affairs on behalf of Masaniello Restaurant Corp. at 72 5th Avenue (southwest corner 5th/St Marks Avenues), to permit 10 tables and 20 seats
The file indicated and the representative of the applicant stated that there were no changes from the original sidewalk café permit originally issued.
Committee members reviewed sketches of the sidewalk café area to be approved.
Pauline Blake recalled that at the time of the original application there had been an issue with regard to garbage at the premises. The applicant represented that the issue had been resolved.
A motion to approve the application for renewal of the sidewalk café permit was made by Mark Shames and seconded by Tom Miskel. The motion was passed unanimously.
The applicant with respect to the following:
Presentation and review of a renewal unenclosed sidewalk cafe permit application submitted to the Department of Consumer Affairs on behalf of Stone Park Corner LLC at 324 5th Avenue (northwest corner 5th Avenue/3rd Street), to permit 11 tables and 22 seats.
The applicant did not appear and the application was not approved, however, the committee would hear the application at its next meeting.
The last item on the agenda taken up by the committee was a report and discussion of recent crime trends in the 78th Precinct.
Deputy Inspector John Argenziano, who had originally been schedule to speak with us, was called away on other business and Captain Ordonez graciously agreed to fill-in for him.
Captain Ordonez stated that the Precinct had seen a rise in Grand larcenies (20) and a slight rise in robberies (4). The Grand larcenies were predominantly identity theft. However, he also noted that there were thefts of smart phones including a bicycle in which a phone was grabbed out of someone's hands.
He reminded us that during the holiday season there tends to be an increase in thefts of items such as bicycles and items left in sight that are taken out of cars (ie. GPSs).He reminded us that there was a program to etch a VIN number on bicycles and that id numbers could also be etched into things such as IPads.
He stated that there had been a number of thefts of wrought iron gates.
He stated that auto thefts in our area were down and that such thefts as were occurring were of older cars.
Chairman Lohier brought up his own recent experience of having the window of his car smashed along with a number (13) of other cars. This took place on Prospect Park West. The Captain attributed this to vandalism and indicated that the Precinct was working the case but there had not been an arrest.
Captain Ordonez was asked whether there were any issues concerning enforcement with respect to the new PPW bike lanes. He answered more generally that of 11 knock down
incidents in the Precinct only 2 were bicycle related. He, also, stated that enforcement with regard to bicycles was not being done aggressively with regard to ticketing with the exception of people who use their bicycles to earn a living.
The last concern raised was that upon release from school some young people walk in large groups and at times act out. Matt Silverman noted that a group of approximately 20 kids were observed throwing bottles and arguing with a homeowner. This took place at Sterling Place and 6th Avenue. Captain Ordonez stated that man power was used to oversee a corridor that young people use to move from school to home. The precinct attempts to use its limited personnel to observe the most frequented streets. When complaints are received by the Precinct directly or through 311 they try to cover additional areas, if the patterns of egress from the neighborhood are changing.
Asked about school involvement, Captain Ordonez stated that although there was cooperation between his Precinct and the schools, the schools had no authority off of school grounds.
Pauline indicated that as President of the 78th Precinct Community Council she would further explore the issue of after-school problem areas.
There being no new business the meeting was adjourned