By Howard Koplowitz
Haynes was speaking at the Cambria Heights Civic Association meeting Jan. 11. He said the incident was still under investigation.He also told residents that eight arrests have been made on the corner of Linden Boulevard and 217th Street since the shooting.The victim, identified by police only as a 19-year-old black man, was shot at around 6:23 p.m. on the corner Dec. 30 by an unidentified man wearing a blue sweatshirt, police said. Haynes did not say exactly when the teen died. While noting that crime was down in the 105th last year, Haynes also said there was a slight increase in shooting incidents. But he said the precinct now has 14 new officers who will be on foot patrolling Linden and Merrick boulevards, 243rd Street and Hillside and Jamaica avenues.”Just the presence alone is a big help” toward preventing crime, Haynes said.He said a few of the shootings “have marijuana overtones” and police had been investigating on the corner of the incident before it occurred.State Assemblywoman Barbara Clark (D-Queens Village) questioned why if undercover officers had been monitoring Linden and 217th, did they not make arrests before the shooting occurred.”Why do we wait until somebody gets shot?” she asked. “Why can't the (criminal) activity be stopped before it becomes a serious situation and somebody gets hurt or killed?”Haynes countered by saying that if people are standing by that corner, they have constitutional rights that police officers have to be careful not to violate.The memorial erected following the shooting has also drawn the ire of area residents.Ann Wilkinson, the first vice president of the civic, said the memorial is covered with gang colors and residents want the police to take those items off the site.The neighborhood “feels that it's memorializing the crime, not the person” shot, she said.Haynes said police would do something about the memorial.Civic members also heard from Kevin Jemmott, their former president who is now in charge of the Cambria Heights Development Corporation, and Darnley Jones, the director of Queens outreach for the city Department of Aging, who spoke about senior centers.City Councilman Leroy Comrie (D-St. Albans) and Brian Simon, an aide to U.S. Rep. Gregory Meeks (D- St. Albans), also gave community updates.Reach reporter Howard Koplowitz by e-mail at news@timesledger.com or by phone at 718-229-0300, Ext. 173.
