‘Safe Streets’ for south Queens

Senior citizens in southern Queens say they feel well-taken care of after the City Council voted to extend funding for the Safe Streets program for another year.
The program allows seniors in the 102nd and 106th Precincts to receive free repair or replacement of any window or door lock. Debra Lapadula, Elder Crime Victims Coordinator at the Howard Beach Senior Center, says the program is crucial to the protection of senior citizens.
“Most seniors are on a fixed income, and it’s very costly to have locks fixed or replaced,” said Lapadula, who also gives safety lectures at the Senior Center. “Seniors are easy targets for crime, and at times, they truly don’t know who to turn to or where to go.”
Councilmember Joe Addabbo, who helped push the Council for funding, called Safe Streets a “great way to provide seniors with services they haven’t had in the past.” Addabbo added that he would like to see the program extend to serve a wider population, but says the response so far has been largely positive.
“If you don’t have the means to pay for it yourself - and a lot of seniors don’t - it’s great,” said John, 74, a Woodhaven resident for 23 years. “Anything for free will get a good response.”
Eighty-three-year-old Luke Monaghan, also of Woodhaven, called Safe Streets “a very good idea,” but feels it would be more beneficial in other parts of Queens.
“Crime isn’t too bad around here,” he said.
Seventy-two-year-old Anne Wagner agrees.
Wagner has spent her entire life living within the confines of the 102nd Precinct, and said she has never had a problem with crime. She considers security her own responsibility.
“I try not to look to the government for much,” she said. “If I don’t need the help, I would rather just pay for my own locks.”
But to Ozone Park resident William Brennan, government-regulated protection for seniors is imperative.
“Richmond Hill, Ozone Park, these places have a lot of crime,” said Brennan, 66. “The only reason there aren’t more break-ins is because the 102nd and 106th [Precincts] do a heck of a job. But old people can go out and forget to lock their doors. This program is very necessary.”