By Helen Klein
Usually, meetings of the 68th Precinct Community Council don’t draw standing-room-only crowds. Why, then, was the meeting room at the station house, 333 65th Street, lined with people – not only every chair filled, but virtually every spot along the wall and in front of the desk taken up? It turns out that many of those in the large group were there by invitation from the precinct’s commanding officer, Captain Eric Rodriguez. The captain had asked representatives of the neighborhood’s bars and night spots to be on hand for a discussion of the night life rules promulgated recently, and to remind them that, by cooperating with the police, when necessary, they may avoid reports to the State Liquor Authority (SLA) should an incident occur. In 2007, said Rodriguez, there were 19 assaults or stabbings, 16 grand larcenies, six burglaries and two robberies related to local watering holes. “That’s a concern to us,” he told his listeners. “It’s your community like it’s our community. We have to work together. We are reaching out to you guys to work with us.” The problems that are occurring don’t necessarily have their roots in Bay Ridge, Rodriguez assured his listeners. “People are coming from other neighborhoods and causing problems here,” he contended. “Most of the kids that are doing the stabbings are coming from Staten Island or Queens, and it’s causing a lot of concern in the neighborhood,” Rodriguez went on. “Some people are getting stabbed just walking down the street, and we don’t want that.” Nonetheless, the good news, said Rodriguez, is that, “Almost every bar owner in Bay Ridge has a rapport with the 68th Precinct, and they do help us out immensely.” Despite this, he urged those present to go the extra mile, and be “more diligent” about cooperating with the precinct when there’s a problem. There can be a benefit for bar owners in such behavior. Indeed, the new guidelines for nightlife establishments that were introduced last fall — Best Practices for Nightlife Establishments, a collaboration between the NYPD and the New York Nightlife Association — are not just a set of rules and regulations. For the first time, they also allow the police discretion when it comes to whether or not to report an incident to the SLA. Such reports carry a hefty fine for the establishment involved. Now, said Rodriguez, as the commanding officer, he has 72 hours to decide whether to submit a report. That decision, he stressed, is based on a variety of factors – “The totality of the circumstances,” he told the crowd. “Was the bar involved? Was the bouncer, knowing that something was going on, getting involved? If you’re working with us, giving us the video, not trying to hide anything, you’re not going to get the SLA.” In particular, Rodriguez told the bar owners that the precinct doesn’t want establishments simply to eject patrons who are fighting each other. “A lot of times, we’re finding, the bouncers are taking the people who are fighting and throwing them out onto the street,” Rodriguez pointed out. “We don’t want you to do that, because you’re putting both people who are angry with each other out on the street, and, guess what, they are fighting out on the street. “We do figure it out,” Rodriguez went on. “A lot of times, the bouncer will say it didn’t happen here. We’re finding out it did. If there is a problem brewing, call us. We’re not here to hurt the bar owners. Bay Ridge is about business. We just ask you to respect other people. We don’t go to your bar unless we’re getting calls and problems.” Rodriguez also asked for cooperation with respect to letting the cops gather evidence. “If you have a crime in one of your bars, let us come in there and keep people away from the crime scene, so we can get our evidence,” he told the group. “Give us the license plate – you’re not involved. We’ll take it from there. Just help us out a little bit.” Besides dealing with altercations, Rodriguez had some other general advice for the bar owners, to do with serving younger people. The bars that allow people in who are 18 or over but not yet of drinking age, “Are a major problem,” he said. “The younger the kid is, the bigger the fight. Some of the establishments have more mature crowds and we never have problems with them.” In addition, stressed Rodriguez, “The underage has to stop. We have to do underage operations and check up, so try and avoid serving these underage people.”
