Oct. 2, 2010 By Christian Murray
A handful of Woodside residents turned out to the Police Precinct 108 monthly meeting on Tuesday and claimed that teenagers are wrecking havoc at Doughboy and Windmuller parks.
These complaints dominated the meeting, in what was largely a low-crime month. The precinct, which covers the neighborhoods of Sunnyside, Woodside and LIC, reported that the crime rate was down 4% for the past four week period ending Sept. 26, compared to the same period one year ago.
The residents who live adjacent to the two Woodside parks rattled off a litany of complaints. They said they see brawls, kids smashing bottles, people snoozing in the bushes, naked people emerging from those bushes – to teenagers who intimidate seniors and women. However, their biggest complaint: the police don’t come out when they call.
The police, while saying it will monitor the situation more closely, told the attendees that Windmuller Park was the second most monitored park in the precinct- behind Lou Lodati Park, on 43rdand Skillman Ave. Furthermore, they said that they had limited manpower, particularly during high crime periods at night. Also, they are unable to make an arrest unless there is a clear, criminal violation.
Captain Donald Powers reported the following crime statistics for the 28 day period ending Sept. 26: there were no murders; 2 rapes (down from the 4 incidents reported for the same 28-day period a year ago); 20 robberies (up from 8, for the same period a year ago); 7 felony assaults (the same as last year); 22 burglaries (down from 30 last year); 34 grand larcenies (down from 36), and 16 grand larceny autos (down from 20).
The number of robberies was particularly high. Some of this is accountable to cell phones being snatched out of people’s hands, police said.
Sunnyside Gardens, which was subject to a number of incidents during July, has not had any problems since, according to Powers. The precinct has deployed about 15 auxiliary police officers to the neighborhood since. They are expected to leave the neighborhood shortly.
One crime that was not discussed at the meeting, yet occurred on Sept. 22, dealt with two men who threatened a man with an air pistol on Greenpoint Ave. and 43rd Street.
The two men were arrested and are subject to “menacing and “harassment” charges.
