Middle Village Meet Begins Group’s Reboot
Police and community activists began the process of rebuilding the 104th Precinct Community Council with a meeting last Wednesday, Sept. 26, in Middle Village that featured an exchange of ideas on how to make the organization better neighborhoods within the precinct’s confines.
Without a president or an executive board in place, the council meeting at Our Lady of Hope School was led by Deputy Inspector Michael Cody, commander of the 104th Precinct. Along with outlining the steps toward bringing new leadership to the council, he also expressed the goal of transforming it into an active organization to foster an improved relationship between the command and Ridgewood, Glendale, Maspeth and Middle Village.
As previously reported, the former president of the 104th Precinct Community Council, Michael Hetzer, stepped down from the post in May. Hetzer, an attorney and Ridgewood resident, was arrested that month on charges that he allegedly misappropriated $200,000 in funds which an estate had asked him to hold in escrow. The case is currently pending in Queens Criminal Court.
Though there were individuals identified as being on the council’s executive board under Hetzer, P.O. Thomas Bell of the 104th Precinct Community Affairs Unit stated that “on paper [the board was] pretty much nonexistent.” In recent years, he added, the former council president arranged for joint meetings with civic groups in Ridgewood and Glendale since “it was difficult to get members to attend the meetings” of the organization.
“The people from Maspeth didn’t want to go to Ridgewood. The people from Ridgewood didn’t want to go to Middle Village,” Bell said. “So what happened was that we had two community councils.”
While the 104th Precinct Community Council met in conjunction with civic groups in Ridgewood and Glendale, the Committee of Organizations of Precinct 104 (COP104) served as the defacto community council for Maspeth and Middle Village, the officer added.
Cody stated that he would “reach out to all areas of the precinct” to get involved in the reformation of the community council. At least three “start-up meetings” would be forthcoming to set the stage for a new executive board to take hold.
“I want this done as soon as possible, and the right way,” Cody said.
Aside from serving as a forum for the public to speak with local police, the community council would also be responsible for organizing fund-raising efforts for the National Night Out Against Crime and crime prevention programs, the commanding officer added.
The selection of the council’s new president and executive board will be left to voting members of the council, Bell explained. The executive board is comprised of a vice president, recording secretary, treasurer and sergeant at-arms; up to two additional posts may be established should the council decide they are necessary, he added.
However, Bell noted, the council is presently not in a position to hold an election immediately under the bylaws established by the NYPD.
According to those regulations, individuals must attend at least three community council meetings in a calendar year in order to participate in the election. Since the council is starting with a clean slate, last Wednesdence day’s meeting was, for all intents and purposes, the first meeting of the 104th Precinct Community Council this year.
In order to serve as council president or on the executive board, a candidate must meet the voting requirements and be at least 18 years of age, live or work in the 104th Precinct confines and may not be a full-time NYPD employee or an elected official.
Bell also pointed out that neither the 104th Precinct nor the NYPD endorses any candidate for a council office.
Despite the regulations, attendees and police alike expressed a desire to move the process along as quickly as possible. Kathy Masi, president of the Glendale Civic Association, suggested that the council hold bimonthly meetings before the end of the year in order to get as many people as possible involved in the process and establish the council’s new leadership before the new year.
Regardless of when or how often the council meets, Bell urged many of the civic association leaders in attedance to spread the word about the council’s reorganization and to get more individuals to attend future meetings.
“Ninety percent of the people here we have had contacts with,” he said. “We want people from different parts of the command. … We want it to be a strong board that’s responsible for the command as a whole.”
Robert Holden, president of the Juniper Park Civic Association, suggested that the NYPD waive the voting regulations in order for a temporary board to be established to run the council immediately. “We have civic leaders here to stay for the long haul,” he said.
Sgt. Tim Everoski of NYPD Patrol Borough Queens North indicated that he would consult with police officials about allowing such an exemption.
To that end, the attendees recruited members of a nominating committee to help form the temporary board. The committee included Paul Kerzner and Patricia Grayson, president and chairperson of the board of the Ridgewood Property Owners and Civic Association, Patricia Kalbouros of Middle Village and Nat Costanza of Maspeth.
Democratic District Leader Tom Bornemann of Ridgewood suggested that the new precinct council rotate its meetings around the four neighborhoods covered by the 104th Precinct, an idea which Cody and others in attendance favored.
Holden added that, if the new council is functional and moves around, “there would be no need to have a COP104.” He explained that COP104 was originally formed in 1991 since previous leaders of the 104th Precinct Community Council refused to hold meetings in the Maspeth/Middle Village area.
Throughout the transition process, Bell stated, the council will continue to hold meetings and field questions or comments from the public. The 104th Precinct will preside over the meetings until a community council president is elected.
Other news
Overall crime was down around the 104th Precinct for the week and month through Sept. 23, Cody reported to attendees.
For the week, 33 major crimes were tallied by the precinct, down from 46 registered during the same period last year. Decreases were reported in robberies (three, down from 11 in 2011), felony assaults (four, down from eight) and burglaries (six, down from nine. Auto thefts rose slightly (seven, up from four) and grand larcenies were even for the period (13).
In the 28-day period that concluded last Sunday, robberies, felony assaults, burglaries, grand larcenies and auto thefts all declined, the deputy inspector added. Year-to-date, the precinct has seen a 1.5 percent decrease in overall crime.
Inspector Joseph Gallucci of the NYPD Counter-Terrorism Unit stopped by to promote the department’s hotline as a venue for the public to say something if they see something. He encouraged members of the public who see suspicious activity to call 1-866-NYC-SAFE or send an email to nycsafe@nypd.org.
“If you do call, give us as much information as you can,” Gallucci said. “We can’t do this ourselves.” He added that every call and email message to the department is investigated.
The next 104th Precinct Community Council meeting is scheduled to take place on Wednesday night, Oct. 24, at a time and location to be announced. For more information, call the 104th Precinct Community Affairs Unit at 1-718-386-2431.
