Anti-cop graffiti aimed at a Queens precinct was found in the Pomonok Houses earlier this week, according to police.
The threats were found on Monday in a restricted section of the basement in one of the buildings that makes up the New York City Housing Authority (NYCHA) complex Pomonok Houses, police said.
The graffiti reads, “PSA-9 [and] 107 Pct R Next to Die.”
The targets of this threat are against the 107th Precinct, which covers a part of Queens that includes the Pomonok Houses, and PSA-9, a housing police unit that patrols the complex. The basement is used as a storage facility for maintenance workers and it is restricted to New York Housing Authority officials who have the key to open the door.
“The cops around here seem pretty nervous about the threat,” said Denise Williams, a resident of the houses. “But then again, the cops have always been on edge when dealing with people here.”
Williams noted that tensions between the community and police have been more strained than usual since the killings of Eric Garner and Michael Brown.
Police said that the NYPD’s Vandal Task Force was investigating the case but no arrests have been made. NYCHA didn’t respond to requests for comment to explain how someone was able to get into a locked area.
The NYPD has been investigating a wave of threats against officers in the aftermath of the shooting of two members of the Police Department on Dec. 20 when Officers Rafael Ramos and Wenjian Liu were gunned down on a Brooklyn street corner. The shooter, who committed suicide, had said on social media sites that he wanted to kill police officers.
A Glendale man was arrested on weapons charges Dec. 24 after he was overheard saying that the officers murdered in Brooklyn should have been white and he wanted to kill cops, authorities said.
The threats were reported to cops who later pulled over 38-year-old Elvin Payamps of Glendale while he was driving. A search of his home turned up metal knuckles, a loaded pistol, a shotgun with a defaced serial number, ammunition and two bulletproof vests, according to DA Richard Brown.
In an interview after his arrest, Payamps insisted his comments were misconstrued by whoever reported them to cops. “Whatever happened to free speech? I was only saying an opinion,” Payamps told The Post.
As of New Year’s Day, the NYPD was investigating at least 60 threats against cops, mostly found on social media sites.
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