BHPOA June Meeting Recap

By Katie McFadden

The last pre-summer meeting of the Belle Harbor Property Owners Association was full of updates on safety, including from Deputy Mayor of New York City for Public Safety Kaz Daughtry, drones, the repurposing of Hangars 3 and 4 at Floyd Bennett Field, and even a tribute to some often unrecognized heroes, our local school crossing guards!

The meeting, held at the Belle Harbor Yacht Club on Tuesday, June 17, began with a social event as attendees enjoyed hot dogs, knishes and other summer favorites to kick off the summer. But as the school season comes to an end, BHPOA President Paul King took some time to recognize the school crossing guards who have kept students safe, some for as long as 47 years, like MaryEllen Murray. She, along with Ann McGovern, Teresa Breen, Diane Cardino, Kathleen Decarolis, Kurshad Jahan, Erielkina Pizarro, Lillian Sletcha, Bridget Smith and Iszbela Tarnowska, were all presented with gift cards as a little thank you for their service by Supervisor Bulzomi. “There are some things you see every day that you start to take for granted. The people in the rain, snow and the sun, who, not until you think about it, are really protecting our children. We wanted to take an opportunity to thank these ladies,” King said.

Next up, in a special appearance, Kaz Daughtry was on hand to provide some public safety updates, especially when it comes to how city agencies are using drones to keep beaches safe. “I’m the one who started the drone program for the police department,” Daughtry said, explaining how he came up with the idea to try to prevent drownings on the beach. “This summer, there’s going to be drone stations, some on top of precincts, and we’re looking to do the same here,” he said, explaining that drones will continue to be used to patrol beaches, looking for sharks, riptides and assisting lifeguards, and for patrons in the water after lifeguards are off duty. He also said they’re focused on quality-of-life issues and highlighted the effort to stop groups on scooters and ATVs from wreaking havoc around the city, especially in Rockaway. They now confiscate those vehicles and destroy them, which has led to fewer on the streets. To date, they have confiscated over 100K. Daughtry said DA Melinda Katz has been an important partner in public safety. “She does the right thing when it comes to keeping these bad people in jail,” he said. But there’s still more to be done. “We still have work to do, and we can do better but obviously there’s limited resources and we’re doing the best we can.”

Sgt. Manny Fajardo of the U.S. Park Police provided updates around Riis Park and Floyd Bennett Field. He reminded folks that dogs are not allowed on the beach from March to September, and they recently had an incident of a dog biting someone on the boardwalk, so they’re cracking down on enforcement. They’ve been having issues with parking as “people park wherever they want.” He also said the National Park Service is looking to “start enforcing no bikes on the boardwalk,” but Phyllis Inserillo of Councilwoman Joann Ariola’s office interjected and said NPS said they wouldn’t be doing that after the city decided not to ban bikes, so she asked Sgt. Fajardo to get clarification on that.

Next, Det. Victor Boamah of the 100th Precinct said everything was mostly fine crime-wise, but there was a reported hate crime of a swastika on a construction site at Beach 146th and Rockaway Beach Blvd., which was being investigated. He also spoke about an incident in which a man named Malik is going into people’s driveways and backyards to collect bottles. Neighbors raised the alarm on this as Malik is a registered sex offender. Boamah reiterated that they can’t arrest someone just for being a sex offender but urged people to call 911 if he enters their backyard or property. He said people can’t report it if he’s on a neighbor’s property, but Inserillo advised everyone to take photos and video to share with the precinct in these cases. An incident was also brought up regarding a car that was stolen from Beach 140th Street. Boamah said they made an arrest and recovered two guns. The suspects are juveniles. Boamah urged people to never leave their keys inside their vehicles, as was the case with the stolen vehicle.

King got into his lightning round, reminding folks to vote in the primary and general election, and to look into the stance of each candidate on public safety before voting. He said the first hearing for the City of Yes lawsuit is July 8 in Staten Island, and he encouraged people to show up to help their case against it. He also hopes to boost BHPOA membership, including paying members. “We need resources to help fight better and more people behind us,” King said.

Terri Carta of JBRPC provided some updates on their efforts to revitalize Hangars 3 and 4 in Floyd Bennett Field. They’re still seeking feedback on how to utilize the spaces. Hangar 3 will have a food and beverage element, so they’re seeking requests for cuisine. They’re also working on programming and events as there will be a performance area, so they want suggestions for those. It will have a mezzanine with an outdoor terrace, so they’re seeking ideas for that such as yoga classes, a rooftop bar and more. A brick building in the middle, where a boiler room was, will be used for either a microbrewery or winery. Hangar 4 will focus on workforce development and nature technology with lab space, classrooms, meeting areas and more.

Inserillo of Councilwoman Ariola’s office then provided updates and clarified some information given earlier. She reiterated that it was Ariola and former 100th Precinct Deputy Inspector Carlos Fabara that came up with the plan to stop the aggressive bike and ATV groups, not the mayor’s office. She also said the city doesn’t have enough people to man firehouses, police stations and lifeguard stands, never mind drones, and more efforts need to be done to recruit and retain employees in these areas, which Ariola’s office has been working on. She spoke about overgrown medians and said the funding to maintain them was removed and Mayor Adams doesn’t want to put the $16M in funding back into it, but they’re staying on top of this and DSNY says there may be some progress. As far as SROs and problems on Beach 116th, Inserillo says they’re doing what they can, but they need state officials to get involved as these properties are overseen by the state. As Beach 116th will finally be open this summer, they got NYC Parks to place lifeguard chairs between Beach 116th and Beach 120th so lifeguards can man the area, and they’re working to fill other areas, but the lifeguard shortage is ongoing. “Kids are not signing up like they used to,” Inserillo said.

While this was the last physical meeting of the summer, King said they may have a mid-summer virtual meeting to stay on top of beach issues.