City Council member Keith Powers issued the following statement via email to his constituents regarding Sunday's murder on 14th Street. (ht / EV Grieve)
"Thank you for writing to me about 14th Street and the awful attacks that took place on Sunday. I have attached a copy of my statement from Sunday evening, which once again calls for immediate intervention from the NYPD and other agencies on 14th Street. We have been working on this since Sunday, so I wanted to give you an update.
One of the challenges in dealing with the situation on 14th Street has been that despite our efforts to make progress, all it takes are a few bad actors to return to the location to undo that progress. That is why I am again calling for consistent and sustained resources on the ground until the conditions on 14th Street are back to normal.
I wanted to share a few updates on the situation since Sunday:
● Earlier this week, the NYPD announced that they are stationing a foot patrol on the block to address the issues. As you will see in my statement, this was my top request. As I have stated repeatedly, the need for more resources here is apparent for any of us living in the neighborhood.
● I am making an updated request of the Archdiocese and Immaculate Church to end the flea market. Myself and other elected officials have made this request in the past but they have not been responsive or cooperative. While I support the church, it’s indisputable that the flea market has created huge problems in the neighborhood.
● On Monday, I personally walked the block with small business owners on 14th Street to provide them with my personal information to allow them to contact us on any issue from cleanliness to illicit behavior.
● The Sanitation Department confirmed to me directly today that they will begin new joint operations with the NYPD and the Department of Homeless Services. My office will stay in close contact to ensure that the efforts here are maintained and properly targeted.
● I am also coordinating with my colleagues in the city and state who represent this area to set up a walkthrough of the site with all relevant agencies.
We hope this will help demonstrate and reinforce the need for immediate and sustained action here. On the larger scale, there are a number of proposals in the City Council that would exacerbate the situation on 14th Street by restricting the ability of city agencies to conduct enforcement against illegal vendors. I am not supportive of these measures and I have discussed the way that they would negatively impact our neighborhood with my colleagues.
As the City Council finalizes this year's budget, I am advocating for more resources for the 13th Precinct — which covers the Stuyvesant Town portion of the block (the area of 14th Street that’s in my district). I have always been proud of my good working relationship with the 13th Precinct and hope to continue coordinating with them to make our neighborhood safer."
Keith Powers' immediate action is in stark contrast to the hands-off approach by that of Carlina Rivera, who represents District 2. Her office has responded to emails from her constituents with a cut and paste of a tweet she previously issued on the matter.
Today there was a noticeable NYPD presence on the block including patrol cars posted at either end of 14th Street between First Avenue and Avenue A, NYPD officers walking the block and checking in with the local businesses, as well as setting up flood lights to deter night time drug dealing and illegal merchants. When an illegal merchant showed up this afternoon they were removed by the NYPD within minutes.
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