Crime and Public Safety Are Top Concerns at Chelsea Block Association Meeting

Crime and public safety were the top topics as over two dozen residents sounded off to local politicians in attendance about neighborhood problems at a recent meeting of the Chelsea West 200 Block Association.

The semi-annual meeting on Nov. 20 event, held at the Chelsea Shul Synagogue on 236 W. 23rd was emceed by Jesenko Vukadinovic, the group’s president and drew attendees including Assembly member for District 75, Tony Simone; State Senator Brad Hoylman-Sigal; Jordan Feiner, a representitive for District 3 Council member Erik Bottcher; Sally Greenspan, President of Council of Chelsea Block Associations (CCBA); and NYPD Officer Jarrett Di Lorenzo, the head of community affairs for the Tenth Precinct which serves Chelsea, Clinton/Hell’s Kitchen south and the Hudson Yards neighborhoods.

NYPD stats actually show crime incidents have dropped in the tenth precinct to 1,000 reported incidents through Nov. 24, a 14.2 percent drop from the same period a year earlier.

But there were two very troubling spikes: murders and rapes are up. Ramon Rivera, the deranged homeless man who killed three people across Manhattan on Nov. 18 actually started his deadly rampage in Chelsea before moving on to kill a man fishing in the Kips Bay area on the East River and ending by stabbing a woman on First Ave. near the UN. He’s been charged with three cases of first degree murder in the unprovoked attacks. A year ago, there were no murders in Chelsea.

The other troubling statistics according to the NYPD compstat numbers concerns the 14 reported rapes through Nov. 24, compared to only 5 in the same period a year ago, a 180 percent increase.

There was a lot to discuss, and at several points, emotions ran high. The problem of skyrocketing homelessness and individuals dealing with mental health issues certainly was not going to be solved that evening, but the authorities present all acknowledged the severity of the problem, and tried to delineate their initiatives to combat it.

There was a lot grumbling as officials said receiving yet another “we’re working on it” response from officials on the homeless and public safety problems. The consensus seemed to be that this has gone on long enough. However, two ideas stood out: one, to increase the number of people that can address individuals in crisis and try to guide them out of public vulnerability.

In some welcome news, the NYPD’s Di Lorenzo revealed the precinct recently was assigned a number of new officers, which should help. Until recently, he said the precinct had been dealing with a declining number of officers assigned to it. He said he is “hopeful” that this increase in police presence can discourage some the nefarious behavior in the neighborhood.

Crime Prevention Officer Jordan Rossi was also in attendance, and tried to assure the attendees that every effort was being made to improve the situation recognized by both residents and law enforcement.

Assemblyman Simone focused on housing as a fundamental issue to many of the problems plaguing the district, and announced a three-pronged approach: plans for NYCHA redevelopment to improve conditions in public housing, new affordable housing options to combat the ever-dwindling supply of reasonably priced accommodations, and also supportive housing for the mentally challenged to ward against relapse.

“We need to change the dynamic and the paradigm of how the situations are handled,” said Simone, because they’ve been going on far too long.

Erik Bottcher was not able to attend but dispatched his budget director and liaison Jordan Feiner. He spoke about a “Be Heard Response Team” of paramedics, social workers and trained professionals that would attend to those in apparent mental crises, and also focused on tightening scaffolding regulations to eliminate the shadowy “hidey-hole” environments that they present.

Also, he said Bottcher recently introduced legislation that passed the city council to remove or regulate abandoned newspaper boxes, that have become at times an eyesore at best, and a drug-exchange receptacle or impromptu latrine at worst. He also addressed the site of the former beloved Cinepolis Chelsea movie theater at 260 West 23rd Street which is giving way to a new housing development being developed across 250, 256 and 260 by TF Cornerstone, a developer controlled by the Elghanayan family. The movie theater showed its last film in Jan. 2023 and the building was demolished along with the two adjacent lots. The plan is to develop two apartment buildings, a 14-story building with 130 apartment and a second building that will be seven stories tall with 40 luxury apartments and 35 parking spaces in an underground garage. The planned completion date is reportedly mid-2026. Several attendees said they were shocked that affordabile housing units did not seem to be a component of the new ownership’s plan.

Senator Hoylman-Sigal reiterated concern about crime and mental health issues in the neighborhood, suggesting “S.O.S. Response Teams as a progressive response to address issues of mental health” from homelessness to threatening behavior. He admits, however, that the situation is complicated, which drew frustration from attendees, A few voiced a hard-line position for institutionalization or incarceration. Briefly addressed in the meeting and further expanded on in a MCB4 conference the night after, the issue of two new legal cannabis dispensaries was discussed. The proposed locations are 219 Ninth Avenue and 206 Eighth Avenue, both of which were vigorously opposed by attendees. Critics also felt there was an oversaturation of “adult” type business in a residential community which has schools and parks nearby. The opponents also pointed to six existing cannabis dispensaries within five short blocks of the new applicants. According to Pamela Wolf, the CB4 Cannabis Task Force voted against recommending licenses for both sites. Community board can only make recommend to the NYS Cannabis Management Board concerning licenses, but the community boards are, according to Wolf, “powerful.”

For more information or to join your own block association, please visit: https://cbmanhattan.cityofnewyork.us/cb4/resources/neighborhood-associations/