From the WKAG/DNA meeting

Jole Carliner kindly took fabulous notes at the last night's meeting of West Kensington Action Group and Dahill Neighborhood Association. Thank you so much! Here is what happened:

"About thirty Kensington residents showed up last night at the PS 230 school auditorium on Albemarle Road and McDonald Avenue along with a flock of local politicians to discuss the recent up tick in robberies and the death of a man at an SRO in the Dahill Road triangle area. Wolf Sender, District Manager of Community Board 12, a representative from NY State Assemblyman James F. Brennan’s office, as well 66th Precinct commander Deputy Inspector John Sprague and Councilman Brad Lander were all there.

To address the local crime ripple, Maggie Tobin, the meeting’s chair and head of West Kensington Action Group (WKAG), proposed people volunteer as block captains in the brand new  “KENSINGTON NEIGHBORHOOD WATCH,” and join a phone chain to alert neighbors and the police about suspicious activities. WKAG and the Dahill Neighborhood Association jointly sponsored the meeting as well as the proposed neighborhood watch. ( If you'd like to get involved, please email her at WestKensingtonActionGroup@gmail.com)

Riffing on her theme, DI Sprague also encouraged the audience to attend community board and the 66th precinct community council meetings. “They’re extremely important, he said. “We need more community involvement“ to build a police-Kensington partnership. “The precinct hears you,“ he said. “But you have to call us, (at 311), report what’s going on.”  Other points he made:

The 66th Precinct was sending out more marked —and unmarked—patrol cars in the Dahill triangle and other areas where there had been an increase in street crime. People often relax their guard as they approach home. Don’t, he advised. Since many Kensington streets are shady and poorly lit, be careful.  Pay attention to anyone following you!

For improved Street Lighting, speak to the community board, Commander Sprague suggested, with a nod to its chair, Wolf Sender, sitting a few rows back.

Burglaries are up 3% this year, especially along Ocean Parkway.  If a burglar finds an owner at home, things can get dangerous, so keep doors and windows locked. And, he warned, “Don’t announce your upcoming Caribbean vacation on Twitter.” And remember to lock (not just close) ground floor doors and windows.

He also promised to send a crime prevention officer to the next meeting.

Councilman Brad Lander put getting a beat cop for Church Avenue at the top of his list of what he’d accomplished for Kensington in his first 3 months in office.  He also announced a land use and proposed zoning change from the New York City Planning Commission that would allow building 4-7 story residential and commercial building in an area bounded by 36th Street, 12 Avenue, 39th Street, and the area around Bergament.

The proposed change would convert commercial zoning to mixed use and allow the construction of a 68-unit of 4-story affordable houses by Southern Brooklyn Community Organization, a nonprofit developer, on the south side of 37th between 12 and 14th avenues.  A hearing on these changes will be held at Community Board 12 in the next few months.

Immediately people wanted to know whether it was possible to get more green space out of these proposed changes.  Councilman Lander agreed that Kensington needed far more green space and expressed interest in making this revised zoning plan beneficial to the Kensington neighborhood. He also would like to explore ideas for rejuvenating DOME playground.

He has already begun the short-term work of getting the vacant Church Avenue lot cleaned up, working with the police to rid it of squatters and garbage, at the same time discussing with the owner a long-term solution.  Other pressing issues are a survey about the city budget asking Councilman Lander’s constituents how they want to spend the city’s limited monetary resources, and the proposed increase in the water rate—currently being addressed by State Assemblyman Brennan, who has proposed a cap on it."