Officer Kushnir: The Newest Beat Cop

Officer Stan Kushnir, the new beat cop in the 66th Precinct assigned to Kensington, used to live here. He likes Kensington, and he keeps coming back.

Arriving in NYC from Odessa, Ukraine, his family lived on Ocean Parkway until Officer Kushnir entered first grade. Then, as part of his training in the NYPD Cadet Corp., he interned at the 66th Precinct for 2½ years. The program allows you to get your training and college paid for, he said.

“You have to agree to work for [the NYPD] for 3 years, and then your tuition is reimbursed in full," he said. Opened to qualified college students, it pays an hourly wage, offers a flexible schedule during the school year, and full-time summer employment. Tuition is considered paid in full if you work for NYPD.

In September 2010, he asked to transfer back to the 66 from the NYC Transit Police, where he worked as a plain-clothes cop, undercover as all transit police are trained to do. At the 66, assigned to Patrol, he answered 911 calls, saying that most of the calls in Kensington are “for domestic violence and car accidents.”

Obviously he likes the 66. “It’s fairly small (approximately 140), so you get to know everyone on a first-name basis," he said. And Kensington, he said is “relatively quiet.” As he patrols in his squad car, he’s introducing himself to store owners along Church, Caton, Ft. Hamilton Parkway, over to 18th Avenue. Unlike the 72nd Precinct beat cop, he works days only. One goal, so far, is to rid Church Avenue of double-parked cars.

Will he be gone tomorrow like the two other Kensington beat cops? No, not at all, he assured me. He plans on taking the sergeant exam, but it could be several years before he gets an appointment. Recently married, his wife is an audiologist.

Break a leg, Officer Kushnir. Kensington is eager to meet you. Here’s to your hanging around long enough so we get well acquainted.