NO PLACE FOR PLAY

Deputy Inspector Keith Green, commanding officer of the 104th Precinct, updated residents on crime matters during Monday's joint meeting of the Glendale Civic Association and the 104th Precinct Community Council at the Atlas Park Community Room. Concerns about the creation of a new public playground in the schoolyard of Glendale's P.S. 91 were raised by residents at a joint meeting of the Glendale Civic Association and the 104th Precinct Community Council held on Monday, Nov. 17 at the Atlas Park Community Room.

Neighbors of the campus located on Central Avenue between 68th Place and 69th Street denounced the ongoing project, which is part of the citywide "Schoolyards-to- Playgrounds" initiative. They told police and elected officials in attendance that once completed, the program would attract scores of unruly children to their block during afterschool hours and weekends.

The session also featured an update on local crime by the precinct's commanding officer, Deputy Inspector Keith Green, who also heard a number of concerns from local residents regarding traffic violations and quality-of-life problems at a pair of 88th Street locations.

'Don't need another park'

Part of the city's program to allow all New Yorkers to live within a 10-minute walk of a public green, the P.S. 91 project will transform the asphalt playing surface into a mini-park, as described by GCA member Patricia Grayson. The facility would feature a small running track as well as removable basketball hoops and other amenities.

Though the use of the play area is currently restricted to children attending P.S. 91, the renovated play area would be open to children during before and after school hours and on weekends from dawn to dusk. Under the program's regulations, the school custodian and other staff are directed to open and close the facility.

Even so, Arlene Lomastro stated that no one from the city or the Department of Education has informed parents and neighbors of P.S. 91 as to who is directly responsible for monitoring the play yard.

"Saturday and Sunday, after hearing noise all day long during the week, are my days to hear peace and quiet," she said, adding that a nearby church also opposes the plan. "So while you're in church having services, you're going to hear some kid [in the yard] tell you, 'Go f--- you.'"

"This is what goes on," Lomastro said. "They were in the school yard the other day with their skateboards, harassing children that were in an after-school program."

Other residents objected to allowing the renovated playground to be open to all children, charging that it would bring a rise in vandalism and noise from loitering youngsters during all hours of the night and weekend.

"Once that park opens, we will get every teen that hangs out on Myrtle Avenue will hang out there," said Susan Gyurisko, who told attendees that her home borders the schoolyard. She observed that it would draw loiterers away from the nearby Vito Maranzano Playground on Central Avenue and 70th Street after the facility is shut for the night.

"We're not objecting to the park being there for the children of P.S. 91," she said. "The kids in the neighborhood do not need another park. They can walk to [Maranzano Playground or] Forest Park. They can walk to Mafera Park. Apparently, nobody's paying attention."

Lomastro also raised skepticism at assurance made to residents by DOE representatives that the 104th Precinct would respond to any incident at the park immediately.

Despite the objections raised, GCA President Kathy Masi noted that the group is working with local parents, neighbors, elected officials and representatives of city government to come up with a resolution that will allow for the renovated playground to open and operate "at minimal inconvenience."

Grayson noted that the city and school have made a number of concessions on the plan previously, including the installation of a "privacy fence" set back from neighboring property lines and assurances that school personnel will remove athletic equipment when not in use.

City Council Member-elect Elizabeth Crowley stated that he met recently with Jennifer Manley of the Mayor's Community Affairs Unit regarding the P.S. 91 situation. She stated that she would request special hours of operation outside the "dawn-to-dusk" policy currently in place at other parks.

A meeting between P.S. 91 administrators, parents, neighbors, elected officials and city representatives regarding the playground is scheduled to take place on Wednesday, Dec. 3 at the school.

Crime report

The total number of crimes reported in the 104th Precinct is "just under last year's" tally, according to Deputy Inspector Green. For the week concluding on Nov. 16, the command catalogued a total of 1,483 major crimes in the area, down 11 from 1,494 that occurred during the same period in 2007.

Over the last four weeks, the commander said, felonies have dropped by 16 percent. Assaults, burglaries and auto thefts were all lower during the last month, while robberies climbed by two percent.

The crime category that saw the most "serious increase," as Green described, was grand larcenies. In the last month, 446 cases were reported, up from 371 that occurred at the same time last year.

A recent rash of such incidents involving the thefts of purses from unattended vehicles at local gas stations was allegedly the work of one man apprehended by police last week, Green said. He said that the perpetrator, later identified as Anthony Macceca of Ridgewood, was charged in connection with 12 such thefts in the area as well as related crimes in other commands in Patrol Borough Queens North.

(Editor's note: For more information, see the story on the front page.)

City Council Member Anthony Como added that the suspect had a prior record and that Queens District Attorney Richard A. Brown is looking to prosecute to the fullest extent of the law.

Along with the drop in felonies, the deputy inspector noted that officers have made more arrests and issued an increased number of summonses over the last year. The overall number of arrests have climbed by nearly seven percent, while the number of criminal court and moving summonses have jumped in 2008.

Green warned residents that a number of deception burglaries have also occurred over the last several months. In each incident, the suspects involved posed as utility or construction workers who convinced an unsuspecting resident to allow them entry into or to step outside their home.

While one of the perpetrators distracts the homeowner, he noted, the accomplice enters the residence and takes a number of valuable items. The most recent incident, the commander said, occurred a week ago when suspects victimized a man in his 80s living in the 104th Precinct area.

Deputy Inspector Green advised residents not to let any purported utility or construction worker into their home "if they did not call" for service previously, and to report suspicious persons to 911 immediately. He urged all in attendance to pass the warning on to their elderly neighbors, who in past cases have been primary targets of deception burglars.

Quality-of-life

Inebriated individuals have been observed leaving alcohol-serving establishments along 88th Street in Glendale during late-night hours and getting behind the wheel, according to two residents. They also informed police that a number of young people have also been observed making loud noise in the area.

In addition to establishing DWI checkpoints in Glendale and throughout the 104th Precinct confines, Green said that the command also conducts frequent enforcement actions at taverns and bars suspected of violating State Liquor Authority regulations. He told residents that officers would look into the situation on 88th Street further.

Another resident complained about large numbers of parents parking and double-parking their vehicles in the vicinity of P.S. 91 during morning arrival and afternoon dismissal hours in violation of no standing regulations in effect at the location.

One attendee reported observing a number of youths loitering and causing vandalism during late-night hours in the area of Cooper Avenue and 84th Street. A Cooper Avenue resident added that individuals have been causing damage to properties along the block during the same time frame each night while walking through the area.

The deputy inspector stated that the precinct patrols the area during overnight hours and works closely with security details and management at nearby Atlas Park to ensure potential loiterers leave the area in an orderly fashion. He stressed that residents should report any vandalism or other problems to police immediately so the precinct can respond as soon as possible.

Green stated that the precinct regularly visits the 40 schools within its confines to inform parents of parking rules in the area and, when necessary, issue summonses to violators. Officers would once again come to the school and others to investigate the matter, he added.

The commanding officer also stated the precinct would increase enforcement at the intersection of Cooper and Metropolitan avenues after a resident complained of speeders traveling through during various hours, endangering the lives of pedestrians crossing at the location.

The 104th Precinct Community Council generally meets with other civic groups throughout Ridgewood, Glendale, Maspeth and Middle Village. For more information, call the precinct's Community Affairs Unit at 1-718-386-2431.