Senator Avella Lauds Borough President’s Budget Priority to Split Local Precinct

Avella is a long time advocate for the split of the 105^th Police Precinct, dating back to his days in the City Council

(Bayside, Queens) Today, Senator Tony Avella applauded the efforts of Borough President Melinda Katz and the Queens Borough Board to seek additional City funds to carve out a new police precinct out of the existing 105^th Precinct during annual budget priorities talks.  

The Queens Borough Board recently voted unanimously on a list of priorities which they would like to see included in this year’s City budget for Fiscal Year 2015.  The Mayor and the City Council must adopt a budget by July 1^st. 

One of the top priorities included on the list was the creation of a new, 116^th Police Precinct to cover the southeastern border of the existing 105^th Police Precinct.  The 105^th Precinct currently covers Queens Village, Cambria Heights, Laurelton, Rosedale, Springfield Gardens, Bellerose, Glen Oaks, New Hyde Park and Floral Park, making it one of the largest precincts in the borough. 

“The sheer size of the 105^th Precinct and the lack of resources that all the precincts in New York City are currently facing, presents a very good case for the creation of a new police precinct to better address the rising population in Queens,” stated Senator Avella. “Although the 105^th Precinct has been doing a great job at addressing the public’s concerns, it is responsible for patrolling an area that encompasses nearly twice the square mileage of other precincts.  Obviously, this places an enormous strain on the 105^th to be able to handle every emergency and non-emergency complaint that is reported.” 

To combat this problem, Senator Avella introduced State legislation in 2011 that would divide the 105^thPolice Precinct into subdivisions, one representing the northern portion and one representing the southern portion of the precinct. 

The legislation would also divide the boundaries of the 109^th Police Precinct, one representing the northern portion of the precinct including the "North Shore - College Point, Whitestone, Clearview and Bay Terrace" and one representing the southern portion of the precinct including "Flushing South." 

The bill (S.335) is currently pending in the Senate’s Cities Committee. 

 “I commend the Queens Borough Board, under the leadership of Queens Borough President Melinda Katz, in acknowledging this vital issue and proposing the split, which is something that the local community has supported for many years,” added Senator Avella.  “It is time for the City to follow suit in recognizing the dire need for additional resources for our local precincts to better address safety concerns in the borough of Queens.”