The 10th Precinct Community Council Meeting

Wednesday, January 31, 7pm

At the 10th Precinct (230 W. 20th St. btw. 7th & 8th Aves.)

UPDATE: Since this article’s publication, the 10th Precint has noted that because of illness, CO Capt. Brathwaite will not attend the Jan. 31 Community Council meeting. Executive NYPD Officer Captain Magliente will attend in his place.

BY SCOTT STIFFLER | Meeting on the last Wednesday of the month, the citizen-run 10th Precinct Community Council provides a forum for feedback and discussion by putting members of the community (residents, business owners, local electeds and their reps) in the same space as top 10th Precinct leadership. The face of that leadership changed late last year, when a new Commanding Officer (CO)—Captain Alexander Brathwaite—began his assignment at the 10th. The 39-year-old succeeds Deputy Inspector Robert Gault, who now serves as Commanding Officer of Midtown North Precinct.

Held on-site at the 10th Precinct (230 W. 20th St. btw. 7th & 8th Aves.), Larry O’Neill—President of the monthly held, citizen-run Council—opened the December 27, 2023 meeting by laying down the law, so to speak, noting new ground rules regarding procedural matters and topics of discussion.

“If you have any concerns—police concerns; precinct-centered questions,” said O’Neill, the Council is an appropriate place to discuss them. For matters concerning “sanitation and traffic,” said O’Neill, “go to CB4 [Manhattan CommunityBoard 4].” What followed was a back-and-forth between O’Neill, CO Brathwaite, and attendees, regarding what exactly constitutes NYPD-appropriate inquires. No solid rules or standards emerged from that interaction, other than advising the bothered and curious to begin at any given problem’s source. Bicycle lane-related questions? Contact the NYC Department of Transportation. Disappering trash cans or inadequate refuse removal? Start with contacting the NYC Department of Transportation.

Calling 311, it was advised, is important, as it provides the caller with a receipt for their complaint and it affords the NYPD an opportunity to observe geographic and behavioral patterns and act accordingly. Taking concerns to local elected officials and the local community board were also strategies recommended by O’Neill. (For a contact list, see the tail end of this article.)

Community Council meetings, said O’Neill, will no longer provide a review of the latest crime statistics—which has traditionally been the way the 10th Precinct CO opens the meeting. The most recent CompStat report (which can be accessed in PDF OR Excel format by clicking here) is used to go down the list of crimes and compare them to the Precinct’s past-30-day and year-to-date numbers. “I’m not in favor of it,” remarked O’Neill, noting the practice of numerical comparison is just that: “They’re just numbers,” he said. CO Brathwaite did vow to mention the report when its statistics pointed toward something noteworthy (such as a dramatic spike in a particular type of criminal activity). “If there’s anything major, I’ll let you know,” CO Brathwaite told the audience. Contacting the 10th Precinct’s Communiy Affairs Office (212-741-8226) was another suggested method of airing concerns.

Also of note at December 27’s Council meeting: CO Brathwaite demonstrated a familiarity with the ongoing (years-long, actually) quality of life problems and criminal activity happening on and around the corner of West 21st St. & Eighth Ave. Former 10th Precinct CO, Deputy Inspector Robert Gault (who we knew as “Captain” for most of his 3+ years as CO) had been regularly assigning a two-Officer team to W. 21st St. and Eighth Ave.—a tactic that greatly reduced the location’s problems until, of course, the Officers were gone. CO Brathwaite, like Gault, noted the Precinct’s ongoing staffing shortage as a factor preventing an NYPD presence on the corner more often.

“We’re getting eight new recruits,” said CO Brathwaite, referring to Police Academy graduates who’d be assigned to the 10th. “That’s going to be our number one priority,” he added, referencing the use of these Officers as two-person teams assigned to W. 21st and Eighth Ave. But it appears the amount of new Officers provided to the 10th Precinct was only half of what Braithwaite anticipated. A January 1, 2024 tweet sent from the 10 Precinct’s Twitter account read, “The 10th Precinct is happy to bring in the New Year with new Officers. These Officers can’t wait to help and protect the #Chelsea Community.” The tweet was accompanied by a photo of four Officers standing outside the 10th Precinct’s front door.

Chelsea Community News made repeated requests to DCPI  (the NYPD’s Public Information Office) for the exact number of new recruits, along with repeated requests for an interview with the new CO (yielding a Q&A similar to this one, conducted with CO Brathwaite’s predecessor). These requests were denied by DCPI in one sentence—in a January 3, 2024 email credited to “DCPI, Spokesperson” and reading, “Thank you for your inquiry. Unfortunately at this time we will be unable to accommodate your request. Please reach out in the future.”

The NYPD’s denial of an interview, along with its refusal to simply confirm the number of new recruits provided to the 10th Precinct, reinforces the value of a monthly Community Council meeting as a place where the public—and the press—can ask questions with the reasonable expectation that any reasonable question will be answered.

Time will tell—and that time, for the next Council meeting, is 7pm on Wednesday, January 31, at the 10th Precinct (230 W. 20th St. btw. 7th & 8th Aves.). Want to keep up with Council goings-on? Follow the Community Council on Facebook by clicking here.  

CONTACT & INFO RESOURCES:

Directory of City Agencies: https://www.nyc.gov/nyc-resources/agencies.page

NYC Department of Transportation: https://www.nyc.gov/html/dot/html/home/home.shtml

NYC Department of Sanitation: https://www.nyc.gov/assets/dsny/site/home

Manhattan Community Board 4: https://cbmanhattan.cityofnewyork.us/cb4/

Manhattan District Attorney: https://manhattanda.org

THE 10th PRECINCT (click here to visit the 10th online)

230 West 20th Street
New York, NY, 10011

Commanding Officer: Captain Alexander R. Brathwaite

The 10th Precinct serves Chelsea, Clinton/Hell’s Kitchen South and the Hudson Yards neighborhoods. The precinct is home to the Jacob Javits Convention Center, Chelsea Piers, Chinese Consulate, and the Fashion Institute of Technology.

District Office

214 West 29th Street
Suite 1002
New York, NY 10001
212-807-7900
Fax: 212-243-2035

simonet@nyassembly.gov

District Office

224 West 30th St, Suite 1206
New York, NY 10001
Phone: 212-564-7757
Fax: 212-564-7347

District3@council.nyc.gov

DISTRICT OFFICE

322 Eighth Avenue, Suite 1700

New York,  NY 10001

Phone: (212) 633-8052

Fax: (212) 633-8096

hoylman@nysenate.gov

—END—

Chelsea Community News is an independent, hyperlocal news, arts, events, info, and opinion website made possible with the help of our awesome advertisers and the support of our readers. Our Promise: Never a paywall, no pop-up ads, all content is FREE. With that in mind, if circumstances allow, please consider taking part in our GoFundMe campaign (click here). To make a direct donation, give feedback, send a Letter to the Editor, or contact our founder/editor, send an email to Scott Stiffler, via scott@chelseacommunitynews.com.