
By Daniel Katzive
UPDATE: Wednesday, January 29 at 3 p.m.: City Councilmember Gale Brewer, who had advocated for additional manpower in the 20th Precinct late last year, told West Side Rag on Wednesday she was very upset when she heard the officers had been reassigned.
She said that she did not know if the loss of manpower was going to be permanent.
“We need them on the West Side desperately,” Brewer told the Rag. “We are upset and we are going to fight it.” She added that she planned to put her concerns in writing and request that the officers be brought back to the neighborhood.
Original Story
Neighborhood residents and an Upper West Side City Council representative celebrated the news three weeks ago that the 20th Precinct had received 15 new officers from the latest NYPD Police Academy class. Their arrival helped boost staffing at the command, which had been running well-below historical levels amidst a surge in high-profile robberies and assaults.
However, just three weeks later, the new arrivals have left the West Side and a cohort from an earlier class has also been reassigned.
Deputy Inspector Candida Pun-Sullivan, commanding officer of the precinct, told the 2-0’s community council meeting on Monday evening that the 15 officers from the January Academy graduating class had been shifted to the Transit Bureau, part of a citywide surge to combat subway crime.
The command has also lost 12 officers from the class that graduated on October 31. They were moved to another precinct.
The officers from that earlier class had been working foot posts throughout the precinct, particularly along the Broadway and Columbus Avenue retail corridors and by the Amsterdam Houses development, according to Pun-Sullivan. Residents should now expect to see fewer officers on foot in those areas relative to the past couple of weeks, though it is possible that the officers moved to Transit could return to the 2-0 at some point in the future.
The New York Post reported over the weekend that department-wide orders had been issued Friday to implement the surge in overnight subway policing announced by Governor Kathy Hochul and Mayor Eric Adams on January 16. About 700 officers in total are being moved underground, according to the Post, including a number of recent Academy graduates. The article also indicated officers are being moved from already-understaffed court security roles.
Steve Anderson, president of the Upper West Side Coalition of Block Associations and Community Groups, was at the precinct council meeting and called the news a big deal. “Nothing makes people feel calmer and assured than seeing cops on the street, and, therefore, having 27 new cops, even rookies, was a very, very good thing for most people’s anxiety level,” he told the Rag. “And to find out they have been redeployed to other places is disappointing.”
The presence of additional officers in the command until this week has coincided with a drop in reported crime. The period from December 30 through Sunday, January 26, saw a 22 percent decline in major felonies compared to the same period a year earlier, though within those numbers robberies did tick higher, from 8 to 11. The majority of those robberies involved what Inspector Pun-Sullivan called “shopliftings gone bad,” meaning a shoplifter was confronted by a store employee or security guard and threatened physical violence, upgrading the seriousness of the crime. Eight of the 11 robberies resulted in arrests as of Monday.
There were no murders or rapes in the precinct during this period and, in fact, there have been no murders in the precinct since September 2023.
West Side Rag has reached out to City Council Member Gale Brewer’s office and will update this article with her comments.
I wish the cops would keep their cars on the street and off the sidewalk. It shows such hostility to following the laws themselves and to the community.
Josh,
Personally, NYPD cars on the sidewalk are not a priority issue – many other issues of concern for me and my family like rats, trash, avoiding Citibikers, public schools and other.
(No – I don’t drive)
Officers have been re-assigned. So maybe the major concern of “parking on the sidewalk” has been adressed.
Who in their right mind would want to join the dumpster fire the NYPD has become? Risk your life and your freedom defending people who have shown they will turn on you at the drop of a hat. Work in a city that has a District Attorney more interesting in locking up Cops than anyone else? New hires have a pension that does not include overtime and benefits have been slashed. For anyone looking to wear Blue, do it in a place that votes Red.
I agree with you.
I was being sarcastic.
The fact that “parking on the sidewalk” is a complaint is crazy.
Parking on the sidewalk is a big problem for those that are not ambulatory.
Ignorant to think otherwise that they are not affecting pedestrians, especially after it snows.
New York City police cars are parking on sidewalks due to a massive parking spot shortage around their precincts. The U.S. Department of Justice has warned that this is a violation of the Americans with Disabilities Act
https://www.the-sun.com/motors/11161660/nypd-doj-parking-sidewalk-fines-investigation/
It’s not “pro-cop” to make excuses for them refusing to follow the law or act professionally. If they want more respect they need to do the absolute minimum of not blatantly breaking the law where everyone can see them.
…along with the police and fire people who’ve been caught with ghost license plates lately
Recruiting shouldn’t be a problem. NYC policing looks like a pretty good job. From a city website, here are some details:
A career with the NYPD means receiving a reliable benefits package that includes, in addition to a salary:
• longevity pay,
• holiday pay,
• uniform allowance,
• opportunities for overtime.
Salary
Starting salary: $58,580
Salary after 5 ½ years: $121,589.
*Salaries above do not include overtime or night differential.
Police Officers with 5½ years of service when night differential and overtime is included, may potentially earn over $126,531 per year.
Additional Benefits
• 27 Paid vacation days after 6 years of service,
• Unlimited sick leave with full pay
• Selection of medical benefit packages
• Prescription, dental, and vision coverage
• Annuity fund
• Deferred Compensation Plan, 401K and I.R.A.
• Optional retirement at one half salary after 22 years of service
• Annual $12,000 Variable Supplement Fund (upon retirement)
• Excellent promotional opportunities
Additional benefits available to military veterans include:
• Veterans can earn GI Bill benefits in addition to their salary during their first two years.
• Police Officer Exam scores are kept on file indefinitely. Upon leaving the U.S. Armed Forces, veterans have 6 months to start the hiring process.
• Veterans can add 4 years to the maximum hiring age, or 6 years if they served during war or national emergency. This applies only to veterans under age 40.
• Veterans can buy back three years of their military time to be applied to their NYPD retirement.
Officers who are active reservists are allowed 30 paid military days per year, in addition to their vacation time.
Educational Opportunities
• Full salary and benefits are available on the first day of academy training.
• Earn up to 36 college credits from your academy training that can go toward a degree.
• Several institutions offer full or partial scholarships to NYPD members.
And free parking when you drive in from Mahopac
Now do Nassau and Suffolk County. Now also do those villages and Nassau County’s two cities.
and that you get to stand around a lot of the time or in your patrol car scrolling on your phone!
I think anyone who rides the subway would agree that the subway needs police presence.
In the subway, the police are on foot, and visible, whereas in the precinct, they are mostly in their cars, or at the station, which doesn’t offer much reassurance to residents. (Steve Anderson may have seen more foot patrols than I have, and if so, that’s a good thing.)
“…27 new cops, even rookies, was a very, very good thing for most people’s anxiety level”
This is just me, but I’m way more concerned about the number of actual crimes being committed, rather than anyone’s “anxiety level”.
We need cops on the streets of the UWS.
You would think with how many vehicles were parked on that block along with 100th street, that the precincts are overstaffed…
That’s the 24th Precinct on 100 Street.
This is a different precinct than the one mentioned in this article.
About these comments about parking…. with little to no parking for officers as it is, where else would you like them to park the vehicles for easier access to combat crime?
According to Columbus Avenue BID executive director Nicole Paynter, they should take public transportation and not drive.
Yes they absolutely should. Would also add cops to the subway which everyone seems to want?
She sounds extremely intelligent.
Nobody *needs* to drive their own private vehicle to work, and there is no connection between their parking private vehicles on the sidewalk and “easier access to combat crime.” Much like the constant issue of placard abuse, this is just base corruption by civil servants.
Yeah, when a cop gets stuck working late and the metro-north shuts down he can always just sleep on the floor somewhere.
To: “i drive…”
Actually I don’t drive.
But I will say that many NYPD detectives work long and unpredictable hours, and especially when “solving” a case. And some pretty horrific cases out there that we are not aware of….
NYPD detectives don’t have the luxury that some and/or many of us West Siders do – to work at home or work close to home……
The transit system is not for everyone. Upper West Side residents do not *need* their cars either yet want the streets all to themselves.
Once again, people race to extremes. I agree with others that the cars on the sidewalks are an issue. But to say that no one needs to drive to work is narrow minded. Many police officers live far from their jobs. So they drive to work. They should have incentives to take public transit when possible, but in many cases, it is not possible. There should be parking for them.
The ignorance of so many people on this board about cars and the outright hatred towards them makes us all look ridiculous. Please leave the UWS bubble occasionally and see how the rest of the world lives.
And by the way, I do not own a car.
The problem is that the mother of the UWS, Gale Brewer, her pet peeve is leaving Manhattan and she apparently takes pride in not knowing about the other boroughs. Not only that having spoken to cops, most cops feel that while on public transit, they cannot relax as their eyes are on the conduct of other people. I will also point out the NYPD does not really take too kindly to officers wearing their uniform off duty when going to work or going home.
This is ridiculous.
Crime goes down so let’s decrease the number of police officers? Did anyone consider that perhaps the reason crime is down in this neighborhood is because we have a solid police presence? Punishment for success.
This is what happens in an organization that has been spiraling for close to a decade now. The NYPD can’t recruit, can’t retain and has officers lining up to retire the moment they are eligible. They’ve had three police commissioners in the past year and Tisch is basically a lame duck right now. Personnel quality has plummeted during the post-Bloomberg era, and there exists the possibility of additional corruption issues as a result. The 9/11- era NYPD is gone, and these are the kinds of scenarios to be expected. You have to borrow from Peter to pay Paul when it comes to staffing.
Sorry, not buying the ‘can’t recruit” nonsense. Are you saying that no one is applying for open positions?
https://nypost.com/2024/05/18/us-news/nypd-headcount-faces-record-lows-200-nyc-cops-leave-per-month-data/
You don’t have to believe me. Lowest headcount since 1990. The NYPD is now the McDonalds of law enforcement jobs, and has had a hard time with recruiting and retention for years. If you are a strong candidate its at best a place to start out and cut your teeth waiting for a better agency to call. Better yet, go to a community meeting and ask the commanding officer how many cops, supervisors and detectives are assigned to your precinct and what that number was 10, 15 or 20 years ago.
Reduced headcount is not the same as lack of applicants.
https://nypost.com/2025/01/04/us-news/number-of-nypd-applicants-plummeted-as-nyc-force-tries-to-hire-1600-officers/
“The number of candidates taking the test to join the NYPD has plunged by more than half in the past eight years, The Post has learned..”
“We are aware that the reply button on the comment form is broken on mobile (it’s ok on desktop) and we are working on fixing it ASAP! Thanks for your patience!” This advisory has been in place for many months. Every serious Internet publisher prioritizes mobile since most people are using mobile. What is ASAP?
the same people who were anti police in 2020 are now saying we need cops. interesting
Hopefully the cops in the subway are actively ticketing those who are not paying their fares. I think it is a $75 or $100 fine. All of those fines will fund a lot more police officers. It’s not hard – just stand at entrances with their eyes open. And at the same time their presence will cut down on other crime.
Too lazy. At best, they’ll the person to go back out. I asked one why – after the verbal “go back”, didn’t they write a citation. Officers responded, “no citations for anyone under 18”, despite the fact the fare beaters were easily 25+.
TLDR; lazy and/or not incentivized
It’s a waste of time for them. Since 2020 they have to fill out lots of paperwork, and as you know we don’t prosecute crime much now.
There are cops on foot patrol? Where? When?
They never seem to be around Fairway or the crazy Mcadonalds at broadway and 70th where there are a cavalcade of aggressive mentally-ill people.
Great, just great.
Thank you, Mayor Adams, and have a blessed day!
We need more cops on the streets as well as in the subways of the UWS.
Yes. It was done very sneaky. Lots of pomp and circumstance after the meeting with the mayor and Gale Brewer about how we’d get 15 new cops to address the neighbor issues! 2 weeks later they quietly shuffle them out the back door! Back not only to square 1 but square -1!
Important to keep tabs on these “promises” especially when the election comes around. Some would call it nothing more than window dressing to keep us quiet and switch focus on the next issue. Is there a way to follow up on these discretionary projects we were promised which included more cameras around UWS.? What’s going on with the dreaded 70th street McDonald’s crime zone? Didnt Gale have task forces to find permanent solutions? What say she? Thanks.
Mr. Katzive,
I appreciate the reporting.
I might humbly suggest requesting some additional information about staffing levels and updating this article once more with supplementary data.
FYI, some data on 20th Precinct Staffing…
August 13th, 2018:
POs – 133
Sgts – 16
Lts – 7
Capts – 1 (Excellent Captain)
Total on Patrol: 84
January 1st, 2020:
POs – 112
Sgts – 16
Lts – 7
Capts – 1
DIs – 1 (Excellent DI)
Total on Patrol: 64
And let me editorialize a bit… if it falls below 90 police officers for the 20th Precinct, that is a categorical catastrophe. At that point, police officers are simply trying to keep up with the demands of 911 and the precinct is stripped of its ability to A) nimbly assign officers to emergent crime conditions and B) handle unique and adverse events such as building fires, watermain breaks, pop-up protests, etc.