Coney Island

Savino: Cops should patrol ‘other’ Coney Island

Residential Areas Need Coverage as Much as Luna Park, She Says

August 3, 2015 By Paula Katinas Brooklyn Daily Eagle
State Sen. Diane Savino represents a district that crosses into two boroughs. Eagle photo by Paula Katinas
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Coney Island residents are growing increasingly concerned and frustrated by gun violence plaguing their streets, according to a lawmaker who represents them in Albany and who established her district office in the community in a show of solidarity.

State Sen. Diane Savino said residents are also upset with the explanation offered by city officials — that the shootings can be traced in large part to gang violence.

“The residents don’t care what’s behind it,” Savino told the Brooklyn Eagle. “All they know is that they can’t sit outside their houses and enjoy life, even in the daytime, because bullets are flying.”

There are steps the city should be taking to address the gun violence, Savino said. For one thing, the city should be putting more law enforcement resources into the residential areas of Coney Island and not just on the Boardwalk and Luna Park, she said.

Every summer, the 60th Precinct, which covers Coney Island, receives an influx of police officers from all over the borough, the vast majority of whom are assigned to patrol the tourist areas of the neighborhood, according to Savino.

But Savino (D-Coney Island-Bensonhurst-Staten Island) said those cops would be put to better use patrolling the residential sections of Coney Island.

It would go a long way toward curbing gun violence in the neighborhood, she said.

Parks enforcement police, also known as PEP officers, should be assigned to patrol the beach, Boardwalk, Luna Park and the amusement areas, Savino said.

Residents she has talked to have told her they believe the city pays more attention to the needs of the tourist areas than it does to the needs of those who live in Coney Island.

“It’s as if there’s two Coney Islands,” Savino said. “Whether or not that’s accurate; that’s how people feel and that’s what they believe.”

In one week alone in June, there were four shootings on the streets of Coney Island, according to Councilmember Mark Treyger (D-Coney Island-Gravesend-Bensonhurst), who in early July joined together with Savino to demand action.

Savino sat down with the Brooklyn Eagle for a breakfast interview at the New York Marriott at the Brooklyn Bridge Thursday morning, where the topics included Superstorm Sandy, Mayor Bill de Blasio, potholes and what it’s like to represent a district that goes across two boroughs.

Savino, a Staten Islander who was first elected to the state Senate in 2004, represents the 23rd District, a seat that includes Coney Island, Brighton Beach and parts of Sheepshead Bay, Bensonhurst and Bay Ridge, as well as the northern and eastern shores of Staten Island.

Prior to entering politics, she was the vice president for political action and legislative affairs for the Social Services Employees Union Local 371. Before that, she was a case worker for the New York City Child Welfare Administration, now called the Administration for Children’s Services.

As a state senator, she has two district offices, one on Staten Island and another in Brooklyn. She chose to have her Brooklyn office on West 15th Street in Coney Island because of something community residents told her, she said.

“The people of Coney Island said that no public official had ever had an office on the Peninsula before,” Savino said.

She felt solidarity with her Coney Island constituents during and after Superstorm Sandy. Her district office sustained such heavy damage during the storm that it took over a year to make the repairs and set up shop again. She and her staff had to operate out of a temporary office during that time. When her office finally reopened, Savino threw a block party to celebrate and invited local residents.

While Coney Island and Bensonhurst are different from Staten Island, Savino said her constituents on both sides of the Verrazano-Narrows Bridge have a lot in common.

“People in all parts of the district want the same things. They want government to work. They want potholes repaired. They want their garbage picked up. They want decent schools. They want economic opportunity,” she told the Eagle.

Savino said that to her constituents, potholes aren’t just craters in the roadway. They are symbolic of something large and more troubling. “People see potholes as evidence of government failure. They say to themselves, ‘Oh come on, the city can’t even fix a pothole?’”

When constituents approach her about a pothole on their street, she never passes the buck. She does what she can to get that pothole fixed, despite the fact that potholes aren’t exactly state government business. It’s the city’s responsibility.

“But people don’t care that I’m a state elected official,” she said. “They want the pothole fixed. People don’t make those kinds of distinctions. If Barack Obama came here, they would ask him to fix the pothole,” she said.

This past legislative session, Savino, a member of the Independent Democratic Conference (IDC) in the state Senate, spent a great deal of time looking into the conditions of New York City’s housing projects and coming up with ways to improve the pace of structural repairs.

In February, the IDC and Councilmember Richie Torres (D-Central Bronx), chair of the Public Housing Committee, issued a joint report detailing poor conditions in many of the city’s housing developments. The report was titled, “Worst Landlord in NYC?”

Residents told lawmakers about hallway lights not working for months on end, debris in hallways, gang-related graffiti, fire doors locked shut and front doors unlocked.

The state budget, which was adopted back in April, contains $100 million in funding for the New York City Housing Authority (NYCHA) to make repairs in city housing, something Savino said she is particularly proud of. The IDC fought hard to get that funding included in the budget, she said.

There are 14 NYCHA housing developments in Coney Island.

Despite the publicity surrounding the feud between Mayor Bill de Blasio and Gov. Andrew Cuomo, Savino said the mayor “did really well in Albany” this legislative session, securing an extension of rent stabilization laws and a renewal of mayoral control of public schools, among other victories.

If de Blasio ever asked Savino for advice on what he should be doing to improve the city, her answer might surprise him. He needs to get out more and interact with average New Yorkers and not just policy makers, she said. “Come and see the neighborhoods. Come out from City Hall, visit the communities and engage New Yorkers.”

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