Ridge gives super send-off to nabe’s outgoing top cop
The party room at Greenhouse Café was filled to capacity on Tuesday, April 17, as Bay Ridge and Dyker Heights residents and activists gathered to say goodbye to Deputy Inspector Joseph Hayward, the 68th Precinct’s commanding officer from March 8, 2016 through March 5, 2018, when he was transferred to head up the 60th Precinct in Coney Island.
“Bay Ridge’s loss is Coney Island’s gain,” noted David Ryan, the president of the 68th Precinct Community Council. The precinct, he added, “has always enjoyed relative low crime levels, and it went down 15 percent under your leadership. Your leadership and dedication really made a difference in the community.”
For Hayward, his two-year stint at the 68 was, “Definitely the highlight of my almost 20-year career,” he told the assembled crowd. “It’s truly a little town in the big city, and the little down has a big heart.”