By Howard Koplowitz
More than a third of the 105th Precinct’s crime over the past month has been occurring in Queens Village, which had nearly double the percentage of incidents than the next highest neighborhood, 105th Precinct Detective Jovoda Cooper told Community Board 13 Monday night.
The board also unanimously approved plans by the city Parks Department to develop a section of Idlewild Park on condition that a comfort station, fishing pier and increased funding be added to the proposal.
The seven major index crimes in the 105th Precinct, which stretches from Glen Oaks in the north along the Nassau County-Queens border to Rosedale, were down 5.7 percent in the last month, Cooper said, although the precinct was up 0.3 percent so far this year from comparable 2009 levels.
Of the 133 crimes that occurred in the 105th Precinct in the last month, 34 percent of the crimes were committed in Queens Village, the largest neighborhood in the precinct, Cooper said. The detective said most of the crimes being committed are not violent types.
“The majority of it is grand larceny autos,” she said. “Cars are being stolen.”
Cooper also said stolen cell phones represent a significant portion of the crime in Queens Village, where the precinct is headquartered and has three patrol cars roving the neighborhood at any given time.
Rosedale had 18 percent of the precinct’s crime in the past 28 days, followed by Springfield Gardens at 14 percent.
Bellerose, Floral Park, New Hyde Park and Glen Oaks — the north part of the precinct, which the 105th lumps together when recording statistics — comprised 12 percent of the precinct’s crime.
Cambria Heights also had 12 percent and Laurelton, at 11 percent, had the lowest percentage of crime in the precinct.
The board also heard from Ricardo Hinkle, senior landscape architect and project manager for the city Parks Department’s plans to develop a portion of Idlewild Park known as Site B.
The 22.75-acre site sits at the corner of Brookville and Rockaway boulevards and the land is being transferred from the city Economic Development Corp. to the Parks ∂Department.
The plans would give southeast Queens residents boat access and views of Jamaica Bay.
The development was proposed by the city in exchange for its building a tow pound in Laurelton after residents complained of the adverse effects from the car facility.
Hinkle said environmental testing of the soil on the site showed an elevated number of heavy metals and semi-volatile organic compounds.
While those soil conditions are not hazardous, according to Hinkle, the soil still needs to be remediated and is not part of the $700 million construction budget he has for the project, meaning only about two of the 22 acres could be accessible to the public once construction is finished.
Barbara Brown of the Eastern Queens Alliance applauded the city for getting the ball rolling on developing Idlewild Park, but said more needs to be done.
“A lot of people in the community fish,” she said. “I think it’s imperative to have a shoreline fishing pier.”
Brown also said there should be a dock for small motorized watercraft and funding for toilets near the planned boat launch.
CB 13 member Peter Richards said the $1 million in funding for the project was “grossly inadequate.”
“It should be increased by a few million,” he said.
CB 13 unanimously approved the plans 27-0 with no abstentions.
Reach reporter Howard Koplowitz by e-mail at hkoplowitz@cnglocal.com or by phone at 718-260-4573.
