5th Precinct: Community Policing Returns (Thankfully!!)

The 5th Precinct was out in force last night to present the new Neighborhood Coordination Officers (NCO) – a welcome return to the concept of neighborhood policing.

From the website:

A New Patrol Paradigm

“The cornerstone of today’s NYPD is Neighborhood Policing, a comprehensive crime-fighting strategy built on improved communication and collaboration between local police officers and community residents. Neighborhood Policing greatly increases connectivity and engagement with the community without diminishing, and, in fact, improving the NYPD’s crime-fighting capabilities.

The NYPD has long encouraged officers to strengthen bonds with the communities they patrol, but past practice in precincts left little time or opportunity for true community engagement. In recent years, the Patrol Services Bureau has systematically reorganized its patrol methods to achieve the goal of establishing Neighborhood Policing in every precinct, citywide, by 2019.”

 

Each NCO introduced themselves personally: heartfelt, welcoming and seeming eager to join with the community in keeping our neighborhood safe and connected.

Our local [Sector “B”] NCO‘s are:

PO Enrique Urena: Email:Enrique.Urena@nypd.org  Phone: (929) 334-9607

PO Joesph Bozzo: Email:Joseph.Bozzo@nypd.org Phone: (917) 455-0917

We are very glad to have them patrolling the entire Park and its surrounding area. We look forward to partnering with them and the 5th Precinct.

Soon there will be local Build a Block Meeting just for our ‘Sector’, Sector B, Check link for scheduling.

Sector B

5th Precinct Community Council meetings (covering all the sectors/areas in the 5th Precinct) take place the same as always:

Meetings: Community Council meetings typically take place on the last Wednesday of each month at 7 PM at the 5th precinct 9 Elizabeth Street (south of Canal Street). President: William Bray

 

5th Precinct Contact Information

Precinct: (212) 334-0711
Community Affairs: (212) 334-0726
Crime Prevention: (212) 334-0738
Domestic Violence: (212) 334-0738
Youth Officer: (212) 334-0717
Auxiliary Coordinator: (212) 334-0700
Detective Squad: (212) 334-0742

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Local Community Gardens and Composting Sites

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How Bologna is Regenerating the Urban Commons

 

From  

(with thanks from Wendy Brawer of Green Map!)

“Here’s the problem: There is a crucial legal gap in the management of cities — it is often illegal for citizens to improve or maintain public spaces, parks, abandoned buildings, and other urban commons that directly impact their lives. Regulation using institutional technology and public collaboration is necessary to mitigate this issue.

 

Here’s how one organization is working on the problem: In 2014, the city of Bologna in Italy adopted the Regulation on Collaboration Between Citizens and the City for the Care and Regeneration of Urban Commons and launched “the city as a commons” project. The regulation and project represent a new and important legal and administrative framework for citizens to directly care for urban commons in Bologna and beyond.

Behind the scenes, the Fondazione del Monte di Bologna and RavennaLabGov, and innovators within the city paved the way with two years of field experiments applying co-governance methods to the management of urban commons. The bulk of the learning was accomplished through three “urban experimentation labs” with citizens and essential urban resources such as green spaces and abandoned buildings. The output of the research was the world’s first regulation and administrative process outlining how cities and the citizens can collaborate to co-manage urban commons.

A key tool supporting the regulation are “collaboration pacts.” A collaboration pact defines the specific commons in question and the rules for collaboration between stakeholders, including the city government. Collaboration pacts can be designed and signed by a single individual, informal groups, communities, and nonprofit organizations. They regulate both single, short-term interventions and long-term care of the urban commons. The regulation also fosters the creation of hyperlocal institutions for urban co-governance like community cooperatives, neighborhood foundations, and block consortia. Importantly, the regulation provides for the transfer of technical and monetary support from the city government to citizens. It also promotes citizen action in five categories: social innovation and collaborative services, urban creativity, digital innovation, collaborative communication, and collaborative tools and practices that foster urban commoning.

Results:

  • More than 180 collaboration pacts have been signed in Bologna since the approval of the regulation. The regulation, collaboration pacts, and associated administrative processes have become an “administrative good practice” on a global basis. The regulation has also triggered the design of a broad urban co-governance program. Building on the success of the regulation, Bologna launched “Collaborare è Bologna” (CO-Bologna), an innovative public policy with two main purposes:
    • Coordinating several projects and policies on the regeneration of the urban commons through social innovation and collaborative economy….
    • The long-term goal of the project is to lay the foundation for the transformation of Bologna into a co-city with a robust collaborative ecosystem. Building on the care and regeneration of the city, efforts will now to focus on meeting people’s basic needs by developing the local collaborative economy and leveraging collaborations between the public, private, and commons sectors.

Learn more from:

 

This case study is adapted from our latest book, “Sharing Cities: Activating the Urban Commons.” Get a copy today.”

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