Decades in the making, new Southeast Queens precinct shows results

Police response times are down in Southeast Queens following the opening of the 116th Precinct. Eagle file photo by Ryan Schwach

By Ryan Schwach

It took four decades, but residents of Southeast Queens and the elected officials who represent them say their neighborhoods are finally getting the policing they deserve.

NYPD officials and elected officials said last week that since the new 116th Precinct finally opened in December to police the neighborhoods of Springfield Gardens, Brookville, Laurelton, and Rosedale, response times in adjacent precincts are down and the new cops are beginning to address long-time local complaints.

Speaking before the City Council on Thursday, Police Commissioner Jessica Tisch said that response times in the two precincts that used to split the area now covered by the 116th are significantly down.

“We have seen great results, I would say, in terms of the decrease in response times since that command opened up,” Tisch said. “We are pleased with what we are seeing in terms of the trends in response times.”

In the 105th Precinct, response times have been cut by more than half. Before the 116th opened, 105th Precinct cops took an average of 21 minutes and three seconds to respond. Now, it takes them, on average, eight minutes and 38 seconds.

Response times for the 113th Precinct have also decreased by a little over four minutes, down from 20 minutes and 48 seconds to 16 minutes and 19 seconds on average.

The new precinct is staffed by 199 people, including two captains, seven lieutenants, 20 sergeants, 147 police officers and detectives and 23 civilians.

The Eagle reached out to the NYPD for response times for 116th Precinct and whether or not those staffing levels are expected to grow. The NYPD’s press office referred the Eagle back to Tisch’s Thursday comments, which did not answer the questions.

Tisch on Thursday was asked about the 116th during a City Council budget hearing by the local councilmember, Selvana Brooks-Powers, who is happy with the results the precinct has brought so far.

“Response times [being] down is something that's significant,” she told the Eagle. “That's an area that the community, for many years, complained about. At times, there were people who would call my office and feel like calling the precinct was a waste of time because of how long it would take. I don't hear those complaints right now…the data around it supports what we're feeling on the ground.”

Before the 116th opened, the 105th and 113th split the large chunk of Southeast Queens, meaning cops were travelling large distances to respond to calls.

“If there was a big situation happening in the southern part of the community, they would have to get there from the far end of their confines,” Brooks-Powers said. “But right now, this is a precinct that's within our community, so naturally they're going to be able to respond much more quickly.”

Brooks-Powers said she is happy with the community and policing efforts from the new precinct, as well as the management of the station from its inaugural commanding officer, Jean Beauvoir.

“They've been also taking steps to be more community oriented,” she said. “I've seen firsthand the work that they've done to really combat a lot of the double parking that we experience along the Merritt Boulevard corridor, in particular.”

Going forward, she would like to see the precinct further address the illegal parking of large trucks, which have become a consistent issue in the community, as well as get more familiar with the neighborhood.

“Southeast Queens is a community that really values relationships and collaboration and partnership,” she said. “It's the beginning of a relationship right now, and so we'll see how it continues to grow.”

The community – who have been asking for the precinct for close to half a century – are also pleased with the results so far.

“We think it's great,” said Community Board 13 District Manager Mark McMillan. “The stats for both the 105 and the 116 in terms of response time have gone down tremendously, and there's more cops on the street and more attention to what's going on. We have two really good precinct commanders, and everybody seems to be very pleased with the way things are going.”

Conversations about the precinct began in the early 1970s, but it took until 2017 for the precinct to get approved by the city.

As the project began to move forward, another hurdle emerged. The funding for the precinct was cut in 2020 as the city dealt with the pandemic and racial justice protests over the death of George Floyd, sparking a new conversation about the role of police in the city.

The city restored the funding in April 2021 and broke ground on the project later that year.

“I am so happy and extremely proud to say that we worked as a team and advocated on behalf of our community,” local Bess DeBethem, who had been behind the push for the precinct for the better part of the last half century, said when it opened in December. “The result is this brand new, beautiful, 116th Police Precinct.”

McMillan said the community has already begun to feel “more secure” and “safer.”

“They know that the police, instead of getting there in 15 or 20 minutes, can get there in five minutes,” he said.

According to NYPD crime data, the area the 116th covers has also had a decrease in crime overall. The seven major crimes are down three percent this year compared to last.