In the News: Stable Update

••• “There’s still hope for Tribeca’s horses. CB1 chair Julie Menin says police officials will make a final decision on moving mounted unit from 1st Precinct until after talks, to be held Thursday morning. […] ‘The commissioner is looking to temporarily house 250 officers for the World Trade Center command center as a temporary measure for several years while they look for a permanent home for the center,’ Menin said she was told by Inspector Michael Yanosick, commanding officer of the NYPD’s facilities management division. […] ‘We are very upset about it,’ said a mounted police officer who declined to give his name. ‘We don’t want to go. It’s like being evicted from your home. We are a family here.'” WHAT YOU CAN DO: Menin told me that you should email your objections to the CB1 office and she’ll present them at the meeting. The address is man01@cb.nyc.gov, and you can/should email even if you already sent it elsewhere. (I pasted a possible letter below.) Also: Please forward this. (Tribeca Trib)

••• Tragic news: “A police officer fatally shot himself early today outside a Manhattan apartment building, police sources said. The uniformed cop from the Tribeca’s 1st Precinct was so distraught over a relationship that he shot himself in the head in front of the Murray Hill building on East 36th Street and Lexington Avenue at about 3:30 a.m., sources said. He was rushed to Bellevue Hospital, where he later died.” (New York Post)

••• “The West Thames Park lawn will reopen in mid-to-late July after state officials agreed to fix the muddy field.” (DNAinfo)

••• “Had a kefta sandwich today from Comme Ci, Comme Ça (Chef Samir’s truck) parked downtown @ Old Slip. [It] was ridonkulously good. White sauce, the veggies and kefta, with good toasted hero roll, all came together… wanted to shout it out for those who might want to try them out.” (Midtown Lunch via Eater)

••• The pastor of the Tribeca-based Faith Exchange church says this Rapture business is “counterproductive.” (WABC)

The letter:

Dear Julie Menin:

I have been greatly distressed by the NYPD’s rumored plan to move the 1st Precinct’s stable from its longtime home on Varick Street. Obviously, the stable is a source of substantial delight to adults and children alike. But I am even more disturbed by the NYPD’s plans to install a command center for the World Trade Center in its place. The location is 13 blocks from the World Trade Center, in a highly residential neighborhood; moreover, the 1st Precinct headquarters is already a source of congestion and haphazard parking (including on sidewalks) in the area. Adding far more officers—most of whom will presumably drive to work—who will travel up and down Tribeca streets to get to the World Trade Center promises to negatively impact our quality of life. Moreover, the horses do more than community outreach—they’re a viable form of crowd control in an area that’s home to many rallies.

Is there really no better location for the command center? Somewhere closer and less residential?

The public has had no opportunity to engage on the topic. Indeed, the NYPD has been nearly silent about it, and now we’re hearing that the stable could be shut down very soon. And while the NYPD says it’s temporary move, we all know how quickly temporary can become permanent.

I urge you to pressure the NYPD to slow down and engage the community before committing such an act.

Sincerely,

 

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