End of 2020 LSBID Operations Report

As we near the end of the year, we would like to give an update on the work of our core Sanitation and Public Safety services. The LSBID Clean Team, contracted through Streetplus, and currently comprised of 11 hardworking people with lengths of service ranging from 10 months to 21 years, continues to keep Lincoln Square clean and litter free for the residents, workers, and shoppers in the neighborhood. As we make our way through winter, our team is fully prepared with shovels, salt spreaders and ice picks, ready to tackle the upcoming winter storm later this week. Our four person Greenkeepers team, contracted though Goddard Riverside Community Center, will also be ready to supplement the work of the Clean Team, salting and clearing snow from the Broadway Mall crossings in our district from 60th to 70th Streets.

In October, our Public Safety contractor was acquired by Allied Universal Security Services. Allied is the largest private security company in North America with over 230,000 officers, and we are hopeful that Allied can leverage its considerable resources to find new officers to join our Public Safety team. Despite the shortage in manpower, our team, which currently consists of three supervisors and five officers, continues to patrol the district and help keep Lincoln Square safe by acting as a uniformed deterrent to crime and reporting on quality of life concerns. Our team reported almost 500 incidents and conditions for the period between Tuesday, September 1 and Monday, November 30 -- some of which are reported to the City and some of which we handle ourselves. The most reported condition during this time period was homelessness, which we are seeing an increase of in the district. We are in regular communication regarding these homeless conditions with our partners, including Goddard Riverside Community Center’s Homeless Outreach program, the Department of Homeless Services, the Center for Urban Community Services (CUCS), NYC Parks, and other non-profit partners and City agencies as needed. Additionally, our Public Safety team reports people that appear to be homeless and in need of services to 311 every day. We encourage members of the public to use the City’s 311 system to notify DHS of people that are in need of services.

We are also in communication with the NYPD regarding crime trends. As an official community partner for the 20th Precinct as part of the NYPD’s neighborhood policing initiative, we speak regularly with our Neighborhood Coordination Officers, Rawdi Ali and Ylena Ast, regarding crime in Lincoln Square. Despite the terrible news about a shooting just outside our district last week, our neighborhood has continued to see very little violent crime. As of Sunday, December 6, 2020, overall crime is down 6.5% within the confines of 20th for the year according to the most recent CompStat numbers; however, burglaries are up 114%. Many of these burglaries are package thefts from residential buildings. With the holiday season in full swing, this type of crime becomes even more common. The 20th Precinct Crime Prevention department recently canvassed buildings in the area alerting people how to avoid these types of thefts – click here for more information. 

We hope you have a great, and safe, holiday season! And, make sure to thank our Sanitation and Public Safety teams for their hard work when you see them around the neighborhood. 

Photo credit: Filip Wolak