Habitat For Humanity Wants You To Sign Their Petition For NRPD Foot Patrols

By Joseph M. Calisi, Copyright 2010, All Rights Reserved

September 27 & 28, 2010, New Rochelle, NY - Habitat For Humanity of Westchester Executive Director Jim Killoran was at the New Rochelle train station on Monday and Tuesday this week, looking for signatures for a petition requesting New Rochelle Police Department patrolmen back ‘walking the beat’ and out of patrol cars in the vicinity of the Main Street/North Avenue intersection and the train/bus station.
Once again there’s a clamoring for the return of foot patrols. With gang-related activity and local drug trafficking on the rise, it is not unreasonable for businesses and the general public to call for a resurgence of patrolmen walking the neighborhood.
Many of those that signed the petitions sited an increased fear of illegal activity. One person even cited the seemingly endless number of gun violence incidents in Newark, NJ and wondered out loud if New Rochelle was going to begin to see the same kinds of problems.
According to Mr. Killoran, years ago, there used to be two police stations – one of them on Lawton Street the downtown area and foot patrolmen were a constant sight back then. With a problematic budget crunch years ago, the downtown station house disappeared and so did the patrolmen. With more than 3000 people new residents in this district in recent years, some people think it’s high time the NRPD resume using shoe leather.
The story broke on Talk Of The Sound blog on September 18 with a story about a 23-year old man that was killed in front of Chase Bank at 270 Main Street (North Ave.) in broad daylight. He was chased from 311 to 270 Main Street and after a fight ensued, he was stabbed at 2:30 pm, across the street from the New Rochelle Transportation Center.
Mr. Killoran maintains that if police were stationed in the area, their presence may have prevented this killing as well as other recent incidents in the downtown area. He has stated that, “I’ve asked for more than 4 years for regularly stationed police since a mêlée and near death robbery of three businesses.” Habitat For Humanity of Westchester has headquarters on Main Street and lives in what is now called ‘So-No’.
Many businesses, individuals, condo and rental building owners are collecting petitions at many locations. The Bank Of America, the US Post Office, Kaffeine, Smokes For Less, Chase Bank, Trump Towers, 25 Leroy Place, 543 Main Street, and The Avalon are just a few.
While the signatures were being signed on the HFH petition at the station platform, Metro-North riders were asking all the critical questions – why should we need to sign a petition to get foot patrolmen? Shouldn’t the NRPD want to arrest drug traffickers and keep tabs on suspicious people? Why are so many vagrants accumulating on the benches near the station? It seems that benches have become repositories for homeless-looking men that sleep there overnight into the morning hours.
As the old saying goes, “That’s the $64,000 question.”

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Visit 'Talk Of The Sound' blog at:

http://www.newrochelletalk.com/content/habitat-humanity-petition-says-we-want-nrpd-foot-patrols

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Photos/captions:

Habitat For Humanity of Westchester Executive Director Jim Killoran was at the New Rochelle train station on Monday and Tuesday this week, looking for signatures for a petition requesting New Rochelle Police patrolmen back ‘walking the beat’ (above). Person sleeping on a bench 8/31/2010 in what has become a constant sight in New Rochelle (below).

NJ Transit Debuts the ‘Quiet Car’

By Joseph M. Calisi Copyright 2010 All Rights Reserved

Newark, NJ (September 9, 2010) – New Jersey Transit has debuted their new ‘Quiet Car’ concept – their latest idea in rail passenger customer amenities. One car on each end of this test train is eerily quiet as no cell phones are in use and the usual banter among commuters is missing. One morning and afternoon rush hour Northeast Corridor Trenton express is outfitted with shrink-wrapped NJ Transit ‘multi-level cars showing a finger-to-lips logo. It is a ninety-day pilot program.

NJ Transit Executive Director James Weinstein said, “Our customers have asked us to offer a Quiet Commute option in an effort to balance the needs of people who want to stay connected while aboard our trains with those who want to relax or work in a quiet atmosphere. We are offering this amenity as a pilot program and will rely on customer feedback to determine whether to make Quiet Commute a permanent NJ TRANSIT amenity.”

The first train departed the Trenton Transit Center at 9:14 am on September 7 as train number 3936 after officials spoke before the event. The 3900-series trains were selected because of the long trip times and would be a good gauge as a testing ground for public acceptance and compliance. NJ Transit is the largest agency to offer this amenity in North America.

According to various media reports, the new feature is already a success as riders can even snooze their way across the Garden State. If a passenger becomes noisy, they are quietly handed a business card-sized message as a reminder that the quiet car is a subdued environment. Those using electronic devices such as video games and computers are asked to disable their speakers or to plug in headphones so the sounds are not heard by other passengers.

NJT officials have offered that the new ‘service’ is in itself a self-policing dynamic amongst passengers. If the passengers don’t get to the noisy rider first, a conductor will hand out a ‘Quiet Commute card’ with the new logo on one side and a plea to abide by the quiet cars rules in both English and Spanish. The cards were first used by SEPTA in their own Quiet Car program. Other transit agencies that currently offer “Quiet Cars” include SEPTA, Virginia Railway Express (VRE), MARC (Maryland), Altamont Commuter Express (California) and the Capital Corridor (California).

The Quiet car concept debuted on Amtrak a year ago and has since become a mainstay on that railroad.


Quiet car train number 3969 on September 9 arrives in Newark Penn Station where passengers board the Trenton Express and actually can snooze without the loud chatter that can accompany a train trip.



Korean Presbyterian Church discusses grounds improvement plan

Korean Presbyterian Church Elder Ha discussed their consultant's drawing of the revised site plans for the church grounds at 50 Pintard Avenue on Saturday, September 18, 2010 with the Marvin Place Block Association. The plan calls for increasing the number of parking spaces from 60 to 81 which includes dedicated handicapped parking spots while not losing any 'green space'.

According to the church, the plan met with approval from the local Residence Park group, even though the church grounds are outside the historical boundary of the adjoining Residence Park area. Elder Ha said that the plan was not to ruin the green space view from Pintard Avenue. He added that many people from different backgrounds will use this church facility and that, "... the church is part of the community and we want the community to share it with us."

Specifics include widening the driveway to 24 feet so that 2 automobiles can safely pass each other and the repaving Marvin Place, a private street.

At the end of the meeting, Elder Ha announced that a series of 3 'revival' nights will be held by many Westchester Presbyterian groups at the church on September 24, 25 and 26.

According to an advisory, the New Rochelle Planning Board will review the project's application on September 28, 2010 at 7:30 pm at 90 Beaufort Place, Room B-1, City Hall Annex behind City Hall.



Check out other local news at New Rochelle's favorite blog - Talk Of The Sound at: http://www.newrochelletalk.com/