National Night Out For 24th Precinct Includes DJ, Library Booth

The NYPD’s 24th Precinct held its annual National Night Out event at Happy Warrior Playground, located on W. 97th St., on August 5. The festivities, which 70 precincts citywide partook in, are tied to a 40 year-old tradition that is supposed to forge closer ties between communities and the police officers that patrol them.

The Upper West Side event was held on the playground’s spacious basketball courts. Free pizza was on offer, and various folding tables were set up. One kid seemed to be shooting hoops with his dad before things got too crowded.

A DJ booth started spinning party-flavored hip-hop hits from the 2000s, much like at a block party. An array of auxiliary police officers stood watch or mingled together along the event’s sidelines, with some serving pizza.

There were also multiple organizations that had set up booths advertising their services, although representatives said that they weren’t allowed to talk to the press; the NYC Public Library and an informational booth on NY family court were two prominent examples.

Lana Berson said that she had attended the National Night Out event last year, and that it represented “gathering together and meeting people.” She pointed out that her husband, Neil Berson, serves on the 24th Precinct’s “community council”–essentially a group of local residents that serve as a liaison between cops and their neighbors. “That’s why I’m here,” she quipped.

Neil Berson, who has a background as an attorney with expertise on financial securities, told The Spirit that he had seen more and more people attend the event “in the past several years.” He also explained what the community council does: “We talk about crime statistics, and where the trends are. We inform the precinct about special areas of concern that we think are not being appropriately addressed. They take that information and decide how best to deploy their forces.”

Berson added that he was a fan of the new “Quality of Life officer” teams rolled out by NYPD Commissioner Jessica Tisch, which he dubbed the “Q Team process.”

In the 24th Precinct, these Quality of Life teams will reportedly be comprised of two teams of 11 officers each. Unsurprisingly, Berson said that they will respond to “complaints about non-criminal quality of life issues,” some of which are called in to 311 hotlines (illegal vehicle parking, discarded needles, etc.)

Some critics of the new initiative, which was piloted in Manhattan and is now being rolled out to other boroughs, say that it hearkens back to “broken-window policing” theories of the 1990s that they connect with over-policing.

Other attendees had no apparent connection to the precinct. Sergio Torres, who was eating a slice of pizza, noted that he lived in the project building next door. “All I want to see is peace in the neighborhood,” he told The Spirit. “I love seeing people get along.”

Mary, who was sitting nearby and enjoying a soda, said that “it’s lovely to be out on a summer night.” Indeed, the weather was genuinely pleasant, after an extended period of heat waves.

Steven, who appeared to be a veteran, told The Spirit that this was his first time attending a National Night Out event in this particular neighborhood. He said that it had a “good impact” on people, as it created “community” between the cops and local residents.

At a National Night Out Event held by Midtown North, various politicians and officials were in attendance: Upper West Side City Council Member Gale Brewer, State Senator Brad Hoylman-Sigal, Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg, and State Assembly Member Erik Bottcher.