ROSEDALE, Queens (PIX 11) — The NYPD unveiled a brand-new precinct in Southeast Queens Wednesday with a goal of better addressing the safety needs of the community.
The 116th precinct at 244-04 North Conduit Avenue is the newest precinct to be established in New York City since 2013.
Mayor Eric Adams joined community leaders at a ribbon cutting ceremony for the long-awaited opening of the command, addressing decades of calls for improved public safety in Southeast Queens.
“The new command will reduce NYPD response times to emergencies and other calls for service, increase visibility of police officers throughout southeast Queens, and deepen the bond between the NYPD and the community, which is so important,” said Mayor Eric Adams.
The precinct will serve the neighborhoods of Rosedale, Brookville, Laurelton, and Springfield Gardens — communities that, until now, relied on the overstretched 105th and 113th precincts.
For longtime residents like Liza Colon, the new addition to the community is monumental. She expressed her frustrations with the long distance of her designated precinct.
“There have been times that I’ve had to do a police report and so there’s no reason I should be going like half an hour out,” she said.
Bess DeBetham is a community advocate who, along with a group of other dedicated residents, has been relentless in pushing for more police resources in the area — having conversations and sending letters to elected officials since 1973. She hoped to address the overwhelming challenge officers faced.
“It simply wasn’t fair to them to accuse them of not caring,” DeBethem said. “They just had so much of land mass to cover. We have five communities. Five. So how can [the 105th precinct] adequately support us and support the North.”
She said she had been told there wasn’t enough money in the city’s budget for years. Now the nearly $105 million precinct stands as a state-of-the-art facility equipped with community spaces, hoping to make residents feel seen and heard.
“These neighborhoods felt disconnected from their police,” said NYPD Commissioner Jessica Tisch. “They didn’t feel that their needs and concerns were being addressed, and they didn’t believe they had a precinct of their own. Today all that changes.”The facility is poised to set the standard for community policing, shaping the department’s approach for years to come.
