Skip to Content
Streetsblog New York City home
Streetsblog New York City home
Log In
Chelsea

The 10th Precinct’s Grievance-Based Policing Isn’t Making Streets Safer

10th Precinct CO Captain Paul Lanot and NYPD Commissioner James O’Neill

Motorists have killed four people walking and biking in the 10th Precinct this year, and injured nearly 100. Meanwhile, precinct officers have issued almost twice as many summonses to cyclists in 2017 as they have to motorists for speeding, failure to yield, and truck route violations combined.

Last June cyclists Dan Hanegby and Michael Mamoukakis were killed by off-route tour bus drivers in the 10th Precinct in crashes that happened a few days apart. In July a motorist hit 21-year-old Frederick Swope in a crosswalk near Chelsea Piers, inflicting fatal injuries. In August a tractor-trailer driver with a suspended license killed a 73-year-old man in the 10th Precinct.

With so much motor vehicle carnage on their watch, you'd think the 10th Precinct would be cracking down on reckless driving behaviors that are getting people hurt and killed. But as of August precinct officers had ticketed just 383 drivers for failing to yield to pedestrians, and had issued only 22 truck route summonses.

Like other NYPD commands, the 10th Precinct responds to fatal collisions by ticketing potential victims. At their September community council meeting, reports Chelsea Now, precinct officials boasted about their misplaced enforcement priorities.

Bicycles and traffic safety also generated much discussion at the meeting, when an older resident expressed her concern about the speed of bicycles going down the street (there are designated bike lanes on both Eighth and Ninth Aves., the source of most complaints). Traffic/Youth Sergeant Paul Mondone said the command has already given out 815 summonses this year to speeding and other unlawful bicyclists. There are also auxiliary officers handing out flyers to every bicyclist they see.

“These people are flying through the bike path,” Sgt. Mondone noted.

The 10th Precinct issued 68 speeding tickets during the first eight months of 2017. It's unknown how many of those went to motorists in multi-ton motor vehicles and how many were given to people on 20-pound bicycles. (Transportation Alternatives told Streetsblog it's unlikely that many of those 815 bike tickets were for speeding.)

This week Mayor de Blasio and Police Commissioner James O'Neill announced that homicides and shootings in NYC are at their lowest levels in modern history. While NYPD attributes the decline in crime to data-driven policing, there is no evidence that such analysis extends to preventing traffic injuries and deaths.

Allowing individual precincts to shape their enforcement agendas based on who shows up to complain isn't helping.

Stay in touch

Sign up for our free newsletter

More from Streetsblog New York City

New Bill Would Block Apps From Deactivating Workers Without Cause

A Brooklyn Council member wants delivery app companies to be more human and less robot.

July 18, 2025

Friday Video: Is Berlin a Great Biking City?

Have recent moves by anti-bike, pro-car legislators ruined the experience in the capital of a unified Germany? Sort of!

July 18, 2025

Eyes on the Street: Meeker Avenue Bike Lane Is a Failure

The Department of Transportation still hasn't finished a critical bike lane under the Brooklyn-Queens Expressway that the agency has been stalling for over four years even after identifying the strip's danger and lack of proper signals.

July 18, 2025

Friday’s Headlines: Cuomo’s Road Rage Edition

Why does Andrew Cuomo drive so recklessly? Plus other news.

July 18, 2025

Fixing Third Ave. Was Once ‘Top of List’ For Eric Adams — But as Mayor He Backed Off

Mayor Adams has delayed a redesign of Brooklyn's Third Avenue despite once saying safety fixes there should be "at the top of our list."

July 17, 2025

Thursday’s Headlines: Jerry Nadler Edition

U.S. Rep. Jerry Nadler faced off with Sean Duffy on Capitol Hill. Plus more news.

July 17, 2025
See all posts