Not a lot to see in Bronx
Few NYPD cams in hi-crime boro
The Bronx has the city’s second-highest rate of major crimes — but the fewest NYPD surveillance cameras except for Staten Island.
The Argus cameras the police department have deployed around the city since 2007 are a step above the ones outside bodegas or apartment buildings because they link to the NYPD Domain Awareness System, the surveillance network of some 18,000 cameras — including those in subway stations and housing projects — as well as law-enforcement databases.
But of the 2,626 cameras citywide, only 388 are in the Bronx, which is just 15% of the total and only about half as many as the 766 cameras in Queens, or 29%. Manhattan is next with 690. Brooklyn has 614; Staten Island, 168.
That’s in stark contrast to the Bronx’s relatively high crime rate compared to the other boroughs. From Jan. 1 through Aug. 19, the Bronx ranked second, with 60 murders, 164 shooting victims, 1,986 robberies and 3,734 felony assaults, according to NYPD CompStat data. It had the third-most rapes, 242.
In the same period, Queens had 39 murders, 101 shooting victims, 1,599 robberies, 2,414 felony assaults and 242 rapes.
The NYPD says the disparity of Argus cams in the boroughs is a by-product of a 2007 anti-terror initiative that put the units in Lower Manhattan, but the gap is shrinking as more are being placed in outer boroughs at a quicker pace than in the past.
“We’re seeing more cameras faster, and more borough equity,” said top NYPD spokesman Deputy Commissioner Phil Walzak. “This department has a strong commitment to improving coverage around the city.”
Walzak also said that population is a factor. The Bronx has 1.5 million residents, less than the 2.3 million in Queens, 2.6 million in Brooklyn and, including tourists and daytime commuters, 3.9 million in Manhattan.
Bronx elected officials and activists, however, say the relatively fewer number of cameras is an example of how their borough always gets short shrift for services.
“The budget tends to skew toward Manhattan,” said Councilman Ritchie Torres of the Bronx. “The outer boroughs generally — but obviously the Bronx — tend to get the short end of the stick.”
Installation of the $40,000 Argus units — named for a creature in Greek mythology with 100 eyes — depends on elected officials who have the budget for them and who confer with precinct commanders about the best locations for them.
But Torres and Councilman Donovan Richards of Queens, who chairs the public safety committee, said cameras should be “needbased” and not linked to requests of elected officials.
They said the formula hobbles elected officials, who often have to allocate money for more immediate needs.
“We receive complaints from constituents all the time concerning security cameras that has made it a priority for funding,” Torres said.
By year-end, the city will install 250 more Argus cameras in all boroughs, according to officials. But the Bronx, which is getting 50 of them, will again play second fiddle to Manhattan, which is getting 75. Queens will have 47 more, Brooklyn gets 46 and Staten Island will get 32.
Manhattan Democratic City Councilmen Ben Kallos and Keith Powers this month secured $247,000 for seven cameras in pocket parks and cul de sacs along tony Sutton Place on the Upper East Side.
Kallos says he is responding to constituents’ wishes, and the cameras will cover areas not easily reached by police cars and plagued by quality-of-life issues.
But the disparity did not sit well with Bronx residents fed up with crime.
“It’s not right that Manhattan has more cameras than in the Bronx, when there is a lot of crime happening here,” said Geobania Vargas, 53, a home-care attendant. “Manhattan receives a lot of attention (because) there are more tourists and there are more powerful people there.
“More rich people live there — us poor people live here,” she added. “We need more attention.”