The St. John’s University Community Dialogue Group (CDG) gathered on Nov. 25 for their bimonthly meeting at the University Center conference room at 6 p.m., identifying safety concerns in the Hillcrest area that affect both students and local residents. Representatives from Community Board 8, St. John’s Department of Public Safety and the offices of local elected officials collaborated on possible solutions to these recent safety matters.
For the past 25 years, St. John’s staff and community members have met to discuss a host of pertinent issues including safety, housing and transportation as well as upcoming neighborhood and University events.
The most recent meeting focused on traffic violations in the neighborhood and concerns for the safety of both students and residents.
One area of interest is 170th St. between Union Turnpike and Goethals Ave. Attendees recognized the need for adherence to traffic laws and considered the possibility of logging resident complaints, requesting a traffic study and installing a speed bump.
Members also discussed the pedestrian walkway that has formed out of the 169th St. dead-end onto Goethals Avenue. This unofficial path is directly opposite the Public Safety building and has become an area of concern, due to a recent reported increase in non-University young adults parking or congregating in the area with reports suggesting potential marijuana usage. The University monitors this walkway as a result of the discussions.
Joseph Sciame, former vice president for the office of community relations, founded the group to connect both St. John’s staff and neighbors, allowing for meaningful interactions and solutions to address community concerns.
The St. John’s Community Dialogue Group was formed to hear the opinions of community members regarding the construction of the Residence Halls. At the time, local residents were concerned about the impact that these dorms would have on the community.
Following Sciame’s retirement, Brian Browne, associate vice president of University communications & public affairs, has served as the chair of the community group.
Attendees continually revere Mr. Sciame’s work.
“There was a lot of concerns about how residence life would impact the community and neighborhood, and Joe definitely navigated a lot of these issues by creating this dialogue group and maintaining it,” Browne said.
Members of the group include community representatives from Queens Community Board 8 as well as the local offices including, the office of Assemblyman David I. Weprin, Assemblywoman Nily Rozic, State Senator John Liu, Council Member Jim Gennaro and the New York City Department of Buildings.
There are also members who represent the local civic associations such as Hillcrest Estates, Jamaica Estates, Flushing Heights, Fresh Meadows and Utopia Estates.
University staff representatives from the Offices of Campus Ministry, Residence Life, Public Safety, the Department of Campus Facilities and Services and the Division of Student Affairs are also in attendance.
“It’s really from a shared perspective. It’s sharing information, it’s sharing best practices. The neighbors want our students to be safe, and they want the neighborhood to be safe,” Browne said. “It’s tracking trends, it’s finding troubled spots. If it’s a house that’s being rented by students in the community, how do we mitigate any concerns? How do we get people to be good neighbors?”
Of these forged friendships, Browne recalls Jackie Forrestal and her late husband, Kevin Forrestal, who represent Community Board 8.
“We had some lively exchanges over the years about issues, but they look out for the community and they’ve made us better neighbors,” Browne said.
In the future, St. John’s University staff hope that the strengthening of these community ties will lead to more local residents enjoying the campus.
“Trying to bring more and more of the local community into the campus gates,” Mr. Browne said, “so that we are not separated by a fence.”
Some examples of these initiatives include Early Voting, which was available on campus early this month in the Law School, and the Great Lawn Summer Concerts.
The next St. John’s Community Dialogue Meeting will be on Monday, Jan. 27, 2025. If you are interested in contributing to these meetings, please contact Mr. Brian Browne at [email protected]
