Williamsburg - Hasidic Residents Blame Poor Security at NYCHA Building for Shooting

Williamsburg - Following a Friday night shooting in which a Williamsburg Hasidic man was shot twice in the Taylor-Wythe Houses development, residents are accusing the city of dragging its feet in installing cameras for which funding has already been allocated.

DNAinfo.com reports that Andrew Gross, president of the Taylor-Wythe Tenants’ Association, said, “We were allocated cameras three years ago and the NYCHA is just putting them in now. NYCHA is not checking tenants who come into and out of the building…and there’s no policeman on the overnight shift.”

Gross said that Friday’s robbery-gone-bad, which left a local Hasidic man with gunshot wounds to his arm and leg, is just another in a string of incidents that may have been prevented had the cameras been installed.

A spokeswoman for the NYCHA said its officials are currently working with both the NYPD and Councilman Stephen Levin to get the cameras installed, but that it “takes time.”

Levin’s office confirmed that $300K has been allocated for cameras at the Taylor-Wythe Houses and $400K at Independence Towers.