News Of The Neighborhoods
COMPILED BY LIZ GOFF

Police Chief Returns To Head Training Unit

Police Commissioner Raymond Kelly is calling on retired New York Police Department Chief Wilbur Chapman to return as head of the NYPD Training Unit.

Chapman, who was respected and well liked by the Police Department's rank and file, graduated from the police academy in 1969 and went on to walk a beat and patrol some of the toughest police precincts in New York City.

After serving as head of the NYPD Recruitment Unit and Assistant Chief of the Queens Borough Command, Chapman was appointed to NYPD Chief of Patrol, where he remained until he retired in the late 1990s to become Chief of Police in Bridgeport, Connecticut.

As head of police recruitment in the early 1990s, Chapman established outreach programs that generated the most diverse list of NYPD applicants in the history of the department. In his new role as Deputy Commissioner for Training, Chapman will oversee all aspects of NYPD training programs, sources said.

311 'SCOUTS' Hit The Streets

The city is taking its 311 program to the streets, sending inspectors into communities throughout the Big Apple to get to the core of its problems.

A team of 15 city inspectors in white golf cart-type vehicles will visit every block once a month to check for problems from graffiti to broken streetlights and traffic signals, officials said.

Mayor Michael Bloomberg said the Street Conditions Observation Unit (SCOUT), will add new clout to the 311 system which has assisted in resolving resident complaints.

Inspectors will have BlackBerry devices equipped with global positioning systems (GPS) and will cover some 300 miles each day, Bloomberg said. The devices will allow inspectors to report 1,000 to 3,000 conditions, recording the violation and location to 311 which will then notify the appropriate city agency.

Bloomberg said it is the city's responsibility to find problems and fix them. "It is not the role of city agencies to sit there and say, 'Duh! we didn't know about that.' That is not what good government is all about. The inspectors will not hand out violations to offenders." Bloomberg said. "They will be there only to act as eyes and ears of the city."

The mayor urged residents to continue their vigilance in reporting illegal, unsightly and unsafe conditions to 311 operators, but that residents should also continue to report noise conditions to 311 since most noise offenses occur at night when inspectors will not be on the streets. Inspectors said that calls about noise account for most of the complaints in the 311 system.

The SCOUT inspectors began patrolling some areas this month and the teams will be out in full force patrolling Queens neighborhoods by September.

Kiosks Add 'ZIP' To Postal Services

Postal customers throughout Queens are finding it faster, easier and more convenient than ever to purchase stamps, mail letters and packages, and obtain information at Automated Postal Centers (APCs) recently installed at five local post office locations.

The APCs accept credit or debit cards, while performing most of the functions provided by clerks at United States Postal Service (USPS) windows. Kiosks have been installed in the USPS Broadway station in Astoria, along with post offices in Sunnyside, Woodside, Jackson Heights and Fresh Meadows.

The computerized system allows customers to weigh letters and parcels, pay for postage and mail them without having to stand on line, said Catherine Cassidy, marketing manager for the USPS Triboro District.

Customers can also use the kiosks to purchase stamps, insure letters and parcels, search for zip codes, send Express, Priority, First Class and Parcel Post mail and research specific mailing information. The kiosks provide services in English and Spanish and are available at no extra cost to the consumer.

USPS officials said, customers who are not computer-savvy can still obtain services at the post office windows.

Unveil Map of Historic City Houses

City history buffs are hot on the trail of 22 historic houses located throughout the city and portrayed in a new Touring Map & Guide released last month by the Department of Parks and Recreation and the Historic House Trust.

From a cottage in The Bronx that Edgar Allan Poe called home, to an original farmhouse at the Queens County Farm Museum in Floral Park, the guide serves as a spectacular reflection of historic homes scattered across the five boroughs.

The free guide and map provides explorers with a listing grouped by location and theme. Copies of the map/guide are available at the Queens Visitor Center at the Queens Center Mall, local museums, Historic House Trust sites, the History Channel kiosk in City Hall Park, NYC & Co. headquarters, City Store and at recreation and visitor centers in parks throughout the city.