NYC Agencies Unite to Tackle Public Safety in Hell’s Kitchen and Midtown

A new Midtown task force, co-chaired by a Hell’s Kitchen resident, is bringing together NYC agencies to address quality of life issues from W34th to W45th Streets between 7th and 9th Avenues.

On Tuesday Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg and Mayor Eric Adams announced the launch of the Midtown Community Improvement Coalition, which will coordinate more than 20 city agencies, social service providers and community partners.

The coalition’s goal is to address issues that fall under the purview of multiple agencies, such as retail theft, substance use, the mental health crisis, beautification, illegal scaffolding and shuttering illicit cannabis shops.

It is being co-chaired by Brian Weber, who lives in Hell’s Kitchen and is president of the Midtown South NYPD Precinct Community Council, alongside Times Square Alliance president Tom Harris and Garment District Alliance president Barbara Blair.

City agencies and community partners have been working together for the past six weeks to form the coalition, Weber told W42ST. They plan on holding two meetings a month.

Agencies are already in constant communication with each other but this is “a great opportunity to have them all in the same room,” Weber said.

“We’re really looking for solutions that are within the tools and resources of these agencies,” he added. “We’re looking to come up with pragmatic solutions to address conditions on our corners today.”

The coalition is modeled after the 125th Street Business Improvement District Interagency Hub, a similar initiative in Harlem, and builds on a previous Adams administration initiative to bring agencies together, called Community Link , and DA Bragg’s Neighborhood Navigator program .

Navigators, provided by the nonprofit The Bridge, began regularly touring Midtown in January to build relationships with unhoused individuals and people struggling with substance abuse, and connect them to services.

The coalition is choosing which issues to address based on input from the public, Weber said, including feedback from NYPD precinct council meetings and response data from 911 and 311.

In mid-April W42ST surveyed our readers , the majority of whom (79%) told us they felt there was more crime in Hell’s Kitchen today than five years ago. Of those surveyed, 51% said they had “low trust” in crime-related statistics.

“I’m optimistic that we can start making some headway, but it won’t be an immediate fix,” Weber said. “It’s going to take time, because the more closely you look at these situations, you see that a lot of them aren’t easy fixes.”

For instance, Weber said, the coalition has looked at illegal substance use that often takes place beneath sidewalk construction sheds, creating “a nexus” for illicit activity to occur.

“While NYPD and social services routinely approach this area, one of the things that came out of conversations was that the netting on the staging area provides almost a visual refuge from this activity,” Weber said.

Increasing visibility under the shed required representatives from the Department of Buildings and the Department of Transportation to work together. “It hasn’t completely remedied the problem of the illicit activity, but it’s helping tremendously,” added Weber.

The coalition’s work is already making an impression on small business owners. Tom Daly, the owner of Break Bar (9th Ave bw W35/36th St) told us he’s seen a “5-10% improvement” in overall street conditions in the past several weeks. “But there’s a lot more that could be done,” he stressed. “It’s been a lot worse, but it’s also been a lot better.”

This is “exactly the kind of strategy we need to get a strong handle on the issues facing the Garment District and Hell’s Kitchen,” said Councilman Erik Bottcher in an announcement. “In order for New York City to thrive, midtown must thrive, and this is an important step in the right direction.”

Times Square Alliance president Tom Harris said in a statement he was “thrilled” that the coalition “balances the needs of those suffering on our streets with those of residents and visitors to our neighborhood.”

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