Heights of scrutiny
BIG BROTHER has his eye on Washington Heights. And residents there may be happy to be watched.
Members of Community Board 12 hope to lobby state lawmakers to enact a tax credit that would encourage landlords to install surveillance cameras in and around their buildings.
“Cameras act as a deterrent,” said Richard Lewis, the board’s Housing and Human Services Committee chairman, who is pushing the idea. “No one wants to be caught on camera.”
Lewis was following the example of Borough Park, Brooklyn, where 8-year-old Lieby Kletzky was abducted and killed in chilling fashion in 2011. Lawmakers there netted $1 million in state revenue in 2012, and hired a private firm last year to install more than 100 cameras.
Not so fast, warns New York Civil Liberties Union chief Donna Lieberman, who says that all those cameras can lead to an infringement of privacy.
The group studied the cameras’ surge in 2006, and concluded there was insufficient oversight of cameras, and little regard for residents’ rights to privacy.
“We advocate for thoughtful government measures, not knee-jerk measures without privacy safeguards,” said Lieberman, whose organization loudly criticized the effort in Borough Park.
Lewis, however, says safety trumps privacy, and the state has an interest in promoting it.
The committee began pondering the idea in November, when landlord Stephen Shapiro reported he was forced to install cameras in the 46-unit building he owns on Audubon Ave., near W. 193rd St.
Shapiro suggested that the board lobby the city and state for a tax credit, to incentivize more landlords to get cameras.
Lewis argues cameras are needed to combat quality-of-life issues, especially drug dealing, in Washington Heights.
The 33rd Precinct, one of two that cover Washington Heights, reported 921 violent crimes last year, up from 897 in 2012. Included in those incidents were 201 robberies and two murders.
Police have already said cameras were helpful in solving crimes and discouraging criminal activity. In the 32nd Precinct, which covers Harlem, cops recently began pressing merchants to install street surveillance cameras outside their stores.
Lewis hopes the full board will elect to take up the matter with lawmakers.
State Sen. Adriano Espaillat (D-Washington Heights) and Assemblywoman Gabriela Rosa (D-Washington Heights) said they would have to review the proposal, which would allow landlords to claim a one-time tax credit of up to $3,000 to cover the cameras’ installation and maintenance.
jransom@nydailynews.com