The NYPD is restaffing the former 40th Precinct station house on East 138th Street and Alexander Avenue, where it will serve as the base for the Bronx Patrol Borough South.
The move is part of the department’s plan to split the Bronx into two patrol commands, north and south, as Commissioner Jessica Tisch announced in her State of the NYPD address in February. This split, along with adding 200 officers to the Bronx, is meant to bring additional resources to improve safety in the borough.
The 40th Precinct, which includes the South Bronx neighborhoods of Mott Haven, Port Morris and Melrose, opened a new station house at 567 East 149th St. in late 2024. Since then, the former station house has seemed mostly out of use.
Patrol Borough Bronx South will be based out of the old building, and North and South will collectively manage the 12 Bronx precincts.
The move comes as residents have expressed growing concern over safety and quality of life in the South Bronx, accusing the city of longstanding neglect and disinvestment.
It also comes as Tisch and Mayor Mamdani have touted significant decreases in major crimes throughout the city — with major crime in the Bronx down 9.4% year-to-date, representing the largest borough decrease in reported crimes. But serious concerns remain.
For one, the Bronx carries a disproportionate share of NYC homicides. CBS News reported in March that half of the city’s homicides as of early March occurred in the Bronx and that the number of homicides and shooting victims were both increased compared to the same period last year.
For the 40th Precinct, NYPD CompStat data and quality of life complaint records show an increase in 911 call volume compared to last year, as well as thousands of calls to 911 and 311 reporting disorderly behavior, drug sales, noise complaints and more.
At the 40th Precinct Community Council meeting on April 1, Inspector Scott Callahan clarified that the former station house will not be open to resident walk-ins, and they should visit the new station house on East 149th Street instead, he said.
“It doesn’t change anything day-to-day for the general public,” he said, calling it mainly an “administrative change.”
Callahan also said the split will not necessarily bring additional officers to the Bronx beyond the numbers already planned.
He said the 40th Precinct is already receiving new officers every few months, and though he said he’d gladly welcome more, “They’ve been giving us more nonstop for the last year.”
Assembly Member Chantel Jackson, who represents part of the precinct and attended the meeting, applauded the decision and said she would request even more officers for the 4-0.
Gabriel De Jesus, president of the Precinct Council, told the Bronx Times that he believes the plan will make a difference, especially in residents’ perceptions of neighborhood safety.
He said the former station house is currently undergoing rehab and should be completed by the end of April. Though it will not be equivalent to the new station house, it will make a difference for residents to see officers coming and going, he said.
De Jesus said residents are responding positively to the news.
“I think it will have a great effect” and serve as a crime deterrent, he said. “Maybe things will simmer down a little bit.”
Officers’ presence at the station house — prominently located in a bustling neighborhood across the street from the NYCHA Mitchel Houses, which was rocked by an explosion and partial building collapse last year — should help put residents, especially seniors, more at ease, De Jesus said.
It also helps that NYPD personnel who will lead Bronx Patrol South are already very familiar with the area, he added. Brian Hennessy, who formerly led the 40th Precinct as commanding officer, is among them, Callahan said during the meeting.
“He knows the area very, very well,” De Jesus said of Hennessy.
De Jesus said the end result should be an investment that residents can see and feel.
“Little by little, I think things will start shifting, as far as safety concerns,” he said. “Everything now, we’re seeing how it’s gonna work out, and maybe in a few months, it will be, like, a new story.”
Reach Emily Swanson at eswanson@schnepsmedia.com or (646) 717-0015. For more coverage, subscribe to our newsletter and follow us on Twitter, Facebook and Instagram!
