At the start of the year, Fordham Road’s Business Improvement District (BID) installed five patrol ambassadors — each licensed New York state security guards — to patrol the Bronx’s busiest shopping corridor amid crime concerns from merchants and pedestrians.
The program, which is funded by the BID and was slated to run through February, found some external backers, including Verizon, who donated $50,000 to not only keep the program going, but also expand patrolling hours, Fordham BID officials told the Bronx Times.
Verizon operates a physical storefront on East Fordham Road.
The financial investment extends patrolling from 2-6 p.m. to 12-6 p.m on Wednesdays through Saturdays for a 300-plus store shopping district that is averaging a pedestrian count of 80,000 daily.
Additionally, according to Albert Dalipli, Fordham Road BID’s director of marketing, other partnerships — such as collaborations with nonprofits Getting Out and Staying Out (GOSO) and Greyston Foundation — have allowed the program to include transitional employment and workforce development.
“Through these partnerships, our experienced team of Patrol Ambassadors are mentoring and supervising a rotating group of apprentices for a 10-week period,” said Dalipi. “These apprentices are individuals from the local community that have recently completed their security guard training and are looking for jobs. Through this model we are able to provide valuable job training, job placement support, and a pathway to employment for individuals in the community that have barriers to employment.”
Four of the five original patrol ambassadors were previously out of work before the program kicked off, with the security position paying them $18 an hour.
Dalipi said the program is hoping to also train the team to provide homelessness outreach services in the district, through a partnership with Part of the Solution (POTS).
The neighborhoods of Fordham and University Heights live in poverty, and businesses have told the Bronx Times that theft and high rents make life on Fordham Road a challenge for the commercial district’s smaller businesses.
Fordham’s apparel and electronic stores have bore the brunt of shoplifting and theft, with many store owners and managers feeling under-resourced to combat such activity.
After hearing a volume of qualitative concerns from Fordham Road businesses and patrons before the program started, the patrol ambassador team has resolved 37 311 complaints since its implementation, according to BID officials.
Those complaints include 15 regarding illegal dumping; seven regarding potholes, lamp posts, signage and damaged sidewalks; six for damaged trees; six for safety issues such as panhandling, noise, illegal parking, illegal gambling and counterfeit goods; and three complaints over homelessness.
A June year-over-year analysis of crime in the 46th Precinct, which includes Fordham Road, shows a drop in all major crime categories except grand larceny auto. Notably, robberies and burglaries are down significantly from 2022.
