16 APRIL 20 - APRIL 26, 2018 BROOKLYN MEDIA GROUP
Bay Ridge Toyota gives to March of Dimes
BROOKLYN MEDIA GROUP/Photo by Jaime DeJesus
Jillian Giuffre and Vincent Tepedino with
the Quaglione family.
Ridge gets former resident as precinct commander
BY HELEN KLEIN
HKLEIN@BROOKLYNREPORTER.COM
For Captain Robert Conwell, the
newly arrived commanding
officer at the 68th Precinct, his
latest assignment in a long career is
akin in many ways to coming home.
A Bensonhurst native, Conwell
lived for nine years in Bay Ridge —
which, with Dyker Heights and the
Fort Hamilton area comprises the
precinct’s catchment area — before
moving a bridge away to Staten
Island.
“I’m pretty familiar with the area
and the feel of the community,” he
shared during a sit-down in his
office at the station house, 333 65th
Street. Conwell replaces Deputy Inspector
Joseph Hayward, who was
transferred to the top post at the 60th
Precinct in Coney Island on March 5.
He is delighted, Conwell said, to
have returned. “My experience so
far has been pretty enjoyable,” he
told this paper. “I’m getting to meet all
the people in the community I only
heard about when I lived here.”
He’s particularly looking forward
to the community’s expansive
calendar of street activities,
not only the
festivals that had
decades-old roots
but the events,
such as Summer
Stroll, that
are new since
his time here.
“I’m excited
about those,”
he said.
Conwell’s career
began with the
NYPD in Transit District
33 in East New York some
19 years ago, followed by
a stint in the 81st Precinct
in Bedford-Stuyvesant
as as sergeant, where,
he said, “I ran the plain clothes anti
crime team.”
His next posting was as a lieutenant
at the 23rd Precinct in East
Harlem, then an assignment as the
special operations lieutenant in the
30th Precinct in West Harlem, before
he returned to Brooklyn, where he
served as lieutenant in the 60th
Precinct.
It was there he was promoted to
captain, Conwell recalled,
noting that
he subsequently
served in
the 66th
Precinct in
Boro Park,
the 72nd
Pre c inc t
in Sunset
Park and
South Park
Slope and the
67th Precinct in
East Flatbush before
scoring his first command
here in the 68.
“Coming here,”
Conwell said, “I knew
I wouldn’t be dealing
with as much violent crime as in the
67, so I have to shift my focus to other
things — narcotics, property crimes
and quality of life complaints.
“My plans are to tackle narcotics
related issues in the precinct,”
he continued. “I believe narcotics
drive a lot of the property crime we
experience in Bay Ridge, such as burglaries,
car break-ins and auto theft. I
also intend to focus on quality-of-life
complaints — traffic, noise.”
Prior precinct commanders have
already clued him in, Conwell added.
“Deputy Inspector Hayward who he
said he’d worked with previously at
the 60 left me a good running show,”
Conwell said. “I also worked about 12
years ago with then-Lieutenant Festino
now a deputy inspector, who was
commanding officer of the 68 from
2014 to 2016 before being transferred
to head up the detective squad at
Patrol Borough Brooklyn South. I
made sure to speak with them both
and they gave me a lot of good advice
on how to run the 68.”
Conwell, who said he had lived in
an apartment on Shore Road during
his nearly a decade living in the
neighborhood, told this paper that he
“really got into running big time” at
that time. “Since then, I’ve completed
four New York City Marathons, and
I’m looking forward to starting running
on Shore Road before my shift.
He acknowledged that heading up
the precinct would give him a different
perspective on the race.
“I’ll see what’s easier,” Conwell
joked, “running it or running the
show.”
BROOKLYN MEDIA GROUP/
Photo by Helen Klein
Captain Robert
Conwell.
BY JAIME DEJESUS
JDEJESUS@BROOKLYNREPORTER.COM
Bay Ridge Toyota gives back once again, this
time to the March of Dimes.
The Chairperson of the Brooklyn Committee
of the March of Dimes John Quaglione was on
hand with his wife Kerry, and their two children
Natalie Grace and Olivia at the local dealership, 6401
Fifth Avenue, on Thursday, April 13, as they presented
a donation of $1,000 to a local March of Dimes
family team, making them an official route sponsor
for the upcoming “March for Babies” fundraising
walk in Manhattan on Sunday, April 29.
In addition, Bay Ridge Toyota General Manager
Vincent Tepedino, gave a $500 personal donation
to Quaglione's team.
Quaglione's oldest daughter Natalie Grace, now
six, was born at just four pounds, two ounces at 32
weeks. His youngest, Olivia was born nearly fullterm
due to research conducted in a March of Dimes
laboratory.
The local parent discussed the significance of the
cause and the Manhattan March for Babies.
"This is out sixth year doing it," he said. "Natalie
Grace is going to be seven-years-old. I said to her
when she was six months old that I want to do that
next year. So we’ve done it every year since."
Quaglione, who named his group Team Natalie
Grace, also discussed how pleased he is that Bay
Ridge Toyota's outreach program, Building a Better
Brooklyn, is stepping up to the place.
"Toyota has stepped up to be a sponsor which is
the first time I’ve been able to get one of those for
the event," he added. "We’ve always had individual,
personal donations. Now we are glad to have a corporate
one. They are very in tune with donating and
supporting fundraising efforts for health causes
and I'm sure other things but kudos to you guys. We
really appreciate it."
Tepedino was happy to help out.
"We’re glad to be involved with you and March of
Dimes and being a proud sponsor," he told Quaglione,
adding that the team at Toyota is also hoping to walk
with the Bay Ridge family.
"We picked March of Dimes because Mr. Quaglione
is in Bay Ridge and it means a lot to his family so we
wanted to make other people learn to help others
around them, especially in Brooklyn," said Jillian
Giuffre, community outreach director for Building
a Better Brooklyn.
Quaglione continues to do his part for the March
of Dimes.
"I met another family from Dyker Heights this year
and they had twins, one didn't make it so she joined
my team with her sister," he said. "We’re almost at
$10,000 from our team which is the most we’ve ever
done in one year. $8,700."
He also stated that in New York, one in nine babies
are born premature. "It’s a high for the national
average and we are pretty high in the country in
premature births," he said.
The walk, he said, will start at Lincoln center and
walk into Central Park and then out to Lexington.
link
link