Syracuse Neighborhood Watch Has Dinner with Stephanie Miner

Eastwood St., Syracuse

Courtesy of http://www.syracuse.ny.us/Living.aspx

The coordinator of Syracuse Neighborhood Watch says he might be adding 12 neighborhoods to the already 72 neighborhoods he covers. As coordinator for the group, Jim Crosby works with Syracuse Police to make sure Syracuse neighborhoods are safe places to live.

Tonight, Syracuse Neighborhood Watch is scheduled to meet with Mayor Stephanie Miner to talk about future security measures over pizza and salad at Bellevue School.

Three times a year, the group meets for dinner to compare notes and bring in special guests. Kristen Kuhles from the U.S. Census Bureau and Steven Hopkins from the U.S. Dept. of Homeland Security came to stress the importance of completing this year's census.

Crosby says it's important for people living in Syracuse to fill out their census forms to help Syracuse Neighborhood Watch better understand the areas they cover. He also says it will help tell whether covering twelve more neighborhoods is a good idea.

"A strong push tonight will be on the importance of the census and getting people to fill their census forms out when they do get them in the mail," he said.

Crosby has been the Syracuse Neighborhood Watch coordinator for 17 years. He says the next meeting is scheduled for Thursday, March 4 at Gethsemane Church on 1700 Butternut St. at 7 p.m.