Dear Neighbors,

Wednesday night, an Amazon delivery driver was carjacked on the 2100 block of Lincoln Park West. The driver and his fiancee had her two children in the back seat. Thankfully, the carjackers quickly abandoned the car. Police arrived within minutes, found the car and returned the children to their parents. But no one should have to endure a carjacking.

Unfortunately, this incident brings our ward to a total number of carjackings equal to those in early 2021--five. There had been a decrease of carjackings and robberies through the first three months of 2022, following a spate of both in November and December of 2021 that shook our community.The incident Wednesday night is a frightening example of the continued risk of vehicular hijackings throughout Chicago.

What We Are Doing

1) Support the Police and Get Resources

We have already spent approximately $450,000 dollars of my aldermanic menu fund for cameras that are placed in strategic locations at the discretion of the police.

We are also grateful that our State Senator, Sara Feigenholtz, has recently secured a $1.5 million State appropriation for cameras and other equipment for the 18th and 19th Districts. We are pushing to get that money released ASAP so we can install many more cameras in our area. 

In the coming days, you should see officers on bikes patrolling our business corridors and arterial streets. Many of the police resources dedicated to our community in November and December have remained in place including missions to stop crews of hijackers, deployment of unmarked police cars, and beat integrity.

2) Demand Accountability

We are demanding that Amazon and other delivery providers put safety protocols in place for their drivers to make them harder for criminals to target. Car thefts and carjacking of delivery cars are a major part of the problem. 

3) Continue Community Outreach

My office has a robust community outreach program that updates, involves, and activates neighbors in our ward. Our Public Safety Community Board, composed of representatives from each of our community groups, meets and shares ideas every month.

We encourage you to join your local neighborhood organization and get involved in some of the work they are doing to keep Lincoln Park and the Gold Coast safe, including "Coffee with a Cop" events, positive loitering in our local parks, safety webinars and trainings.

We are reactivating our safety walks which engaged hundreds of neighbors in November and December and received news coverage. Stay tuned as we will announce dates in the coming days.

4) Advocate for Stricter Prosecution and Sentencing

Since December, we have printed and distributed more than 1000 postcards addressed to the Mayor, Chief Judge, and Cook County States Attorney demanding justice for the victims of crime in our city.

Our office actively follows cases in courts along with the the Court Advocates to provide support to victims and advocating that criminals be sentenced justly.

Current State of Public Safety in the 43rd Ward

Here are our Ward's statistics for robberies. A robbery is a broad sector of crime that includes strong arm (no weapon), armed with a knife, gun, or other weapon, as well as vehicular hijackings. In 2022, so far, we have had nine reported robberies. These are the crimes that we are most commonly contacted about and concern neighbors the most.

The chart compares robberies in our community from the first of January to the 21st of April for each year since 2019.

This is progress - more needs to be made. We will keep you updated.

Community Meeting for 2222 North Halsted Street

Zoning Change

Monday, April 25th, 2022

6:30 p.m.

Register here.

Please join our office and the Sheffield Neighborhood Association for a virtual meeting to discuss a temporary rezoning for the property at 2222 N Halsted. If approved, the existing historic brick building will be renovated rather than demolished. The building is "orange-rated;" not a landmark but with historic features.

The subject property is zoned RT-4 and is occupied by a three-story, three-unit rental building. To modernize the units, the owner originally sought to demolish the building. Rather than lose the building, we are considering allowing the owner to follow the more expensive path of renovating the building and adding some compensating extra square footage.

The owner seeks a rezoning of the existing property from RT-4 to RM-5 to move forward with renovations and a partial 4th-floor and rear addition, while

preserving the historic facade and sidewalls of the building.

The owner has agreed to reverting the zoning back to RT-4, once all necessary building and occupancy permits and certifications have been issued and obtained.

Please see some Zoom notes below:

1. After having registered for the webinar, you will receive an email with the link to access the zoom meeting within an hour of the start of the scheduled community meeting.
2. Please log in to zoom and access the meeting between 10-15 minutes prior to the official start time, so that there is enough time to troubleshoot any technical problems and become familiar with its features.
3. Once you access the meeting, you will be directed to a waiting room, until the Host approves you to join the meeting. The meeting is open to anyone who wishes to attend, but for security reasons, we will only approve attendees who have previously registered and have provided real names. You may not attend the meeting as an anonymous person.

Block Party Applications Now Open!

2022 block party season is officially upon us and we encourage you to submit your applications to our office for your annual block parties.

In keeping with last year's COVID-19 protocols, you will still have to have a volunteer designated as the COVID Captain to enforce safety protocols. All applications can be sent to yourvoice@ward43.org and the application can be found here.

This summer will also see the return of the Jumping Jack program which is particularly popular for blocks with young children. This is a bounce house provided free of charge to block parties throughout the City. These requests are filled on a first come first serve basis and you can apply here.

Gold Coast Neighbors Association Earth Day Clean-Up

Saturday, April 23rd, 2022

9 a.m. - 12 p.m.

North Avenue and Dearborn Parkway

Register here.

Sign up to join the Gold Coast Neighbors Association Team and be a part of Earth Day 2022 on Saturday, April 23. Join other members of our Gold Coast community by helping to clean up one of Chicago's most popular parks, Lincoln Park. Team GCNA will be restoring the park's beauty by picking up trash and cleaning up the recreation areas. Our local effort is sponsored by the Friends of the Parks, in partnership with the Chicago Park District and the Forest Preserves of Cook County.

Friends of the Parks will supply the gloves and plastic bags that will be used. Team members do not need to bring any supplies. However, it is recommended that team members bring their own water in recyclable bottles.

For general questions, please email info@goldcoastneighbors.org or call 773-510-7327.

Happy 25th Anniversary to aliveOne!

Local institution aliveOne is celebrating its 25th year in business with a series of concerts and live music performances at the bar.

They are located at 2683 N Halsted and will feature performances from Hartliss Bastards and Gonzo Squad as well as an official 25th-anniversary party on the 6th of May!

More information can be found here. Congrats aliveOne!

See you at the Shred Event,