LONG ISLAND CITY — The new year brought a new leader to the 108th Precinct.
Capt. Ralph Forgione, a Queens native who's been on the force for 27 years, took over the command of the precinct — which includes Long Island City, Woodside and Sunnyside — at the start of the month.
He takes over for Deputy Inspector John Travaglia, who left to take a post at NYPD's Internal Affairs after two years in charge at the 108th Precinct, just as most crimes in the area were on a decline.
While there were three murders in 2016 compared to just two in 2015, the precinct saw major crime decrease overall by more than 4 percent last year from the year before, according to NYPD statistics for the year ending Dec. 25.
Though grand larcenies were up 17 percent in the precinct in 2016, burglaries dropped 27 percent, car thefts dipped by 20 percent, felony assaults were down by 13 percent, and rapes and robberies both decreased by more than 15 percent compared to the same period in 2015, statistics show.
"He had an unbelievable year," Forgione said of his predecessor. "Hopefully I can keep that momentum."
Though this is his first stint as a commanding officer, Forgione has served at a number of precincts in Queens for several years, with his last position being second-in-command at the 114th Precinct in Astoria.
Before that, he worked at the 111th Precinct in Bayside, the 110th Precinct in Elmhurst for three years and the 112th Precinct in Forest Hills for two years before that, he said.
"My main concern is dealing with the community's needs," he said.
Forgione says he wants to have a personal rapport with the people he serves.
"I always say, treat people the way you want to be treated," he said. "If we work good as a team, we will be successful."
