Just in case you were wondering about the spike in activity and parked vehicles near the circle as you are approaching The City Island Bridge, it turns out that over a dozen NYC Council members were there after they accepted NYPD Commissioner Raymond Kelly's invitation to visit the Rodman's Neck firing range.
You may have also heard the loud noises as they used police firearms and were thrown into simulated training exercises patterned after real-life encounters with criminals. The police commissioner, along with officers trained NYC council members on using firearms in simulated situations designed to give these city council members an understanding of police activity. Kelly had invited all 51 members shortly after a bill was introduced in the state lefislature requiring cops to shoot to wound, not kill.
Now that their training has taken place, the question is what was gained from this? Stay tuned, we'll let you know as soon as we find out.
Rodman's Neck is named after Samuel Rodman. It was originally named Anne's Hoeck after Anne Hutchinson, who was killed in a Native American massacre at nearby Split Rock. The southern tip, known as Pell's Point, is where the British landed during the Revolutionary War Battle of Pell's Point.
Although residents of City Island have complained for years about the noise that comes from the gun firing, and detonation of weapons at Rodman's Neck, as they have a tendency to shake City Island and the houses on it. This issue has been addressed many times, but it was determined by city officials that there is no solution to the noise problem, as there's no other venue for the NYPD range to be located.