Leslie Lewis, Beloved Police Liaison for BK Heights, DUMBO and Boerum Hill, Dead at 89

BOERUM HILL, BROOKLYN — For as long as almost anyone in the Brooklyn Heights/DUMBO/Boerum Hill area can remember — nearly a quarter century, if we're being precise — Leslie Lewis, a slight man with a ring of fluffy white hair and a smile that overtakes his entire face, has served, free of pay, as community council president of the 84th Precinct of the New York City Police Department (NYPD) — aka, head liaison between 84th Precinct officers and the community they protect and police.

For roughly that same stretch of time, Lewis, a Boerum Hill resident, has also served as public safety liaison at Brooklyn Borough Hall.

He has been referred to as "something of a landmark" within the 84th Precinct.

Lewis passed away Thursday at 89 years old from complications arising from chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD), his son Marc said on Facebook.

"If you are a smoker or you have loved ones who smoke i encourage you to advise them of their possible future suffering," Marc wrote. "Leslie enjoyed a full life and spent the last thirty years trying to redeem himself for his admitted short comings."

On his 88th birthday, 84th Precinct officers reportedly surprised Lewis with his favorite dessert: a lemon meringue pie.

“We all have a journey here in life and mine has been a lucky one,” Lewis said at the birthday party, according to the Brooklyn Daily Eagle. “To know people like you, to know some of the people on my block, who have walked my dog, there are a lot of nice people, and I thank you all for that.”

In a statement issued Thursday afternoon, Brooklyn Borough President Eric Adams remembered Lewis for his "gregarious personality" and "indefatigable spirit."

“Long before advancing community-police relations was a citywide and nationwide focus, Leslie Lewis was standing on our borough’s street corners side-by-side with New York’s Finest," Adams said, "and helping to make Brooklyn a safer and more harmonious place to raise healthy children and families."

The borough president continued:

"For many years, this World War II veteran has volunteered his time both as president of the 84th Precinct Community Council and as a public safety liaison for Brooklyn Borough Hall. In those roles, thousands of Brooklynites have gotten to know him, gaining an appreciation for his gregarious personality and his indefatigable spirit. As someone who has also enjoyed the privilege of standing at the nexus of community and police, I know how deeply Brooklyn will miss Leslie Lewis and I join with my neighbors in mourning his passing.”

In a thoughtful 2014 op-ed for the Brooklyn Heights Press, Lewis wrote that "the most important element in voicing conclusions about a violent incident between police and a perceived law-breaking incident is to know the facts after a complete investigation, including medical."

"In my experience," he wrote, "a conclusion voiced too fast without all the facts known is seldom accurate."

Speaking by phone after news of Lewis' death broke, and asked for his reaction, an officer at the 84th Precinct said he'd barely processed the reality of Lewis being gone. "He's been here forever," the officer said in disbelief. "When we're ready, we'll start making statements."

Lewis grew up in the Bronx and headed straight to Europe at age 18 to serve in the army as a military journalist, according to a recent profile in the Daily Eagle.

He eventually made his way back to New York City, the Eagle reported, and made the move from Manhattan to Brooklyn in the early '80s after he and his wife Miriam "were evicted from their Manhattan apartment following fights with neighbors over Miriam’s fondness for feeding local stray cats."

More from the Eagle:

A little less than 20 years ago, Leslie Lewis was standing with a police sergeant on the corner of Wyckoff and Bond streets in Brooklyn when a young woman approached them. She mentioned that she was thinking about moving to the area and asked how safe it was.

The sergeant told the woman that it was absolutely safe. As she walked away, Lewis recalls, the sergeant turned to him and said, “You know something, Leslie, if it wasn't for you and me, we couldn't have told the truth and said that."

"To those who he touched we thank you for your kind wishes," his son Marc wrote online Thursday. "Somewhere he will be telling bad jokes and trying to help the elderly. RIP and 'straight ahead' Dad you will be missed."

Lead photo courtesy of the NYPD