Crime on the rise?

David Goldsmith

All Powerful Moderator
Staff member

Wall Street Firms Tell Employees To "Dress Down" As Violent Crime Rages

As New York City political elites brag about their "urban utopia," reality shows it's nothing like that. Rather a dystopia as defunding the police and other progressive policies have resulted in a surge of violent crime. The city saw its most significant year-over-year increase in shootings and homicides in more than half a century between 2019 and 2020. Violent crime continues to plague the city today, as top Wall Street firms tell their employees to "dress down" to avoid being targeted.

Outgoing Mayor Bill de Blasio's progressive policies doomed the city as successor, Mayor-elect Eric Adams, a former police officer and Brooklyn Borough President, is expected to deal with soaring violent crime.

At the Bank of America Tower in Midtown Manhattan, senior executives have told employees to "dress down" to avoid being targeted by thieves, according to NYPost, who quoted one bank employee who spoke with On The Money. Execs told employees to avoid wearing the bank's insignia on clothing as they commute to work.
Employees have been extra cautious about potential attacks after someone recently spotted a man wielding a knife near the office building. Bank of America is not the only financial firm in Midtown and Lower Manhattan to advise employees about surging crime and how they need to take precautions to avoid becoming a victim.
Citibank has offered employees private shuttles to avoid public transportation as violent crime becomes a significant problem. The city reported a 15% increase in felony assaults in November, compared with the same period last year.

Another Wall Street source told On The Money the fear of being targeted on the commute home has "been a topic of conversation on the floor frequently over the last few months."
"Some people I work with have been accosted … I'd say it's becoming frequent, if not common," the source said. "There's probably a dozen incidents that I saw, or have been involved in," the person said — mostly verbal, but some physical, the person said.
According to Kastle Systems today, whose electronic access systems secure office buildings in the metro area, only 28% of NYC employees are back in the office compared with 35% last month. The decline is due to the spread of the new COVID-19 variant.


Rising violent crime in the metro area could be the golden opportunity for some employees who've returned to the office but want to return to remote working status. Their excuse is that commuting to work is a life-or-death situation.
It's not just Wall Street bankers frightened about being targeted. College students are on alert after a Columbia University student was stabbed to death on Thursday.

NYC is becoming a liberal hellhole where violent crime will only worsen under progressive policies. For bankers who want to dress down, try incorporating the 'homeless' clothing line sold by elite clothing brands (Gucci makes $900 pair of sneakers that look like someone pulled them out of a garbage can).
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David Goldsmith

All Powerful Moderator
Staff member

Deli worker shot, killed during attempted robbery in Brooklyn​

A deli worker was shot and killed during an attempted robbery in Brooklyn.

The incident was reported Tuesday night inside 803 Flatbush Ave. around 7:30 p.m.

Police say the victim was a 20-year-old man who was pronounced dead at the scene.

They say a person of interest is being questioned at this time.

Additionally, authorities say four police officers were involved in an accident on Church Avenue and Flatbush Avenue.

It's unknown if they were responding to the scene or trying to take the person of interest into custody.

The four officers suffered minor injuries and were taken to a nearby hospital.
 

David Goldsmith

All Powerful Moderator
Staff member

Display window at trendy Herald Square shop smashed, clothing swiped from mannequins​


Smashed-in window of Superdry.
Shattered glass and a mannequin seen on the sidewalk in front of the smashed-in window of Superdry.G.N. Miller
Someone smashed into a display window at a trendy Herald Square store Sunday and made off with the mannequins’ clothes, leaving one plastic dummy on the sidewalk — and some tourists thinking they were stumbling on an actual dead body.
“I took an early walk with my mom, and we saw this broken window with all these police around, and we got all excited because you’ve got the NYPD investigating a break-in on one side of the street, and you’ve got the Empire State Building on the other side of the street, and how New York is that?” said Houston tourist Jennie Barios near the burglarized Superdry at 21 W. 34th St. across from Macy’s flagship store in Manhattan.

“Then my mom was like, ‘Holy s–t, there’s a body on the sidewalk!’ And I had to calm her down, I was like, ‘Mom, it’s just a mannequin.’ ”
A store worker said that whoever committed the crime probably got away with between $1,000 and $2,000 worth of clothing because the four mannequins displayed in the window were so heavily dressed in winter garb.
“Someone broke in and stole all the clothes off the mannequins — just the mannequins,” said the male store employee, who asked to remain anonymous because he wasn’t authorized to talk about the 5:51 a.m. incident.
Cop in front of smashed window. The window was smashed at 5:51 a.m.G.N. Miller

“They broke the window into the store, but they couldn’t get inside, just into the window display,” he said. “So they just took the stuff off the mannequins and ran.

“I was like, ‘Oh my God. Someone must have been late getting Christmas presents.’ Pretty desperate.”
The worker said he was informed of the theft in a work group chat when he woke up.
Photos show shattered glass strewn across the sidewalk in front of the smashed-in window and the mannequin sprawled like a crime victim next to it.
It was not immediately clear if anything had been stolen from the window display.G.N. Miller
Cops can be seen in one snapshot up-righting the mannequin, which was wearing a plaid skirt, yoke sweater, coat and sneakers.
Police said they are investigating the incident.
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David Goldsmith

All Powerful Moderator
Staff member
https://abc7ny.com/
MAN SHOT DURING ATTEMPTED CARJACKING IN QUEENS

A 51-year-old man was shot during an apparent attempted carjacking in Queens Monday night.

The incident happened on 72nd Road in Forest Hills, where police say the victim was shot around 9:30 p.m. after two men had demanded his car.

"My neighbor said, 'Please call 911, my husband has been shot," neighbor Gary Waldinger said. "They have two kids, and they were there. I can't even imagine how they are processing it."


Waldinger and his wife say they heard a loud pop -- loud enough that they knew something was wrong.

But the is not a neighborhood prone to violent crime, so they ran to their window.

"We're all sitting home, the family's in bed, getting ready for the next day, and then boom, and your whole life can change," neighbor Susan Mental said. "I just hope he's OK. I just hope he's OK."

Police say the two suspects were wearing gray hooded sweatshirts and had pointed their guns at the victim, who refused to give them his car.

He was shot in the wrist and grazed in the chest and was said to be conscious and alert as he was taken to Jamaica Hospital.

Neighbors say the family had just returned from a holiday vacation.

No arrests have been made, and the investigation is ongoing.
 

David Goldsmith

All Powerful Moderator
Staff member
Dear Mayor Adams,
Would you like to walk back your statement that it's only the perception of crime?

MTA officials address alarming rise in crime, promise more uniformed officers on platforms​


MTA addresses alarming rise in crime, promise more officers in system
The MTA held one of its regular monthly meetings Monday and crime was one of the top topics of discussion.
According to the data that was presented, there were 461 felony assaults in the subway system last year, the highest number since 1997.
Total major felonies in the subway were up 63% in December, driving the 2021 crime statistics up 1.1%.
"They're feeling unsafe. Our riders are feeling unsafe," said MTA Chairman and CEO Janno Lieber.

That sentiment is without question. Sunday, a 61-year-old man survived being pushed onto tracks at the Fulton Street station in lower Manhattan.
But sadly, Michelle Go didn't - after being shoved in front of a train at the Times Square station by a man dealing with mental health issues.
"The city is also still reeling from the loss of Michelle Alyssa Go," said Lieber.
An MTA official says the subway system was on track to finish down in major index crimes in 2021, until December.
Lieber went on to emphasize the urgency of things the agency can implement now to make the subways safer, as he introduced the newly appointed NYPD Transit Chief, Jason Wilcox.
"It's critical to the future of our city. We have to allow people to get back to normal lives," said Lieber. "And if they're scared to travel on mass transit, they can't. It's that simple."
Wilcox says riders will see uniformed train patrols be on the platform and on the trains 24/7.
"We want the riders, the New Yorkers, the people who come here, work here go to school here to see our officers and feel safer," said Wilcox.
And beginning this week, a team of mental health professionals deployed by Governor Hochul will go into the system as well.
"We know where a lot of these chronically homeless who are experiencing mental health issues are, we just need to keep creating a system that, first of all, gets them off the platforms and off the trains," said Lieber.
 

David Goldsmith

All Powerful Moderator
Staff member
Yo this dude is,
Michael Rapaport films alleged shoplifter boldly robbing an NYC Rite Aid


New York actor and comedian Michael Rapaport flipped out in a Tuesday social media post that shows an alleged shoplifter brazenly walking out of a Manhattan Rite Aid.
“I can’t believe I’m seeing this s—t,” the “I Am Rapaport” podcaster is heard saying over the video.

“This f—king guy just filled his two bags up with everything in Rite Aid, right here on 80th [Street] and First Avenue is walking down the street like s–t is Gucci. I was watching him the whole time.”
The purported thief is carrying bags as he strolls by a security guard and out onto the street.

“Looking me in my face like ‘What’s good?,’” Rapaport claims. “My man just went Christmas shopping in January. He had the condoms, the shampoo.”

The actor repeated the Christmas shopping comment and tagged Mayor Eric Adams’ account in a caption for the video, which had more than 132,000 views by Tuesday night.
“Duke just went CHRISTMAS SHOPPING at @riteaid,” Rapaport wrote. “I’m TRIPPING this happened in broad day like it was nothing.”

Rapaport’s video depicts a man carrying bags as he strolls through the store before walking out onto the street.Michael Rapaport/Twitter
The store location is set to close Feb. 15 “because of this, leaving workers JOBLESS,” the actor claimed in the caption.
“@ericadamsfornyc YO,” he concluded.

“Saved by the Bell” actor Mario Lopez was among the many commenters, saying, “Dude looked up at Security and said… ‘Sup?’”
An NYPD spokesperson said there was no report on file for the incident as of Tuesday night. A Rite Aid spokesperson didn’t immediately respond to an email from The Post.
Rapaport tagged Eric Adams in the caption of the video he posted on social media.Getty Images
The video is the latest making the rounds on social media that show purported shoplifters making bold thefts at retail and grocery stores that critics blame on soft approaches to prosecutions that have emboldened people to commit low-level crimes.
Reported store losses are on the rise, with $719,458 in losses per $1 billion in sales in 2020, according to the National Retail Federation.
 

David Goldsmith

All Powerful Moderator
Staff member

First month of 2022 shows astonishing 38.5% rise in New York City crime compared to last year​

Crime rates rose by a huge amount during the first month of the New Year, according to NYPD statistics.

Overall, crime in New York City saw a 38.5% increase with 9,566 reported crimes compared to January 2021, which had 6,905 reported crimes. According to the statistics, every major crime saw an increase this past January, with the exception of murder, which fell 15.2% with 28 reported crimes compared to 33 in 2021.

Over the course of January, robberies increased from 940 in 2021 to 1,251, (a 33.1% increase), and grand larceny rose from 2,559 crimes in 2021 to 4,047 (58.1% increase). Felony assaults rose 12.3%, rising from 1,546 in 2021 to 1,736 in 2022, and burglaries also rose 7.5% percent (1,189 in 2022 compared to 1,106 in 2021). Auto thefts saw a huge rise last month with 1,187 reported crimes — compared to 620 in 2021, this marks a 91.5% increase year over year.

The number of rape crimes reported increased 26.7% with 128 incidents reported compared to 101 in 2021, but the NYPD acknowledged that rape continues to be underreported.

In terms of hate crimes, New York City saw minimal change in all but one area: the number of anti-Semitic hate crimes rose an astonishing 275%, with 15 reported crimes in January 2022 compared to 4 in January 2021.

Citywide shooting incidents increased by 31.6% in January 2022 compared with the same period last year, rising from 76 in 2021 to 100 last month. Despite the increases, the NYPD continues to work toward its mission to reduce crime and fight the rising amount of gun violence in New York City.

“The NYPD will forever work to ensure public safety and will never give up this city,” said Police Commissioner Keechant Sewell. “This is our solemn vow to New Yorkers and to New York City. It remains critical that all partners come to the table in this shared mission to combat gun violence. It is the purpose-driven work that allows NYPD officers to honor the lives of their two recently murdered colleagues, First Grade Detectives Jason Rivera and Wilbert Mora. We will never forget the light they shined for us and we will never relinquish our privileged duty as society’s guardian.”
 

David Goldsmith

All Powerful Moderator
Staff member
Security stopped him a said he couldn't take the basket. So he stole a street cleaner's bag.

Where’s the beef? Video shows man stealing 10 steaks from NYC Trader Joe’s​

Man steals steaks from Trader Joe's in East Village
Holy cow!
A man was caught on Post video allegedly brazenly swiping about a dozen steaks from a Manhattan Trader Joe’s on Tuesday morning.

The suspect — now wanted by cops — was at the grocery store’s East 14th Street location around 8:30 a.m. when he was caught on footage strolling out the door with 10 packages of meat piled up in his arms.
Two helpless Trader Joe’s staffers had followed the man up an escalator leading to the store’s exit but only stopped him from taking a shopping basket outside — not the meat, the video shows.

“They basically just tell us not to do anything, just let them go,” a Trader Joe’s worker, who spoke on the condition of anonymity, later explained to The Post.
“We get in trouble if we do anything … It don’t bother me, I’ve been working here for two years, I see it happen every day. After a while, you just don’t care.”
A man was captured on video stealing ten packages of steak from a Trader Joe’s in East Village. A man was captured on video stealing 10 packages of steak from a Trader Joe’s in East Village.Steven Hirsch The suspect claimed he was homeless and hungry to eat the raw steak packages. The suspect claimed he was homeless and hungry.Steven Hirsch

Trader Joe’s did not respond to a request for comment from The Post.
Police were called to the grocery store, and the incident is under investigation by the NYPD’s robbery squad, law enforcement sources said.

Earlier this month, steak and fish retailers told The Post that shoplifters have been stealing pricey grocery items from their shops and reselling them to unscrupulous bodegas in other parts of the city, forcing them to jack up their prices or opt out of selling the gourmet items altogether.
Police arrived at the East Village Trader Joe’s after the alleged robber left with the stolen meat. Police arrived at the East Village Trader Joe’s after the alleged robber left with the stolen meat.Steven Hirsch
Retail theft complaints citywide have jumped 36 percent from 2020 to 2021, the NYPD has said.
As for Tuesday’s incident, a Post photographer questioned the suspect about what he was doing, and the man initially said he’d paid for the items but then claimed that he was homeless and had stolen the food to eat, the video shows.
“I’m gonna eat it,” the man says in the video. “I’m f–king hungry.”
A Trader Joe’s employee only stopped the alleged robber to take the basket. A Trader Joe’s employee only stopped the alleged robber to take the basket.Steven Hirsch

As the man walked away from the Trader Joe’s with the cumbersome booty in tow, he had difficulty holding on to the packages and at one point threw them into a large, black garbage bag that was already in use by a street sweeper, the video shows.
“My man! My man! What the f–k you doing? Give my bags back!” the street sweeper said as he chased after the man.
The suspect claimed to the worker that he’d replace the bag he swiped, but the street sweeper shot back, “I don’t give a damn!” and the man was forced to unload the meat and took off before cops arrived.
A Trader Joe’s employee stated they are directed to let go suspicious robbers. A Trader Joe’s employee stated they are directed to let suspected thieves go.
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David Goldsmith

All Powerful Moderator
Staff member

"Yet another Asian woman:" 35-year-old fatally stabbed in Chinatown apartment​

A 35-year-old Asian woman was fatally stabbed inside of her apartment at 111 Chrystie Street in Chinatown on Sunday morning, authorities said.
According to the NYPD, police responded to a 911 called about a disturbance just before 4:30 a.m., but when officers arrived they encountered the suspect barricaded inside and could not gain access until the Emergency Service Unit arrived.
The police said that the woman was found in the bathroom with trauma and was pronounced dead on the scene. On Sunday night police identified the woman as Christina Yuna Lee. The suspect was taken into custody.
The investigation is ongoing, police said, including whether the incident will be categorized as a hate crime.
The NY Post reported that surveillance footage showed the suspect "trailing" Lee and following her into the building. The building owner, who provided the footage, told them, "She got out of a cab right here and he followed her. He grabbed the front door just before it closed. He followed her all the way up, hanging back, staying one floor behind her all the way up to the sixth floor. Then, he waited until her door was just about closed and he went in.”
Governor Kathy Hochul, Mayor Eric Adams, and other local officials denounced the attack.

In a tweet, Adams called the incident "the definition of horrific," and in a statement he released on Sunday, said New Yorkers were mourning the woman and would "stand with our Asian brothers and sisters." He added that even though the suspect is in custody, "the conditions that created him remain."
At a press conference held on Sunday afternoon at nearby Sara D. Roosevelt Park, Assemblywoman Yuh-Line Niou said, "This is so gruesome and so horrible and so cruel. Our communities deserve answers and we haven’t been given any. It is time to acknowledge that we exist and that the mental health crisis that is leading to an uptick in violent assaults is a problem and support our community for a change.”
State Senator John Liu was also in attendance, and called for change: "Now, maybe this is a hate crime. Maybe this is not a hate crime. But it’s yet another Asian woman... and the city continues to seemingly talk about long-term solutions without providing the relief that the community needs and demands right now."
On Monday at 10:30 a.m., community members plan to hold a rally at a park across from the victim's apartment, where they will speak out against violent crimes against Asian American New Yorkers. In a press release organizers say they will be joined by civic leaders, NYC officials, and members of the NYPD, who will speak at the event.
 

David Goldsmith

All Powerful Moderator
Staff member
Retail Theft Rises, and N.Y.C. Small Business Owners Are Paying the Price
In New York City, neighborhood stores are struggling to confront the crimes that have cascaded from the disruptions of the pandemic.

Someone shattered the front door overnight and ripped out the cash drawer. The new security gates cost $2,300. The streets became quieter after four neighboring businesses closed permanently during the pandemic, emboldening shoplifters. Two security guards quit.
For Deborah Koenigsberger, who has worked in retail for three decades, keeping her two clothing stores open in Manhattan’s Flatiron neighborhood has never felt so exhausting.
“As small businesses, we are getting creamed right now in so many ways,” Ms. Koenigsberger said. “I might as well leave my store door open and say, ‘Help yourselves.’”
Her shops are among businesses in New York City grappling with a rise in crimes that has cascaded from the disruptions of the last two years. The pandemic exacerbated job losses, mental illness and drug abuse, which law enforcement officials and business owners say has contributed to increasingly brazen behavior from people walking into neighborhood stores, from shoplifting to assaults.

The debate over the underlying causes has also focused on New York’s bail laws, on a police force distracted by a spike in shootings and on online marketplaces where organized retail crews can easily sell stolen goods.
As the city emerges from the public health crisis, officials say a sense of safety is critical to its economic recovery.
Last year, complaints of retail theft were about 16 percent higher than in 2019, according to the New York Police Department. But arrest rates have dropped, with about 28 percent of the complaints resulting in arrests last year, compared with 48.5 percent in 2019.
An index of major crimes, including murders and felony assaults, was up 7.5 percent in the same period, but still lower last year than in 2015.

Though New York remains one of the safest large cities in America, a poll released this month by Quinnipiac University found that 74 percent of its voters believe crime is a “very serious” problem.

Safety worries could influence the willingness of commuters to go to work, whether that workplace is an investment bank or a bodega. Some small businesses are closing earlier at night because workers are afraid to stay late.

The effort to find a solution has led to a contentious debate about how much policing and incarceration should be part of the answer. In interviews, some workers said they were reluctant to even call the police, fearing retaliation from the offender or believing there is not much the police can do to stop the problem.

The city’s new mayor, Eric Adams, is lobbying to toughen the state’s bail laws, which were amended in 2019, allowing more people who had been arrested to remain free while their cases were pending. Law enforcement officials blame the changes for making it harder to keep certain defendants, like serial shoplifters, detained after an arrest.
“We can’t have a city where our drugstores and bodegas and restaurants are leaving because people are walking into the stores, taking whatever they want on the shelves and walking out,” Mr. Adams told the State Legislature recently.
Left-leaning lawmakers accuse Mr. Adams of fearmongering, pointing out that crime in New York is still near historically low levels and that judges can still set bail in many cases. Gustavo Rivera, a Democratic state senator representing the Bronx, said, “Communities are safer when they have more resources, not when they’re overpoliced.”
The state’s preliminary data on recidivism shows that roughly 2 percent of people released because of the bail laws were rearrested before trial on a violent felony. But the data is incomplete and lacking detail, making it difficult to assess the impact of reforms.

Caught in the political tug of war are the city’s small businesses, which are already facing lower foot traffic and labor shortages.
The issue has gained particular attention in Manhattan, where Alvin Bragg, the new district attorney, formed a task force focused on preventing shoplifting and robberies. It was announced after Mr. Bragg had been criticized by business leaders and police officials for issuing a memo about taking a more lenient approach to prosecutions.
In Manhattan, home to the largest share of the city’s jobs, neighborhoods struggling the most include those that relied on commuters before the pandemic and those that have a large concentration of drug treatment centers, according to interviews with small business workers.

At some chain drugstores, even low-priced items are behind locked cases. Business owners say that the risk of physical injury and the modest value of stolen goods often make it not worth trying to stop shoplifting.

The Police Department said one reason the arrest rate had dropped for retail thefts was because there was more stealing at stores without security guards who were willing to detain shoplifters.

During the pandemic, organized crews nationwide also increasingly targeted retailers, stealing large quantities of merchandise to resell online.

Shoplifting, a longstanding issue for small businesses, took on a more unpredictable form in the last year, according to Joseph Lorenzo, the owner of Macson Shoes, a store that has been in Washington Heights for 45 years. He said more people have walked into his shop who appear to be on drugs or mentally unstable.

“The fear and unpredictability of these guys turning violent is what scares us the most," Mr. Lorenzo said.
With police officials focused on stemming increased gun violence, many small business owners feel they are left to fend for themselves.

Last summer, a man walked into the Monkey Cup, a Venezuelan cafe in Harlem, demanding free coffee, according to Laura Leonardi, a co-owner. After receiving one, he began arguing with Ms. Leonardi’s husband and punched him in the face, video footage showed. The man then punched Ms. Leonardi after she leapt from the counter. He fled before the police arrived.
In November, a different man walked in naked while a child was in the shop, refusing to leave. He came back two months later and smashed a stool to pieces.
Two weeks ago, the man walked in again repeatedly, until a barista pointed him out to a police officer who happened to be in the cafe. The man was arrested, a scene that Ms. Leonardi described as “horrible in every way.”

“I am conflicted,” she said. “To send him to jail, you maybe transform him into something worse.”

The aftermath of a robbery can be a financial burden for small businesses, even when the amount stolen is small.

Julia Larock was working at Blue Marble Ice Cream, an ice cream shop on the Upper West Side, in November when a man showed up twice in three days, claiming to have a gun and demanding money. He took a total of $32. Each time, the shop closed for the day as the police swept for fingerprints and interviewed employees.

The suspect, Joshua Tirado, 31, was arrested, and a judge released him without bail on Nov. 11. He came back to the store a few days later. Although he just looked around and left, Ms. Larock felt targeted and quit.
“You don’t know how a situation will escalate,” said Ms. Larock, who now works at a start-up that advertises artwork.
Mr. Tirado was arrested again in December and accused of stealing jewelry from a Macy’s in Midtown. Prosecutors wanted supervised release, which would have freed him without bail but with check-ins and potential referral to social services, according to the Manhattan district attorney’s office.

A judge disagreed with the prosecutors’ request, setting $15,000 bail. But Mr. Tirado was released within a week without any supervision when prosecutors failed to produce the documents required to keep him in jail.

A spokesman for the Legal Aid Society, which is representing Mr. Tirado, said his case “underscores the need for more comprehensive services.”

Angel Valdez, who works at an ice cream shop on the Upper West Side, said he struggles with how much to intervene when people shoplift apparel that the store also sells.
Angel Valdez, another Blue Marble employee, worries that letting people shoplift will make the store more vulnerable. But he was also threatened when he tried to stop someone from stealing a shirt.

“I don’t have the luxury to leave this job even though every single day, I’m afraid of what’s going to happen,” said Mr. Valdez, who has a second job as a restaurant server.
Beyond the financial loss, employees must contend with the anxiety of returning to work after a traumatic incident.
Abdul Alhirsh has had trouble sleeping since a man walked into his smoothie store last month shortly after 6 p.m., pulled what looked like a handgun from his bag and demanded money. Mr. Alhirsh froze and gave him everything in the cashier’s box, about $500.

It was the first armed robbery Mr. Alhirsh had experienced in 13 years of working behind the counter at Health King, near Times Square.

Corey Samerson, 23, was arrested in the theft and accused of committing at least three other armed robberies in Manhattan in early January.
Mr. Samerson had just spent almost four years in federal prison for a similar string of armed robberies. At his sentencing in 2019, he told the court that he committed them to pay for drugs.
In a letter to the judge in 2019, Mr. Samerson’s mother said she had pleaded with everyone — from church youth leaders to Mr. Samerson’s probation officer — for help with his drug addiction, anger issues and suicidal thoughts.

“Here I am with a young man with so much potential but crying out for help,” she wrote, “and there are no resources.”
In the current case, Mr. Samerson, who remains in custody, was ordered by a judge to receive medical treatment last month. His lawyer declined to comment.
As Mr. Alhirsh was recovering from that robbery, he was attacked again. Earlier this month, he ran out of the store to stop someone who had stolen a bottle of coconut water. The person’s accomplice shoved him to the sidewalk, according to video footage. It was about 9 p.m., and no one was around to help. Mr. Alhirsh stood up in a daze, hands bleeding, and walked back into the store.
 

David Goldsmith

All Powerful Moderator
Staff member

NYPD: Overall NYC crime up nearly 60% in February compared to same time last year​

Overall crime in New York City saw a 58.7% jump last month compared with February of 2021, data released Thursday by the NYPD shows.
According to the NYPD, every major index crime category saw an increase last month, though citywide shooting incidents dropped slightly when compared to the same time last year.
Car theft jumped 104.7%, from 2,099 to 3,762; robberies increased by 56%, from 818 to 1,276; and theft increased by 79.2%, according to police data.
Hate crimes jumped 189% compared to February of last year, the NYPD said, with anti-Semitic incidents up 409%, from 11 to 56, and incidents against Asians up 125%, from 4 to 9. Anti-Black crimes jumped 100%, from 8 to 16 incidents.
Police say crime increased underground in the subway system by 73.3% compared to February 2021, going from 105 incidents to 182.
Mayor Eric Adams and Gov. Kathy Hochul rolled out their “Subway Safety Plan” on Feb. 21, an initiative aimed at reducing the number of homeless people in the subway system by deploying NYPD officers, clinicians, and community-based providers to canvas the subways, focusing on high-need locations.
The crime increase follows a January where overall crime surged across the five boroughs by 38.5% compared with January of 2021 (link out).
In a statement, Police Commissioner Keechant L. Sewell said the NYPD is “proactively addressing the deep-rooted causes of criminal behavior.”
“The NYPD will never relent, and the department has made far too much progress over the decades – and invested far too much in the communities it serves – to fall back by any measure. New Yorkers deserve better,” she added.
 

David Goldsmith

All Powerful Moderator
Staff member
For those arguing this is only going on in the slums:

Two Women Stabbed at Museum of Modern Art​

Both victims were in stable condition. The police were searching for one man in connection with the attack.

Two women were stabbed Saturday afternoon inside the Museum of Modern Art in Midtown, resulting in a chaotic scene that had patrons running for the exits.


Two women were stabbed Saturday afternoon inside the Museum of Modern Art in Midtown, resulting in a chaotic scene that had patrons running for the exits.

Two women were stabbed at the Museum of Modern Art in Midtown Manhattan on Saturday afternoon, the police said.
Both women were in stable condition at Bellevue Hospital after the incident. The police said they were looking for one man in connection with the attack.

Julia Garcia Valles, 24, a tourist from Spain, was waiting in line on West 53rd Street to enter the museum when people shouting, “Shooting!” began to rush out the doors in a panic. Some fell to the floor in the confusion, she said.

“We were really scared,” she added.Alyssa Katz, deputy editor for the local news site The City, was on her way to meet up with friends at the museum when she saw people running out. Ms. Katz, 53, said she spoke to two frightened French tourists who said they had seen someone stabbed in the underarm area.

Her friend Mike Rubin, 55, a writer who contributes to The New York Times and other publications, was waiting for Ms. Katz in the lobby when a security guard told his group to leave the building immediately. He later spoke to a witness who said he had seen someone barge past the guards and stab two women who worked at the museum.

Mr. Rubin had hoped to see the Sophie Taeuber-Arp and Joseph E. Yoakum exhibits. Outside the museum, “It was like a game of telephone,” among people who had to rush out, he said. “No one knew what was happening."

Christian Desrosiers, 34, an entrepreneur, said he was getting his ticket scanned when the commotion began.

He added that he was one of the first people to run out, after he saw three women in front of him bolt for the exit.

“They turned around on a dime and started sprinting out, so I figured that I would join them,” he said. “People were clearly hustling to get out, but nobody was screaming, at least at the time I was in there.”
 

Upstairs Realty

Well-known member
Everyone has been through two years of Covid fear, illness, school closures, lockdowns, quarantines, isolation, supply chain shortages... OF COURSE they're nuts. It takes a certain amount of being in a bubble (and some of my clients are, fortunately) to be surprised, I think.
 

David Goldsmith

All Powerful Moderator
Staff member
According to the police department — car thefts have skyrocketed. So far, 2909 vehicles have been reported stolen this year. It’s up 250% percent from pre-pandemic 2019, when 829 vehicles were stolen in that same period.

NYPD officials warn drivers not to leave cars running as thefts skyrocket​

A Honda, completely striped for parts and left abandoned in Western Queens is now sitting in a tow yard in Arverne. It's known as a recovered stolen car. Edward Folk says about 90% of the cars parked on the B&M Towing lot — are recovered stolen cars. He says sometimes they pickup 10 to 15 stolen cars — a day.

"It's a big problem," said Folk, a manager at B&M towing. "We're one of multiple companies that do pick up cars. And if we're picking up this, I can imagine how many other vehicles are out there.”

B&M tows cars for the police department. And Folk says, he's never been busier.


What You Need To Know

  • NYPD officials say more than half the cars being stolen right now, are left running unattended, or the driver left the key fob inside

  • So far, 2,909 vehicles have been reported stolen this year

  • It’s up 250% percent from pre-pandemic 2019, when 829 vehicles were stolen in that same period

  • Edward Folk, a manager at B&M Towing in Queens, who tows cars for the NYPD says they've never been busier


According to the police department — car thefts have skyrocketed. So far, 2909 vehicles have been reported stolen this year. It’s up 250% percent from pre-pandemic 2019, when 829 vehicles were stolen in that same period.

"Right now this is a citywide trend. It's happening in and affecting all boroughs in the city," said Deputy Inspector Robert LaPollo, the commanding officer of the NYPD’s Auto Crime unit.

He says more than half the cars being stolen right now — are left running unattended, or the driver left the key fob inside and he believes that's in part why car thefts are up.

“Thieves are onto that and they are willing to walk up and down the street and pull on door handles until they find a car that unlocks because the fob is located in the car. Also it doesn't matter what year make or model the car is. If it's running left unattended or if the keys are left in it they're going to take and sometimes we see them being used to commit other crimes," said LaPollo.

This White Honda Accord was stolen in Hollis, Queens earlier this month. The driver said she had her keys with her — but left the car running — with a door unlocked, while she ran into a deli.

Two men jumped in and sped away. The car was recovered — with all of its parts still intact — and towed to B&M’s lot.

"The owner is going to get it back complete, thankfully," said Folk.

Folk says that's very unusual because the pandemic created shortages and more demand for parts, which he believes is also sparking the surge in stealing.

"Because you can't get parts, probably everyone from needing doors, seats, whatever it needs, and you can't get it from dealerships or aftermarket or whatever kind of suppliers. They're probably on the Internet selling them somehow," said Folk.

Folk has his staff doing detective work of their own — in hopes of connecting owners with their stolen vehicles faster.

He says he's required to hold the cars on the lot for 30 days — before they’re towed to an official NYPD impound lot. So he’s starting to run out of room. Because as soon as one car leaves the lot, one of his tow-truck drivers is back — with another stolen vehicle.
 

David Goldsmith

All Powerful Moderator
Staff member

NYPD: Murders down, but overall crime up by nearly 37% in March​

New York City recorded fewer homicides last month than it did in March 2021, but overall crime rose by nearly 37%, with increases in shootings, robberies and burglaries, the NYPD said Wednesday.
The five boroughs logged 32 murders last month — a 15.8% decrease from March 2021, when 38 murders were reported, NYPD statistics released on Wednesday show.
Overall crime across the city, however, was up by 36.5% year-over-year in March, the department said, with robberies up by 48.4%, felony assaults up by 17.5%, burglaries up by 40%, grand larcenies up by 40.5% and grand larcenies auto up by 59.4%, the statistics show.

What You Need To Know

  • New York City recorded fewer homicides last month than it did in March 2021, but overall crime rose by nearly 37%

  • The five boroughs logged 32 murders last month — a 15.8% decrease from March 2021, when 38 murders were reported

  • But robberies were up by 48.4%, felony assaults up by 17.5%, burglaries up by 40%, grand larcenies up by 40.5% and grand larcenies auto up by 59.4%

  • The city also recorded 115 shootings last month, up 16.2% from the 99 shootings it logged in March 2021


Hate crimes were on the rise as well, with a 16% jump recorded between the 56 crimes reported in March 2021 and the 65 reported last month, the NYPD said.

Crimes motivated by victims' perceived sexual orientations saw the highest jump — 233% — with 10 reported last month compared to three reported in March 2021.
The city also recorded 115 shootings last month, up 16.2% from the 99 shootings it logged in March 2021, the NYPD said.
“What’s motivating our shootings in New York City? A crew or a gang nexus accounted for 37% of our shootings in March, and 40% of our shootings for the year,” NYPD Chief of Crime Control Strategies Michael LiPetri said at a news briefing Wednesday afternoon.
“Those numbers will only rise as the Detective Bureau continues to investigate these shootings,” he added.
The city saw an increase in narcotics-related shootings, “small increases” in domestic shootings and an “uptick” in shootings related to “road rage incidents, over simple fender-benders where individuals were carrying illegal firearms,” LiPetri said.
Daytime shootings, meanwhile, were on the rise last month, he said, noting that approximately 25% of March’s shootings took place during the day.
“The trend is what it usually is not,” LiPetri said. “We see more daytime shootings than we’ve seen in the past.”
Some of the city’s shooting victims last month were children: 13% were under the age of 18, he said.
And geographically, the NYPD saw a pattern when it came to shooting incidents, he said. About half of the shootings in March happened in 10 neighborhoods — five in the Bronx, four in Brooklyn and one in Queens, he said.
Thirty-three percent of the shootings the department logged last month happened in the Bronx, he noted.
NYPD Chief of Department Kenneth Corey on Wednesday emphasized the work of the NYPD’s new neighborhood safety teams, which began rolling out on March 14.
As of Monday, the teams had made 135 arrests, including 25 gun arrests, Corey said.
“The people that they’ve arrested carrying illegal guns, 16% of those are juveniles, 20% of those have an open pending felony case in New York City, and 28% of those are previously-convicted felons,” he said.
Of the 135 people arrested, 68% had a prior arrest record; 56% had a prior arrest “for one of the seven major felonies,” and 16% were either on parole or probation, he said.
“So that speaks to the precision enforcement that the teams were charged with going after, the drivers of violence, the people who cause harm in the community,” he said.
The NYPD, LiPetri said, was “at a 21-year high arresting people for seven major offenses, the major crimes” in March, as well as year-to-date.
“When I compare approximately the same number of crimes in prior years to what we have this year, we are still at a substantial high,” he said.
In a statement released on Wednesday, NYPD Commissioner Keechant Sewell said the department would “continue to provide fair, effective and responsive policing that best reflects the needs of the communities we serve.”
“But the NYPD needs the steadfast commitment of all its partners, pulling in the same direction, to realize our goal of public safety for every New Yorker,” Sewell added.
 

David Goldsmith

All Powerful Moderator
Staff member
Felony assaults in the subway are up nearly 33% compared to this time last year, and up more than 50% from February to March.

So far this year, the NYPD has seen an increase of more than 70% in stabbings and slashings in the subway.
 

David Goldsmith

All Powerful Moderator
Staff member
NYC crime spikes in Manhattan’s East and West villages
They’re the Villages of the Damned.
Major crimes are surging in both the East and West villages, turning Manhattan’s once iconic arts and culture hubs into cesspools of rampant property thieves.
The Sixth Precinct, which patrols the West Village, saw an 84 percent spike in major crime rates when compared to 2021’s year-to-date numbers — the highest increase among Manhattan’s 22 precincts and nearly two times the citywide jump of 44 percent — NYPD data shows. The Ninth Precinct, which serves the East Village, the Bowery and NoHo, is also seeing an uptick in property thefts and violent attacks with the total major crime rate jumping 54 percent so far this year compared to the same time period in 2021, police data shows.
In Greenwich Village:
  • Grand larcenies more than doubled from 147 to 308
  • Burglaries surged from 59 to 100, or 70 percent
  • Robberies rocketed from 47 to 69, or 47 percent
  • Vehicle thefts increased from 3 to 12
  • Felony assaults ticked up from 32 to 41
Residents and business owners there are fed up with the abundance of shoplifters that include vagrants, small-time fencers and even families.
Shoplifters NYPD data shows that crime in the East and West Villages is rising far above the city average.
“I certainly feel not safe. Coke heads, heroin, what have you – It’s just mayhem out there,” said Terr Le, a liquor store owner who calls the cops on crooks at least twice a week. “It’s just crazy and people are on the edge.”
Sara Morales at the West 4th Market Place said she’s dealt with constant shoplifters since the deli opened in January.

“One lady started taking candies and drinks and putting them in her pocket like it was her house,” she said. “She took a hammer out of her bag, trying to hit my coworker when we went to stop her.”
Despite threats to her business and health, Morales said she’ll often give away food if vagrants simply ask.

Kyle McCoy, who manages Atelier on W. 8th St., recently stopped a father, mother and teenage daughter from swiping a $1,300 skirt. He said there’s no solution because bail reform laws go easy on criminals.
“It’s stupid,” he said. “Shoplifters get a little slap on the wrist.”
An NYPD spokesperson said the Sixth Precinct’s neighborhood coordination and public safety officers are now focusing their patrols more on commercial establishments and retail stores.

Some incidents in the Sixth Precinct were perpetrated by recidivists criminals, a statewide consequence of bail reform laws that is only exacerbated by Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg’s soft on crime policies and catch-and-release strategies.

Zachary Westcott, 41, entered the Old G Connivance store on W. 14th Street in January and brandishing a weapon he said to the clerk, “Give me a pack of Newports or I will kill,” police reports say. Westcott was later charged in other cases for assault, petit larceny and assaulting police officers.
There was also 33-year-old Farrah Hales, who on March 5, attempted to steal a frying pan, juice, and saute pots from a Morton Williams supermarket on Bleeker Street before telling staff, “I have a knife and I will stab you,” and fleeing toward Washington Square Park. So far this year, she was also charged with criminal mischief, robbery, possession of a controlled substance and menacing.

Over in the East Village, things aren’t much better.
Compared to 2021’s year-to-date numbers, robberies more than doubled from 37 to 81, grand larcenies shot up 79 percent from 154 to 275 and felony assaults increased from 42 to 55.
Folks there say the neighborhood is starting to revert to the bad old days.

“It seems like a lot of unstable people walking around the neighborhood. Fights breaking out everywhere,” bartender Rob Rossi, 49, said in a text. “Lotta stores are getting robbed, especially bodegas. People getting robbed in plain daylight. My friend Crystal got beat up on St. Paddy’s day at 7:45pm by Avenue B, and she is Asian. She was punched a few times in the face.

“The neighborhood looks like it’s from the ‘90s, before it took a turn for the better.”
Leroy “Big Lee” Lloyd, who owns The Hard Swallow bar on 1st Avenue, compared the current state of the neighborhood to John Carpenter’s “Escape from New York,” a classic 1980s dystopian film where Manhattan is converted into a lawless prison island.
The 9th Precinct, which covers the East Village, Bowery, and NOHO, has seen a 54 percent increase in crime in its neighborhood.Christopher Sadowski
“I’ve had to cut back on security lately because sales have been down,” he said. “I was at another bar just last week where I had to help out and calm a wild guy down. I left and then an hour later, the bartender there calls me and says the dude jumped behind the bar, tried to steal the register and broke one of the DJ’s jaw.”
 

David Goldsmith

All Powerful Moderator
Staff member
Man fatally stabbed during dispute in Greenwich Village
11843904_051322-wabc-greenwich-village-stabbing-img.jpg
Derick Waller reports from the crime scene along 6th Avenue at West 4th Street.)
A 28-year-old man was fatally stabbed in a dispute in Greenwich Village early Friday.

Police say the victim, identified as Samer Abdalla, of Brooklyn, got into a dispute with four others on Sixth Avenue near West 4th Street at around 1:30 a.m.

One of the suspects stabbed him in the torso outside the Papaya Dog shop, and he was pronounced dead at Bellevue Hospital.

Abdallah's brother, who was there with him, told police it was a petty dispute over a lighter.

The incident happened while Mahendra Khusihal was at work below ground, doing track work for the MTA.

"He was stabbed, and he fell behind the car," said Khusihal, whose Toyota ended up becoming part of the crime scene. "And that's where they found him and took him to the hospital."

Four suspects fled the scene. So far, no arrests have been made.

Homicides are incredibly rare in Greenwich Village, and the NYPD 6th Precinct had zero homicides in all of 2021.

"People have nothing else to do, and I guess people out here want to hurt each other," said Jeremy Valentin, who works nearby. "It's sad, man. It's sad."

Some neighbors say they are concerned about the large crowds who have been gathering here late at night.

"It's absolutely scary what's going on," Ryan DelFavro told Eyewitness News. "Someone got stabbed, and if it doesn't change now...Mayor Adams has to do something. Because if he doesn't, it's going to continue running rampant in this city."

Sixth Avenue was shut down in the area for about six hours as police investigated.
 

David Goldsmith

All Powerful Moderator
Staff member
Man Fatally Shot on Manhattan Subway in Unprovoked Attack
A gunman shot and killed Daniel Enriquez, 48, on a Q train in Lower Manhattan on Sunday. “It’s horrific, this is a horror movie,” his sister said.
The 48-year-old victim was shot in the chest while riding a Q train in Lower Manhattan, the police said. Investigators believe the attack was unprovoked.
As the Q train rumbled across the East River on a sunny Sunday morning, with a view of the Lower Manhattan skyline shimmering through the windows, a man paced up and down the aisle of the last car.
Dmitry Glivinskiy, a vocal coach who was sitting at the back of the car with headphones on, heard what he thought was a firecracker going off. He looked up and saw the man standing in the middle of the car, holding a gun.
The gunman had fired one shot — without provocation — striking Daniel Enriquez, 48, in the chest and killing him, the police later said.

Daniel Enriquez, 48, was shot in the chest by a gunman while riding a Q train on Sunday.Credit...via Griselda Vile
As other passengers scrambled to the ends of the car and huddled, Mr. Glivinskiy, 34, called 911.
“At that point, you’re just kind of stuck,” he said. “You don’t know what you’re supposed to do. And you hope for the best.”

When the train pulled into Canal Street, the gunman fled just as police officers flooded the station, responding to the latest in a series of highly visible, random attacks in the subway that have shaken New York City’s confidence in a system vital to its life and its economy.
The Q train attack comes after the mass shooting last month on the N train that left at least 23 people injured and the shoving death of a woman in the Times Square station in January.
The violent episodes present an enormous obstacle for Mayor Eric Adams, who faces an increasingly impatient public as he struggles to rein in violence on the streets and subways to fulfill the central promise of his campaign.
He has sought to reassure riders by trying to relocate homeless people living in the subway and placing hundreds of additional police officers in the system.

Mr. Enriquez lived in Park Slope and had been headed to brunch in Manhattan after avoiding the subway during most of the pandemic because he feared for his health, Griselda Vile, his sister, said in an interview.
She said her brother, who worked for Goldman Sachs, had texted his family about an hour before the attack asking about the health of their parents, who are in their 70s and have not been feeling well. Moments later, she said, he texted them directly.
“It’s horrific, this is a horror movie,” said Ms. Vile, 43, a public school teacher. She described her brother as “a special, jovial guy.”
He was the oldest of four children born in Williamsburg to parents who had immigrated from Mexico, she said. He returned to the city in the 1990s after the family had moved to Washington State, where he attended college. Ms. Vile had followed him back to New York, but now, she said, she feels scared.
Fatal attacks are rare on the city’s buses and subways. Three people have been killed in the transit system this year, compared with four at this time last year, according to the most recent police statistics. And major felony crime on buses and subways represents just 2 percent of overall city crime, the same level as before the pandemic, though ridership is 40 percent lower.
The mayor, who has been urging New Yorkers to return to public transit and to offices to revive the city's economy, lamented the “horrific” crime on Sunday and vowed that the gunman would be caught.
He said his administration would continue to boost police presence in the subways. “What the goal is, and what we’re going to continue to do, is the omnipresence of police officers,” he said.

Mr. Enriquez, of Brooklyn, was shot in the chest around 11:40 a.m. as the train made its way from Downtown Brooklyn to Lower Manhattan, according to the Police Department.

At a news conference inside the Canal Street station, Kenneth Corey, the chief of department, said there was no interaction between the victim and his attacker before the shooting.
“According to witnesses, the suspect was walking back and forth in the same train car and, without provocation, pulled out a gun and fired it at the victim at close range as the train was crossing the Manhattan Bridge,” Chief Corey said.
Police officers and emergency medical technicians tried to resuscitate the victim after the train pulled into Canal Street, but he died at Bellevue Hospital, the police said. No one else was injured, according to Chief Corey.
The assailant fled up to the street and has not been caught, the police said. He was described as a dark-skinned man, heavyset with a beard, wearing a dark sweatshirt, an orange T-shirt, gray sweatpants and white sneakers.
Chief Corey said investigators were reviewing video footage from the Metropolitan Transportation Authority’s surveillance cameras. He asked for the public’s help in finding the gunman.

The shooting occurred a little less than six weeks after 10 people were shot and at least 13 others injured — but none killed — on an N train in Brooklyn, in the worst subway attack in decades. Frank R. James, 62, was arrested on a federal terrorism charge after leading the authorities on a 30-hour manhunt.
In January, Michelle Go, 40, was pushed in front of a train and killed in an attack she never saw coming. The suspect, Simon Martial, was mentally ill and homeless and has been deemed unfit to stand trial.
After the shooting on Sunday, Gov. Kathy Hochul said on Twitter that her office was working with the transit authority and had offered help to the police during the investigation.
“My heart breaks for the victim’s family,” she said. “Everyone deserves to feel safe on our subways. I’ll keep fighting to make that a reality.”

On Sunday afternoon, the train on which the shooting occurred was still stopped in the Canal Street station. Three uniformed police officers were guarding the last car, which was partitioned with yellow police tape strung between handrails.

K. Arsenault Rivera, 30, an author, said she was on the train headed to 34th Street, where she planned to transfer on her way to a friend’s baby shower in New Jersey.
When the train pulled into Canal Street, she said, tension was in the air. She realized something was wrong when people started filing off the train. Rumors of a gun sighting reached her car as people stood in the doorway filming with their phones.
Then, a man came running from the back of the train with his fingers to his temple, she said. He said that someone had been shot in the last car and urged his fellow passengers to leave the train.
Police officers soon came running down the stairs, yelling for passengers to get away from the train, Ms. Arsenault Rivera said, and she “booked it” up the steps and took a cab home.
“It’s pretty harrowing stuff,” she said. “If I’d gotten on at a different point, I would have been right there.”

Matthew Chavan, 32, of Brooklyn, said he was on the train headed to brunch with a companion. He was seated in the third car from the front of the train when he noticed that people getting off the train at Canal Street had suddenly stopped. There was yelling, and people started running toward the exits, he said.

The car he was in started to clear out, and he and his companion ran up to the street.

“We were asked what was going on, and my response was, ‘People don’t run for no reason,’” he said.
Mr. Chavan blamed the erosion in safety on the focus on police tactics that he feels have failed to stem the tide of violence. He said he feared what would happen when the Supreme Court rules on a case challenging New York’s law limiting who can carry guns in public.
Guns rights activists challenging the law, one of the strictest in the country, have argued that it infringes on the Second Amendment right to bear arms. Mr. Chavan shares the fears of many elected Democrats in the city who predict that a Supreme Court decision to overturn the law would lead to worse gun violence.
Around the Canal Street station on Sunday afternoon, New Yorkers who learned they could not ride the Q line because of the shooting reacted with slumping shoulders, head-shakes and gasps.
Yanni Reed, who works in radio promotion, was turned away from her usual subway entrance by an officer. She said the news made her “paranoid” to ride the subway.
“Wow, another shooting, this is crazy,” she said. “This is too much — we can’t be numb to this.”
Marcello Leone, 65, a barista in Little Italy, said the news had made him more committed to staying alert on the subway.
“Keep your eyes open, don’t sleep,” he said.
 

David Goldsmith

All Powerful Moderator
Staff member

Eric Adams Can’t Stop Talking About Crime. There Are Risks to That.​

The mayor says he has never seen crime at this level, but shootings and murders are down this year. Some see his comments as fear mongering.

Murders and shootings are down in New York City this year. But you might not know it if you listen to the city’s mayor, Eric Adams.
In May, Mr. Adams said he had “never witnessed crime at this level,” even though there were 488 murders in the city last year compared with 2,262 in 1990, when he was a transit police officer. Months earlier, he told reporters that he “felt unsafe” riding the subway.
Mr. Adams frequently shows up at crime scenes, using his mayor’s pulpit to highlight the wide presence of guns in city streets, and to mourn with victims’ relatives.

He has even called 911 at least twice while mayor — the first instance during his first full day on the job, to report a potential “assault in progress.” (No arrests were made.)

Mr. Adams ran for mayor on the pledge that he would bring down a pandemic-era surge in violence. But while his constant focus on shootings and visits to active crime scenes have drawn media attention, they may also be contributing to the perception that the city is unsafe: A poll last month found that three-quarters of New Yorkers were “somewhat or very concerned” that they would be a victim of violent crime.

His fixation on crime has also complicated the other major theme of his first year in office: guiding the city’s economic recovery from the pandemic.

Mr. Adams has been a vocal proponent of workers returning to city offices, and has urged tourists to come back — a campaign made more difficult by his depictions of New York as a lawless city where criminals and guns roam unchecked.

Kathryn Wylde, president of the Partnership for New York City, an influential business group, said that the mayor’s messaging might seem inconsistent, but he was right to focus on public safety.

“The mayor’s messaging reflects what most New Yorkers feel, which is we’re worried about safety, but we have ultimate confidence that our city will bounce back,” she said.

“As a result of our efforts over these first six months, both homicides and shootings were down by double digits last month,” he said, “but we are being honest with New Yorkers about the work that there is left to do and the changes that still need to be made at every level of government — from district attorneys and judges to state and federal law makers.”
Mr. Adams has lived in the city his entire life, spending 22 years as a police officer, leading a group called “100 Blacks in Law Enforcement Who Care” and serving as a state senator and then Brooklyn borough president. During that time, he has been known for an unorthodox, impromptu style of messaging.
In 1995, when he was the president of the Grand Council of Guardians, another Black fraternal police group, he traveled to Indiana to escort the boxer Mike Tyson after his release from prison for a rape conviction — a move Mr. Adams said was intended to help the athlete “turn his life around.”
As a state senator, in 2010, Mr. Adams put up billboards encouraging young men not to wear saggy pants, using the slogan: “Raise your pants, raise your image.” The next year, he released a memorable video encouraging parents to check children’s toys and keepsakes to look for drugs and weapons.

During his campaign for mayor, Mr. Adams accused gentrifiers arriving in Brooklyn of “hijacking” apartments from longtime residents and urged them to “go back to Iowa.” Since being elected, Mr. Adams has promoted his vegan lifestyle to New Yorkers, but was forced to admit in February that he sometimes ate fish.

Mr. Adams is certainly not the first mayor to have challenges with messaging; his predecessor, Bill de Blasio, has acknowledged his own messaging problem, blaming his widespread unpopularity on his failure to articulate a cohesive vision.
Mr. Adams has, so far, found more fault with the media for misrepresenting his views or focusing on issues that portray him in a negative light, and he and his team have pushed back against polls showing that his approval rating is dropping.
The mayor said last month that some reporters “lack journalistic integrity” and were trying to “distort the reality” — pointing to coverage of him being heckled at Madison Square Garden.

“Let’s report the news and let’s stop sensationalizing it because I must get a lot of clicks,” Mr. Adams said in an interview on NY1.
Mr. Adams’s inconsistent messaging has not been limited to crime.
The mayor has argued that he is leading the nation on combating the coronavirus, and he recently received praise from public health experts for announcing that the city would provide Paxlovid, the antiviral drug, for free at mobile testing sites. The next day, the same experts criticized Mr. Adams for quietly removing the city’s color-coded alert system that warned New Yorkers about heightened risks from the virus.
On schools, Mr. Adams has said that he is worried about the roughly 150,000 families that have left the public school system in recent years, and he expanded the city’s gifted and talented program to convince families to stay. Then he upset parents by reducing school budgets, cutting teachers and opposing a state bill to lower class sizes.

Camille Rivera, a Democratic political consultant, said that Mr. Adams would be better served if he chose to talk about the problems contributing to crime, like skyrocketing rents and school budget cuts that affected positions like guidance counselors and art teachers.

“You can put cops all across the city, but if you’re cutting funding across the social services spaces, then what are you really doing here?” she said.
Mr. Levy said that the mayor’s message was consistent: “He is fully committed to making our city more safe, steering us out of Covid and investing in our city’s youngest.”
Mr. Adams defended the school cuts on Thursday, arguing they were necessary because of lower student enrollment.
The roots of the violence in New York City are complex and not entirely within the mayor’s control.
Major crimes have risen 37 percent this year, fueled by a jump in robberies and grand larceny including car thefts. At the same time, murders have dropped nearly 8 percent compared to last year, and shootings have fallen about 10 percent, according to police figures, though both figures remain higher than the period before the pandemic.

A series of violent episodes have contributed to the feeling that the city is not safe. A woman was fatally shot on the Upper East Side while pushing her infant daughter in a stroller; an 11-year-old girl was killed in the Bronx when she was caught in the crossfire of teenagers. A Goldman Sachs employee died in an unprovoked shooting on the subway; and a mass shooting on the subway injured at least 23 people in Brooklyn.
Still, some perceive Mr. Adams’s public comments as fear mongering.
“Crime rates are not anywhere near where they were 20 or 30 years ago,” said Olivia Lapeyrolerie, a political consultant who was formerly a deputy press secretary to Mr. de Blasio. “Not giving that context, which he knows better than most people, is inciting a panic that is unnecessary.”

Mr. Adams, at times, seems to recognize the need to add more nuance to some of his off-the-cuff remarks.

He clarified in May that crime was not the worst it had ever been, but he said he had “never seen anything like this: the over-availabilities of guns, the easy use of guns and the comfort people have in carrying guns.” He sometimes talks about shootings and murders being down this year, but those comments often get less attention than the crime scenes he visits.

The mayor is the first to admit that his ability to address crime will define his mayoralty. In a recent interview on NBC’s “Nightly News” with Lester Holt, Mr. Adams gave himself a grade of “incomplete” when it came to fighting crime during his first six months in office.
“I’m not successful until every New Yorker feels safe,” he said.
 
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