A man with a knife robbed a 60-year-old woman outside of 250 Riverside Drive near 97th street on Monday at about 11 p.m. The man confronted the woman with a kitchen knife and said “Give me your keys, your money, give me everything,” according to police.
The man had been talking to a woman as the victim was walking toward the building, according to a notice sent to residents of a nearby building. The mugger, described as a white man in his mid-20’s with brown hair who is about 140 pounds, was not arrested.
Interesting how you will only point out the race of a mugger when it’s white.
100% wrong. We point out race and other descriptive facts whenever we get them. A few recent examples:
https://www.westsiderag.com/2016/04/10/police-seek-suspects-in-central-park-riverside-boulevard-robberies
https://www.westsiderag.com/2016/03/22/police-seek-three-men-for-robberies-around-the-uws
https://www.westsiderag.com/2016/03/15/thief-went-on-shopping-spree-at-marshalls-and-duane-reade-police-say
https://www.westsiderag.com/2016/01/13/man-grabbed-two-schoolgirls-in-shake-shack-police
WSR
Those stories had PICTURES of the perps. No wonder that the race was obvious. I’m talking about the descriptions of suspects.
As already stated, they include the description that is available. Don’t think WSR is part of a giant conspiracy to make it appear that all perps are white.
Wow…….It’s a white guy
Describing race helps authorities identify the perpetrator. Like in a police sketch.
The bigger issue is the ” uptick ” in crime since policing has changed .
This has nothing to do with race. It has to do with the unacceptable increase in violent crime, graffiti, panhandling. What is our city concil rep doing about this?
Aww the poor residents and the horrible graffiti, you need a band aid? Get over it, graffiti isn’t going anywhere.
“graffiti isn’t going anywhere”? That has to be the most absurd comment I’ve seen. Unbelievable.
I can’t say it is the most absurd, but it does seem sort of pointless.
Amy, many people don’t like graffiti. I am one of those people. It seems that an upsurge in graffiti does correspond to an upsurge in other “quality of life crimes” – it’s a response to a lack of monitoring, etc. Of course, that is precisely the reason that some DO like it, but for those who do not, an upsurge in graffiti is a bad thing.
It is true, as you say, that bad things are not going away any time soon. But what was the point of your comment. Was it simply to insult people who don’t like graffiti? Would it be more productive to explain why you think graffiti is not a bad thing? For example, I know people who see it as a burgeoning of creative responses to disorder, and a welcome element of a less governed life. There is room for disagreement here, but we would probably learn more from one another if that disagreement were to be in the form of a reasoned disagreement than a simple tossing of insults. Particularly sort of incoherent ones.
Amy no doubt is a top editor at the NY Times, the #1 cheerleader for graffiti in this city.
Jane, are you feeling singled out as a white person? Lol too sensitive people lets reel it in here.
It’s incredibly disturbing he asked for her keys as well.
Agree. I hope her locks have been changed – and those of the building as well.
Jane, you are mistaken. The media usually references race when the perp is African American. Sad but true.
It’s absolutely not true. It’s almost always left out or just euphemistically “teens” or “urban youths”.
Why would it be sad?
I used to live at 244 Riverside Drive. For the most part its a great location but just up 97th from Riverside Drive is an SRO/Halfway house. Most of the guys there seemed cool but a few seemed sketchy at times. I wouldn’t be surprised if it came from them.
When is the nect 24 th precinct meeting?What are their plans to protect us at night as well as give out traffic tickets on 95th st.(also important)
Mayor DeBlasio it’s time to acknowledge the fact that we are no longer safe walking our streets. where are foot patrols?
I live just up the block on Riverside and while I think it’s the best street to live on, it does get extremely quiet at night which always makes me a little nervous. Would be nice to have stronger police presence there. Also, I agree with arch_nyc that the SRO’s in the surrounding blocks don’t exactly attract the greatest people, but a stronger police presence might help abate any issues stemming from that crowd.
there have been plenty of crimes by whites, including those with photos, reported in the WSR. However, these crimes don’t usually result in the flurry of comments with racial invective, implied or often explicit, as seems to always happen when young African-Americans and Hispanics are the suspects.
can’t we move beyond this? it is embarrassing and even caused WSR to close down the comments section recently.
Thank you. You read my mind with your comment.
Completely agree.
There doesn’t appear to be much safety coverage down near Riverside Drive. I feel safer with the foot-traffic Aves like Amsterdam, Broadway and Columbus. Better lighting? More cops on the beat? More cameras? I’m sure there’s already a strategy that’s successful to copy – if we want people to live here, we need to make them feel safe. As for the description of the perp -I WANT to know who to look out for and if a 140 pound mid-20’s white guy is trailing me, all of us UWSers need to know – and to report – anyone fitting that description that’s lurking about.
I have an idea. How about bringing back stop and frisk, for all people regardless of color, and if you happen to get caught with a box cutter, knife or gun, you go to jail for 20 years with no option to get out early? Think that might put a dent in the number of people carrying weapons and in the number of innocent people and their families having their lives completely turned upside down? Oh, “you can’t do that, that is too harsh”, “we don’t have the money”, etc. Yes, we can do it and it is done in many other countries. Maybe if we had harsh sentences, a lot of this nonsense would stop and net net we’d actually have LESS people incarcerated. The real problem is we never think this is going to happen to us, so we all just accept it. There ARE things we can do about it. Vote accordingly.
How many times do I have to remind people that stop and frisk is still utilized by the NYPD? They’ve changed how it’s administered, but in no way has it ceased.
Additionally, carrying a box-cutter is not a crime.
Also, it’s proven time and time again that harsh sentences do NOT reduce crime. The countries you seem to be alluding to are Saudia Arabia and China…
How many times will you continue writing this false statement? This is NO stop question and frisk in use !
Siddhartha wrote: Also, it’s proven time and time again that harsh sentences do NOT reduce crime.
Sid, you can cite all the studies you want that harsh sentences do not reduce crime, but we will have to agree to disagree on that. If a person got 20 years mandatory for carrying a knife or gun in NYC, trust me, there are so many people carrying right now on the streets as we speak that would not be. You just wouldn’t take the chance. That is just common sense. We certainly would not have seen knifings up 25% this year.
Another thing: who cares if stiff sentences lessen the likelihood of someone carrying a weapon when just having that person off the streets for 20 years would save a lot of suffering since it is VERY likely that that person will commit crimes repeatedly. People would be horrified if they had any idea of the number of crimes a typical criminal commits. Wrap sheets are often pages long. When you are in jail, you can’t commit another crime. Care to guess how many less victims there will be if you really put criminals away instead of letting them commit crime after crime?
I want to live in a society where good people are protected above all else by putting away people who break laws for a good long time, regardless of whether its too expensive or whether or not it lessens the likelihood of crime occurring. Why we allow this stuff to happen is beyond me. Like I said, everyone thinks it is “never going to happen to me” and that’s what enables the quiet acceptance.
The problem today is that our government does not protect us. It lets out people who commit crime after crime, on one hand, and then prevents citizens from buying or carrying weapons to protect themselves, on the other. I am not a fan of people carrying weapons for protection, but our governments need to protect us if they want to prevent us from protecting ourselves. And right now, its clear in this country that more than a few people do not feel protected and I don’t blame them. When I see signs on a city bus stating stiff penalties for assaulting a bus driver or shooting a cop, it just makes me so angry. There should be stiff penalties for assaulting ANYONE.
I’m a two strike and your out type. One strike for very violent offenses. I’m tired of this stuff. I know that every time something terrible happens, it happens to a real person with a real family, even though it is not happening to me.
I appreciate your thoughtful reply, however you’re plainly wrong. “Three Strike Laws” have been proven time and time again to do nothing towards fixing crime. Our gun laws in NYC are already some of the most stringent and tough in the country, and yet people still walk around with guns. So what do you suggest?
““Three Strike Laws” have been proven time and time again to do nothing towards fixing crime”
“Proven”? You mean in the same way that margarine was “proven” to be healthier than butter? Listen, for every study that says it doesn’t, I’ll find you 3 that says it does.
Here is something you can’t argue with: if a violent felon is convicted of a second violent felony and goes to jail for life without parole, THAT CRIMINAL CANNOT COMMIT A THIRD, FOURTH AND FIFTH violent felony. Now, take a look at how many people who commit violent felonies have committed three or more and you start to get the picture.
But nonetheless, threat of punishment IS a deterrent in life. Maybe not for everyone, but for the majority of us. Everyone knows it is, from our school administrators who make children aware of consequences of prohibited behavior to the signs in buses warning of extra time for hitting bus drivers. It is a well accept fact all of the world. Don’t think that high school kids who bully think twice about it if there are severe penalties? Don’t think that bullying would be far more rampant if bullies suffered no punishment? Don’t think that some kid in NYC is going to think twice about carry a knife if he gets mandatory 20 years? You just aren’t being honest if you argue that. Deterrence is not always successful in every case, of course, but it is certainly works for MANY people.
Whether harsh penalties PREVENT crime through deterrence or not is beside the point, however. Harsh penalties keep criminals in jails where they cannot commit further crimes. Insofar as that is a fact, harsh penalties prevent crimes. You cannot argue that.
many of us keep make this point, over and over, but i guess it bears repeating some more:
“Stop and frisk” WAS NOT ended by the De Blasio administration. What was ended was RACIAL PROFILING “stop and frisk.” the police officer now has to have a reason for stopping and frisking due to an actual suspicion about the person. that suspicion cannot be limited to “the person is a young African American male.”
in addition, another point that bears repeating: crime has NOT gone up since racial profiling Stop and Frisk was ended. in fact, citywide and in most categories, it has gone down, or at least stayed low. in fact, murders are down close to 20% this year (ytd over last year). Overall major crimes citywide are up 2.75% over last year (which ended the year at an all time low) but down 5.38% over 2 years ago.
I know the stats don’t matter if you or your family is a victim. however, they do matter if one is advocating a public policy, such as reinstating racial profiling stop and frisk.
Wrong! Ask any cop. I have asked MANY. They are too scared to continue with stop question and frisk.That tactic has virtually disappeared from NYC policing. And we have DeBlasio to thank for it. We walk the streets, he is protected by bodyguards.
Bloomberg also had bodyguards… not sure your point.
I’m sorry, but anecdotes can’t be taken as fact or statistic. You spoke to how many officers out of a force of over 34,000?
Whether or not individual officers enforce stop and frisk, it’s still a completely legal tool in the NYPD handbook.
Reality is that NYC has never been ‘safe’- when you have millions of people, a significant number whom are poor, u neducated, have grown up in families where public assistance is a way of life, little prospects of reaching midle class through hard work,etc you will have crime. Certain periods are worse, like the 1970s; some are better like the 00s. It makes No difference to me whether the assailant is white or of color.
The police cannot provide protection to every block in the city. Foot patrols are incredibly expensive and it’s unlikely they will ever return in significant numbers. The bottom line is that one has to be super vigilant, especially at night. I fly a lot and normally use public transportation when returning from the airport which usually entails walking several blocks at 2am around 79th street. I’ve done this for years but with the dramatic increase in the homeless and. It jobs walking around I’ve decided to use cabs for part of my journey. Just to be safe.
We all need to be more cautious than in the recent past. The. It’s is less safe and at least I get the impression the mayor is less concerned about public safety that he is toward projecting an image of the city as a haven for the disadvantaged and dispossessed.
Re comment about identifying race of criminal. Race is rarely mentioned, though obviously photos deal with that issue. It’s not politically correct to identify race in a place like NYC, because the reality is that about 90 percent of those serving time in Rikers are people of color.
Why don’t they show the video from the building? Someone might recognize the man and/or woman in the neighborhood.
Perhaps it is the excellent news coverage that WSR provides, but it does seem that the West side of Manhattan from 59th street up to 120th street particularly along Riverside, is subject to much more threatening crimes in the past several years.Riverside Dr. was always quieter than other avenues, but it was not knife-threatening. It only attracted car break-ins but not so much to those walking on the street.