The 24th precinct.
By Joy Bergmann
Although year-to-date crime statistics continue to fall in the 24th Precinct (86th – 110th Streets), the area has seen a recent increase in robberies and felonious assaults, Capt. Seth Lynch told residents at the Community Council meeting Wednesday evening.
During the 28-day period ending May 5th, the precinct recorded 10 robberies compared to 5 during the same period last year and 9 felonious assaults – 3 of which were committed against police officers – compared to 8 in 2018.
Lynch drew special attention to a mugging on the afternoon of May 2nd. “We had a 73-year-old woman that was going into the train station at 96th Street and CPW. An individual approached her, grabbed her purse. She struggled a little bit. He struck her in the face…took her purse and ran with it.” Two passersby gave chase, Lynch said, and managed to get her purse back with her belongings; the suspect escaped with $50 from her bag. The woman was treated for a cut on her lip, he said, urging anyone with information to contact NYPD.
The investigation continues into the May 3rd shots fired incident near 100th and Columbus, Lynch reported. A dispute between two groups on West 100th Street apparently precipitated the gunfire, he said. “It was in close proximity to the Frederick Douglass Houses, but however we can’t say for sure if that’s where the intended targets were from.” Lynch said video footage showed two males who appeared to be teenagers pulling out 22-caliber guns and shooting northbound. “What is clear to us is that these individuals who were firing the shots, they are not from the neighborhood.” No one was injured, but several vehicles were damaged, he said.
Lynch said he is bringing in extra officers on overtime over the weekend to “help beef up the presence and address the situation both with the robberies and the possibility of any further shots fired incident.”
A resident asked for more information regarding the assaults on 24th Precinct officers.
Lynch said the first incident occurred at 4:30 a.m. on April 28th when two suspects in a drugstore shoplifting spree were approached by officers who played back a radio description that fit their appearance. The suspects “panicked” with one shoving the other into an officer who was kicked during the altercation, breaking two bones in his lower leg. One suspect was arrested that day, the other was arrested May 2nd, he said.
Lynch said the second incident happened after two officers were flagged down to investigate a man smoking crack on the street. As the officers attempted to interview the suspect, he punched both officers. The suspect was arrested at the scene, he said.
The blame lies squarely with the Mayor de Blasio and the City Council for decriminalizing “quality of life” crimes and doing away with the Broken Windows method of crime fighting which worked so well under Giuliani and Bloomberg. We shouldn’t be surprised. Of course would-be criminals will be more brazen when nobody is looking.
Yes, let’s blame the mayor. As stated in the very first sentence, crime is down.
Agree 100%
Worst mayor ever. One can only hope someone competent is elected when we finally get rid of this corrupt, lazy fool.
And to make matters worse,our esteemed “mayor” is on his way to D.C……WHO WILL PROTECT US!!!!!!
Help me, Obi-Wan Kenobi, you’re my only hope.
Get a grip, Carol. The mayor isn’t exactly tasked with getting on the streets to “protect” you. That’s what the police commissioner is for, so place the blame where it’s due.
I think it’s a bad idea to have drugstores open 24/7. Close at 10 – 11pm. Being open after those hours invites crime.
What invites crime is mayoral and policing policies that allow people to leave dog poop all over the sidewalk, smoke pot in the middle of the street, and jump subway turnstiles, all without fear of repercussion.
You nailed it, UWS Dad.
Hogwash! It invites crime as much as you carrying cash in your wallet so why don’t we ban people from that and nobody would get mugged. Maybe I’ll run for mayor in your world.
you know what, you’re right. the shoplifting spree committed at 4:30 in the morning could easily have happened at 4:30 in the afternoon. excuse my naivete.
Also, people shouldn’t be home at 4pm or wear AirPods at 2pm. Banks should not be open at 10am.
https://www.westsiderag.com/2019/01/31/robber-ties-family-up-at-knifepoint-during-home-invasion
https://www.westsiderag.com/2019/04/08/pizza-delivery-man-on-bicycle-helps-catch-robber-police
https://www.westsiderag.com/2018/12/17/chase-bank-robbed-on-monday-morning
yes you have examples of daylight crime. so what? just like regular people have working hours of 9 – 5, the working hours of most criminals starts after the sun has gone down.
This comment made me smile.:) Just adorable.
Hey. We’re all neighbors and these comments are once again becoming really nasty. I’m not asking the WSR to filter them, but I really wish we’d all calm down a bit. I don’t think it makes the victims feel any better when we blame this one or that one or this policy or that one for a vicious attack. I’ve been mugged in the middle of the afternoon and in the early morning hours. For God’s sake, I had to get to work. I had to deposit my paycheck. I’m going to blame the mayor for the crime committed against me? The chief of police? How about the fellow across the street who foolishly walks his dog at four am? (What else are you supposed to do with a pet in need?) Better just to thank WSR for keeping us informed.
Amen!
Thank you, Martha.
Not to wander too far off point but any organization, public or private, eventually adopts or reflects the character of its CEO (Mayor) A lazy or lax CEO inevitably produces some version of that in the organization they run. DeB is a poor executive (in the most literal sense of that word) and those who work for him however well intentioned in their jobs inevitably mirror those shortcomings in the execution of their own work.
I’m kinda’ wondering if the “character of our CEO” (President) has any effect on people.
Or is it only the Mayor’s character?
The moment DeBozio turned his back on the cops of this city is the moment the NYPD lost lots of respect from the mutts on the street.Perps resisting arrest and assaulting arresting officers.Unheard of years ago.
This JERK has got to go!!!!!!
A RETIRED COP HERE…….
The problem I see is there’s more police parked in the east side where all the rich/diplomats are, and not enough police where crimes are often committed.
Just imagine how people in The Bronx feel about the UWS Embarrassment of Riches police-wise.