By Carol Tannenhauser
A 26-year-old woman was robbed Thursday morning at around 1:20 a.m. on the northbound platform of the B/C train at the West 86th Street Station on Central Park West, police told the Rag.
The woman reported that a Black man in his 30s, about 5’6″, wearing a red shirt and black bandana, “simulated a weapon…snatched her cell phone and forcibly removed her purse,” before fleeing on foot.
The investigation is ongoing.
We need booth clerks and cops in subway stations. This is ridiculous.
I agree about cops, but having a clerk in the booth is useless, primarily because they are powerless to stop anyone from doing anything, and in most stations do not have a view of the platforms. Yes, they can call the police – that’s about it.
Clerks have been enormously helpful to me in times of crisis over the 40 years I’ve been riding the subway. In one instance in the 2000s a weeping woman returning from an international flight and her luggage were trapped between floors in a fully glass elevator on the 125th Street A platform for more than an hour while ignored by everyone but me. I ran to the clerk who got the police to immediately respond. I told her I’d wait with her until she was rescued. The police were wonderful and we were both able to thank the clerk for being so responsive.
Unless I’m missing something, I don’t understand how this one clerk did anything out of the ordinary to help. Anyone can call the police in the same situation.
“In the 2000s,” in other words before everyone had cell phones.
Don’t underestimate the power of a clerk to be a deterrent to crime. Another set of eyes in subway stations would be helpful
A camera would be just as useful. All for clerks: if you want the fare to go up even more, of course.
Terrible.
Guys and Gals – this is embarrassing. This would be a shocking occurrence in any other industrialized or peaceful city but here, where folks purport to live in the ‘greatest city on earth’, we allow young women to be robbed at threat of bodily injury because there is no disincentive to trying it.
The core issue is that there is no material penalty/consequence for robbing at the threat of a knife/gun/whatever. Whoever did this will be out on the street within hours–assuming he is ever caught– and free to terrorize women again. We need to institute a system in which armed robbery is punishable by surgical removal of hands. This is what happens in Saudi Arabia– a close US ally– and I can assure you it is very effective at remediating the problem.
I am with Max here. do whatever it takes to stop the violence against women and in general on my beloved Upper Westside. You wimps are just too tolerant of aberrant behavior here.
I have two words for you: Jamal Khashoggi.
Are you serious? THAT’s your best solution? Bon voyage! send a postcard to WSR telling us all how wonderful it is to live in the kingdom!
You want to employ Saudi techniques to protect women? Laughable. Women there have a hard time divorcing an abuser or traveling alone. Pick a better ally and stop insulting American women
It is unlikely that anyone with social standing in Saudi Arabia is prosecuted for anything, unless they cross the government/royal family/ Islamic code and mutawa.
Enforcement and prosecution is for the poor, common people, and imported labor. Meaning if you are poor and can’t buy your way out, yes you may lose a finger, hand, or your life. Similarly here, those of us that “have” can commit the same exact crime as a “have not” and pay bail and go home…. The reason reason for trying to do away with cash bail. The idea being, people shouldn’t sit in jail because they can’t afford bail, while someone else has money, so they go home.
While the early attempts are reform may not be working as intended, I think eventually it will find a reasonable, workable, place.
While I have only spent limited time in Saudi Arabia, it is not a place I would like live, or even visit again.
If you want to attend public executions and watch people have their appendages hacked off in the public square, because you think that is the way to keep people “safe”, maybe it is for you.
I actually thought Max was just going for a laugh here.
Unfortunately, not. I think he is serious because we all can agree that this is NOT a humorous issue.
Removal of hands?
Wow, praising brutal dictatorships like Saudi Arabia? You should go live there to really live out your fantasies about punishment. Your horrific, black-and-white denunciations should go far there🤯.
You clearly missed the point and mischaracterized what I said. I did not praise their monarchy nor did I say it was a great place to live. My point was that if you make the punishment extremely harsh — FOR THINGS LIKE VIOLENTLY ROBBING PEOPLE, for example — the less likely the crime is to occur. This stands in contrast to our mind boggling approach of lowering or eliminating punishment for violent and other destructive crime; the result is you get more of it. That is all I said.
Terribly sorry, but we do have the 8th Amendment to the Constitution.
If WE ALL interpreted your remark as the opposite of your “clarification” then I propose that the responsibility rests on how you expressed your opinion.
That Dictatorship is closer then you think here in USA
Passionate defenses of violent criminals always puzzle me. Why are you so concerned with their safety and comfort? No one forced this man to rob an innocent woman. He can take responsibility for his own choices.
I agree! As terrible as it sounds it would stop these creeps and people can feel safe again! A win win situation!
Saudi Arabia…. a prime example of democracy. *sarcasm*
Re: “Saudi Arabia…. a prime example of democracy. *sarcasm*
You bet! Also:
1. Its connection to the 9/11 terrorist attacks is widely suspected, but no administration dares to do anything in fear of losing its oil;
1a The claim that, immediately after 9/11, ALL commercial airliners were banned from flying, EXCEPT one carrying Saudi nationals back home. That claim has been officially “disputed”, but…..??
2. Saudi agents responsible for the 2018 murder and dismemberment of Jamal Khashoggi; and
3: sheltering the radical Wahhābī Sunni sect, to which Bin Laden and Friends belonged.
The problem is the city council and state legislature both need to save face. No matter who is mayor or the DA, if things don’t change in Albany with pressure from our own city council nothing will change.
NYS needs a new hard charging governor and bodies of government which are more representative of their constituents.
This is becoming comical at this point.
I’m not laughing; you can’t laugh when you consider the emotional upheaval the victim is experiencing and how, one by one, the city, by the actions it doesn’t take to make this a safe place to live, is busy convincing its productive citizens, our neighbors, to consider leaving us far behind as they begin their search to find a better, more livable, (less fearsome), life.
We just had our chance to bring about a little bit of change but our friends and neighbors voted for Hoylman. One state senator alone cannot change everything but it would have been a start.
Thank you to WSR for reporting on these incidents so that those in denial that the are actually occurring can see what is going on.
Lather, rinse, repeat.
Once again, crime, while too high, is still much lower than it was in the 70’s and 80’s. Let’s keep some perspective.
@Ish Kabibble Even you admit crime is “too high.” So let’s do something about it, instead of twirling our thumbs and repeating the mantra “it used to be worse.”
Please stop with this argument…..Yes, you are correct, crime rates are still lower than they were in the 80’s but it doesn’t mean that crime rates aren’t bad today compared to 5 – 10 years ago. I lived in NYC in the 80s/90s and crime was bad, the city was generally dirty and there were plenty of issues. Guess what, while the statistics may not be as bad today, the general feeling (in my opinion) is that the city is moving in the wrong direction and many people aren’t happy about it.
I am getting really tired of hearing, “don’t worry about it”, “you shouldn’t feel unsafe”, because “things were much worse back then….”
The argument is old, tired, played out and frankly, it is a lazy approach to trying to run away from a growing problem.
can you retire this argument already. That crime. while high, and getting worse. Well its not as bad has the 70’s. So don’t sweat it
Democrats (myself included) get frustrated by Republicans who say “thoughts and prayers” and don’t do anything else when there is Gun violence.
Guess what? The woke far left’s lack of response to these types of incidents is not much better. “Let’s just throw money at social services but not have actual consequences for those repeatedly committing crimes” is basically the exact some thing.
This hypocrisy is why red America hates us so much.
That’s not why Red America hates liberals. It’s not about crime — they just as soon trash a national landmark, send cops to the hospital, defund the FBI, obstruct justice, install fake electors, threaten election workers, doctors, and hospital workers (watch the PBS Newshours’ story on Boston Children’s Hospital). They just as soon rip little kids from their parents at the border. They hate liberals because liberals are kind and believe in things like equity, equality, and the right to make one’s own health care decisions. They hate liberals because they are racist, xenophobic, sexist, misogynistic, homophobic and anti-Semitic. Their hate has nothing to do with crime. They are down with weapons of mass destruction and school kids getting slaughtered and then lying about it. That said, vote out Bragg and reinstitute bail.
Liberals are kind? You mean the liberals that make up Antifa? The liberals that pushed for lockdowns and mandatory vaccines? Those liberals? Liberals are arrogant and cruel, and justify any actions, including lying and violence, so that they are in control. THAT is why Red America hates liberals, in addition to pushing agendas that are too heavily focused on educating children in sex and sexual identity.
WSR really shows its true colors when it allows through comments like the one above while blocking (“moderating”) critical replies.
They are just words. Be brave.
Talk about a horrible generalization about a group of people simply because they may think differently than you. Do you really think all people from “Red America” or anyone that may vote for a republican candidate are racist, sexist, anti-Semitic and everything else you’ve said?
Yes, she does mean that . Just read her FB.
Who cares what “red America” thinks. These are people who wake up every day angry at school librarians and Dr Seuss. These are people who would gladly make Trump dictator. Too bad for them.
Yes, everything comes back to Trump.
We need more social workers in the subways so these perpetrators have an opportunity to discuss their life traumas before they decide to stab an unarmed person or not
Interesting that we have a physical description of this guy, but there wasn’t one for the 2 who robbed the girls in the Riverside Park tunnel on 72nd st.
Baby steps. Congratulations to the WSR.
We live in a city with millions of people. Crime happens all the time. Spare us the pearl-clutching.
The broader point is that people overestimate the probability that they will be the victims of crime by how easy they can recall incidents of crime happening. This comes, in parts, from the availability heuristic and confirmation bias. Regarding the availability heuristic, people overestimate the probability of crime occurring based on how easy it is to recall other incidents of crime. Confirmation bias is when somebody thinks they know the answer and only examine evidence that supports their notion. If you think crime is going up, you will point to all the recent examples of crime that you read about on WSR and not the previous ones, which weren’t reported, on WSR to show that crime is worse than ever.
The fact is that the likelihood of being the victim of a crime is very, very small and smaller than it was for long stretches of NYC’s history. Individuals can further reduce their risk of being a victim by being aware of their surroundings, using the manned subway entrance at night, using the subway car with the conductor, etc.
Readers should notice that WSR falls victim to the trap of helping insecure, and ignorant, readers inflate the risk of crime without providing contextual information or tips to stay safe if they end up being the one in a million people that are, sadly, victimized on any given day.
Sure Mike. Tell the victims to just take it on the chin. They’re overreacting
^A man, of course
There wasn’t this much crime in prior administrations and you know it. And this isn’t pearl clutching. It is outrage at a government which is complacent. Let’s see how casual your attitude on crime is when it happens to a family member.
That’s true. But what is the proper response is what most comments here are addressing. Many hard working , law-abiding citizens are clearly fed up. Some drastic changes to law enforcement have happened in the past 3 years and don’t seem to have had their intended effect. Unless their intention was increased crime.
Everyone says that until they or a family member is a crime victim.
Exactly. 9 million people in a small area. You will get a percentage of criminals. This happens all the time…the only difference now with social media and smart phones reporting every single incident, it makes it seem like they are more prevalent.
From your name, I’m assuming you’re male. For women of this city, it’s anything but pearl-clutching.
Where are the cops and cameras? The defund the police has killed us.
The police have not be defunded. It’s bail reform and anti-cop legislation.
Police were never defunded.
What? The police budget for this year INCREASED.
From the Citizen’s Budget Commission: After a $317 million spending decrease from fiscal year 2020 to fiscal year 2021, the budget is again poised to grow, due mainly to $401 million increase in central costs, and a $63 million increase in agency operating spending.
The Adopted Budget for fiscal year 2022 sets the City-funded NYPD spending, including agency and central expenditures, at $10.4 billion, a spending increase of $465 million (4.7 percent) against fiscal year 2021.
Literally every day I see people jumping over subway turnstiles without a care in the world.
People who commit so-called minor crimes also tend to commit big crimes.
My guess is the dude who committed this robbery didn’t pay his subway fare.
We need police to crackdown on turnstile jumpers.
Absolutely correct. They should arrest and handcuff anyone who enters the system illegally. And this is not racial – I see plenty of white kids doing it.
Didn’t a police officer get into a physical fight with a teenager who jumped a turnstile recently?
Yes, and I believe the officer was viciously attacked.
On that track, why don’t the police pull over the licensed cars without mufflers, and wild gangs of “motorists” that purposely ride into people on Broadway who are just trying to cross the street? And they’re extremely noisy, which I thought was kind of illegal (“broke” mufflers, cars honking just because, etc….)
And do cameras really ever lead to an arrest for this kind of wanna be terroristic behavior?
These are not delivery men, trying to make a living.
Until we solve the homelessness problems and penalise the crimes, we will never have our city back. These should be the focus of our city. People will leave and we will end up only with the fantasy of what was.
We just had a state senate election between someone who agrees with you completely and someone who made it very clear that he does not care at all and thinks those who care are crazy. The latter candidate won by a lot. I am embarrassed to be an Upper West Sider. And scared.
Rights of the victims are being run over in favor of the rights of the criminals. I am all for due process and sensible laws. But right now we have swung way too far in the wrong direction.
Why can’t we get serious about educating women to be less vulnerable, less risk-oblivious and more self-defended. Sadly, this now includes not going out at all after dusk and before dawn.
A better idea would be a national curfew for men. THEY should be the ones not going out at all after dusk and before dawn. Why should women have to stay at home? We’re not the problem.
Wow. Way to victim blame. How about “Why can’t we get serious about educating men to not attack women, be less violent, and act more like allies?” Women – or anyone for that matter – should not have to feel unsafe regardless of where they are or what time it is.
You think women should not leave home when it’s dark out? Good luck with that.
The NYPD are still being ineffective after their slowdown as a response to being punished for killing Eric Garner. This all starts and ends with the PD.
No. it starts and ends with the voters. They keep electing the same type of people. If you didn’t vote. Or you voted for Brad Hoylman . You have no right to complain about this
Everyone has a right to complain notwithstanding their voting status. There are plenty of people who live in NYC who aren’t legally allowed to vote yet are entitled to voice their opinions.
Claire, You know the NYPD is hiring. In fact they are literally desperate to find people. Put down the keyboard and join up, show them how it’s done. You can jump in and play hero. Just don’t ever be wrong, or do it right but it looks bad. Alvin Bragg has a whole team just to investigate Cops. But hey YOU can make a difference.
Release the cctv footage, 20th precinct.
Need to bring back stop and frisk
thats fine. just so as long as the police can stop and frisk you and your family as well. While were at it lets put checkpoints. Actually lets just turn Manhattan into Israel and lets put a wall.
Cmon now, crime happens all the time . why do people on these posts sensationalize the issues. I know the answer , there are many right wingers reading these. in addition people here think order is more important than the general welfare of the people. iF people were so concerned about crime they would first attempt to at least bolster the peoples welfare instead of bolster the police . Isn’t that funny ? According to these posts you remove crime by coming down harder instead of addressing the economic conditions that cause these crimes. shame on you people.
I’ve given up. It is useless to convince UWSers that their voting choices create the very problems they complain about. They don’t want to hear uncomfortable truth. It is all about deflection, Trump this, Trump that. However odious Trump has been, crime is not the issue he created. It is Democrat Albany, 9 years of Democrat mayors and overall current administration policies.
Many of the commentators here on WSR seem to have voted for Danzilo against Hoylman in the recent State Senate primary. Danzilo’s campaign didn’t get much traction with the general public, sadly.
That’s funny – crime was at a multi-decade low before the Pandemic, under the Democratic leadership you describe. And I will never vote for a Republican for ANYTHING – and I don’t believe for a second that they could do anything to bring down the level of crime except give the police an unofficial free pass to do anything they want.
Uh, what? Under BLOOMBERG, it was at a multi-decade low, as he kept in place the policies of RG. Then, after one year of DiBlasio, crime began to go up. And every year after that, it went up. When the bail reform law was passed in January 2020, crime began to explode. THAT’S THE TRUTH. I LIVE HERE. The Upper West Side WAS A PARADISE. Now it is in RUINS.
As much as I didn’t like de Blasio, crime stats under his administration were still dramatically lower than in the 70’s and 80’s. Crime can’t keep dropping forever, and it’s been going up all over the country. Bloomberg was, in effect, a Democrat, and even switched parties. I live on the UWS (have for 25 years) and have never been the victim of a crime. I like it and suggest if you feel it’s in ruins (in caps, no less) , then why in the world do you put up with it?
The “go to” of WSR posters when they can’t refute facts, bring up the 70’s and 80’s and urge you to leave!
What we need are better court systems. It shouldn’t take months/years to go to trial. If the accused were prosecuted more quickly, the bail issue would become moot, the guilty would be punished more quickly and potentially taken off the streets, and future crime would be deterred.
Excellent point. Everyone blames everything else – but you can’t keep the accused in jail indefinitely (except perhaps for charges of murder) because they’re guaranteed a speedy trial.
To what extent are the police being deployed in a way that maximizes their ability to prevent many of these incidents? They show up (in multiples) when there’s an incident reported – but otherwise, I rarely see them “patrolling.” Walk down Broadway through Times Square or look in the subways – you’ll see pair standing around, chatting, sometimes looking at their phones. How is this a deterrant?