By Carol Tannenhauser
The New York City Police Department is asking for the public’s assistance in finding the following individuals in connection with an assault that occurred in front of the McDonald’s restaurant at 2049 Broadway, between West 70th and 71st Streets, on October 2nd,” according to a police report.
“It was reported to police that on Sunday, October 2, 2022, at approximately [6:45pm] in front of 2049 Broadway, a 33-year-old male was engaged in a dispute with two unknown individuals who struck him in the head with an umbrella and slashed his forearm with an unknown cutting instrument. [The police sent three unidentified photographs]. The individuals fled on foot in an unknown direction. EMS responded and transported the victim to NYC Health and Hospitals/Harlem in stable condition.”
Broadway, where it intersects with Amsterdam between 70th and 71st Streets, is known as “a problem block,” City Council Member Gale Brewer told the Rag recently, noting that she has long received complaints about it, even before the pandemic. “The block has both a CBD store and a smoke shop (Lincoln Convenience was robbed twice recently, once involving a shooting), a pizza place, and [the] McDonald’s,” the Rag reported. “It’s a block where pedestrians must run a gauntlet of obstacles….”
“I’m going to have a stakeholders meeting to see what we can do together to improve this block,” Brewer said following a pop-up meeting on the block in early September. In addition to the NYPD, that meeting will include representatives of the departments of transportation and sanitation, the community board, business owners, and building management, Brewer said.
Anyone with information regarding the most recent incident is asked to call the NYPD’s Crime Stoppers Hotline at 1-800-577-TIPS (8477) or for Spanish, 1-888-57-PISTA (74782). The public can also submit their tips by logging onto the CrimeStoppers website at https://crimestoppers.nypdonline.org/ or on Twitter @NYPDTips. All calls are strictly confidential.
If there were an NYPD officer standing outside the McDonalds 24/7 that would solve the problem. Why is this not possible?
Because the NYPD is not a 24/7 security guard service?
This location has been a problem for years. Pre-Covid there was a violent incident between students in McD’s, and the next day there were police with flak jackets and rifles guarding both doors. I had to show my ID before I was allowed in. The problem was NOT solved because the gangs just moved across the street to the median by the subway, in full view of the police. When neighbors complained about the homeless/drugs/assaults during the height of Covid they were labeled entitled and racist. It’s infuriating. Btw, there is a security guard at McDonalds. He’s usually standing at the front near the checkout line.
Excellent idea! Seems like a no-brainer to me!
There were FOUR officers outside Lulu Lemon after that shoplifting incident last month.
A NYPD Officer?? A 1 person foot post is insane. How many cops do you think the 20 Precinct has? The NYPD is down by record numbers, if you go to the NYPD website Personel Dashboard they haven’t updated since the Great exodus of July. Because they don’t want to admit the manpower crisis.
What do you think a foot post can do these days? Criminals have no fear or respect for the Police and Police have no confidence that they will be supported if they take action.
“Police have no confidence that they will be supported if they take action.”
Citation please?
This block is an absolute disaster. Here are some easy things to do to fix this block: 1 – remove the bike racks so people do not congregate 2 – remove ALL tables outside on this block 3 – extend the Lincoln Center BID (currently stops at 70th st; we really need it to go up to 72nd st!!) 4- bring back the police that used to stand on this corner (they didn’t do much but at least their presence was somewhat noticed and deterred some crime) 5- residents of 201 w 70th should sue the subtenant who leases out the space to mcdonalds, lincoln convenience, etc. for bringing in disruptive, dangerous tenants. This is a violation of their subtenant agreement.
Correction: I just posted the Sheridan Sq. Hotel was the former site at 70th & Amsterdam. It was the SHERMAN SQUARE HOTEL. My apologies.
I agree– this Problem Block has quite a history: 70th and Amsterdam is the former site of the Sheridan Sq. Hotel and 69th and Bway, the former site of The Nevada Apartment Hotel, both living quarters for transients,. both hotels demolished by the mid-1970s. Go into the NYT archives and read the crime reported. Yes I remember the area well as a grade schooler walking to PS 199 n the early to mid 1960s. The 1971 movie starring Al Pacino, “The Panic in Needle Park” filmed on location at this intersecion documents the major vices of this locale and its culture back in the day. Wm. Shakespeare, Julius Caesar, Act III, Scene 2, “The evil that men do lives after them.”– How? I’ll leave that for the Board to decide. Obviously history is repeating itself. If you want a solution, IMHO it’s going to take an authority higher than the NYPD.
I agree with you that it takes a higher authority than NYPD to fix this bock that lately became a problem.
However I don’t understand what the current situation has to do with what it was in the 70s?
I have lived on this particular block for almost 20 years and it was just lovely. I went to the pharmacies for emergencies with my then infant at 2 am. I enjoyed pizza, Maoz, bakeries and sandwich/yogurt shops.
All shops excluding McDonald’s attracted good clientele. Even McDonald’s was ok, was unpleasant only for 2 hours or so after the local high school dismissal.
Yes, there was this “tie dye” guy, bit that was it. You can’t compare him who was simply a nuisance with threats current pot shops customers attract. Deniers – we had several crimes involving this particular shops. You want your pot handy, five, but don’t make it abproblem for the rest of us. In addition people congregating around them are not exactly the type you feel safe around.
I saw 3 young women walking out of there, plopping on the ground and lighting a joint. The had a baby in a stroller with them!
Sorry, but saying CBD shops don’t attract crime but outdoor seating is, is pure nonsense.
Um, it’s a stretch to say that block was nice, and pleasant, before outdoor seating.
And as you admit, there were problem school day hours.
Melissa: When the building went coop many years ago it did NOT include the store fronts on the ground floor. The building sponsor retained those spaces. Those of us who live upstairs see no financial benefit from the rent on those stores. The problems that many readers are complaining about are out of our control. As coop owners we, too, suffer the noise and trash and bicycles chained to trees. Would we prefer a stationery store, a bookstore, or maybe another bank? I think the vast majority of us would be happy to replace at least four of the current businesses because we, too, are as fed up with the conditions on the block as everyone else seems to be. We want quiet businesses, and a clean plaza, and no bikes chained to tree guards.
And as an afterthought, very often this fall there were police officers outside the McDonald’s around the time the two high schools south of us on Amsterdam Avenue let out for the day (usually around 2:30 – 3:00 PM). This latest episode happened in the early evening and by then the cops were long gone.
Its too bad that the residents of 201 w 70th think they don’t have a rightful say in what goes on within their property juristiction. They just need to get more agressive as a coop community to intervene. There are many tacktics, some more passive and some more interventional they need to consider. Forget everyone else – the police, the local politicals, the media, etc. They are the only ones with the power to fix this mess.
I live in a coop. Apparently you are not aware how the operate.
You have as much power as the coop residents to fight condo owners who rent the commercial properties. So why don’t you?
I’m not sure why my previous comment on this thread was not allowed, but that is basically what I stated. The co-op owners have no say in what businesses get leases. Until the city and police get to meet with the building sponsor who is actually the one selecting this businesses, nothing will change.
1 bike racks make people congregate?
2. Outdoor seating is a problem? Why don’t we get rid of all the restaurants outdoor seating (not just the shacks) and all city benches everywhere while we are at it?
3 what exactly will it achieve?
4. What police is suppose to do with people who are unruly? Even criminals are set free.
5. Suing coop is suing yourself. But more importantly these decisions are not up to the residents, they have no say to who the tenants are.
Instead of ineffective bandaid suggestions we have to return to law and order in the entire city.
Removing Bragg would be first step.
Closing unlicensed CBD should would the second.
Yes yes and yes! Run for office, melissa.
For years now, I have never seen a single police officer walking around anywhere on the UWS, except for the police cars and police officers that regularly congregate at the subway station on Broadway and 72nd Street. These officers seem to spend their time looking at their cell phones and chatting with one another. It would be interesting if one of these police officers occasionally took a walk around the neighborhood.
I believe those officers can’t walk around the neighborhood. They are usually officers assigned to the Strategic Response Group or the Counterterrorism division — they are not officers assigned to the 20th Precinct and their post for the period you see them is the subway station.
Why is there outdoor seating? It encourages people to hang around. Get rid of that and you might have less trouble–not no trouble, but less.
Gale Brewer noted that “she has long received complaints about it, even before the pandemic” –what has Gale Brewer done to address this aside from calling for a meeting? She has had YEARS to act but only seems to respond with platitudes when called out on actual issues.
CBD stores attract degenerates? Please document that absurd comment with supporting data.
Ish, You are correct. CBD (Cannabis Diol) does not give people a high. Some find the oil soothing and relaxing but it has no effect on others. The component of the marijuana flower bud that yields a high is Tetrahydrocannabinol (THC) and is the psychoactive component. Marijuana with high levels of THC have been available as medical marijuana for people licensed to use it for several years now but insofar as I know, as of yet there have been no licenses given to shops that intend to sell marijuana with THC. So, no one is going into these shops to get high.
Have to agree – this block was a problem long before the CBD shop opened.
I really miss Maoz and Paris Baguette! I used to frequent the Starbucks as well but avoid it now because it’s such a terrible block to walk on. Why have the quality of the shops on this stretch declined so precipitously? Other blocks in this area are thriving right now, it doesn’t make sense to me.
dc12, Everyone is entitled to her/his own opinion but in my opinion, Paris Baguette (a Korean-run chain) sold terrible pastries. There are so many better pastry places around that Paris Baguette is not missed.
Yes much better to have a pot store than a Korean bakery in that spot.
So are we able to know if the above “stakeholders meeting” referred to by Gale Brewer ever took place? If so, why not? If yes, were there any proactive results? And if no results, why not? In any case, I think the
suggestion to assign a police officer to this location is called for. It’s dicey in that block and up to both sides of the subway entrance– enough concern for 2 officers to work together to restore more safety.
This corner is a problem and it is time to do something definitive about it! I don’t know if McDonald’s or the city is responsible but a security guard or police officer should be on duty here nightly!
McDonald’s is not responsible for public safety. I’m surprised that would be a dilemma.
Isn’t that large building above the stores a co-op? I’d be curious to hear what the Board is saying about all of this.
Residents of that building have posted on other message boards before — I believe that the residential space and commercial space were divided into 2 condo units. The developer retained the commercial units, so the residents/condo board have no say in who is renting the commercial units.
They have MUCH more power and say in this than they think they do. Much too passive. Ever heard or sitins??? (just an example)
Thanks, Dad.
No, it wasn’t nice a few years ago.
Yes it was. It was clean and safe, with lots of little places to eat or pick food up. Every winter they sell Christmas trees on that block. I don’t remember seeing homeless people congregating there or mountains of trash and regular episodes of violence.
Katherine, how could you forget tie dye guy who would set up his home in front of Wells Fargo and scream at people as they walked by? His area was always a rotating cast of characters that would be kicked out and then back again days later.
The police want the public’s help?? The public deserves the police’s help!
That block is a scandal. And I love Little Italy’s pizza, but I can no longer bring myself to walk down that block. Too scary.
Try Pops Pizza by Columbus Circle. Their regular slice is pure 1960’s NYC pizza. You will be blown away.
Utterly different neighborhood.
And Little Italy Pizza is a chain, mini.
I have happily lived on this block , right behind McDonalds for over 50 years. Except for the time of the tie-dye guy, it was acceptable and as safe as any block could be . These last two years that street has been disgusting, unsafe and unwalkable. Unfortunately it means I no longer frequent Pinkberry or Starbucks . Its a blight on the neighborhood . McDonalds should not have outdoor seating because they never clean it up. Its like a sewer . Same for the Pizza place, although not as filithy.
Because loitering is LEGAL as well as aggressive panhandling is legal, people can congregate all day and come up to people, all day and harass people walking by. They hang out at the stores and McDonald’s due to the volume of people who give them money. THE NYPD CAN DO NOTHING ABOUT IT. There are not enough resources to post an NYPD officer and because of the lack of laws, the NYPD is not allowed to do anything to prevent trouble until someone pulls out a weapon.
The CITY COUNCIL and STATE REPRESENTATIVES need to create a law that no one should be allowed to stand all day for hours in front of stores and congregate to aggressively come up to people. This would prevent those who are mentally ill from becoming dangerous lurkers. It would improve the area immediately. Until a change in the law, expect this to continue through no fault of the NYPD. It’s who you vote for who will listen and attempt to make a change. The elected officials need to hear from YOU to prevent this.
I just have to express an alternate view. I’ve lived near that block for 25 years and walk on it several times a week. I neither feel unsafe nor annoyed by what I see there. It’s a lively area with diverse retail and a wide sidewalk. I suppose that if the sidewalk were narrow like on other blocks there would be less activity and folks wouldn’t be complaining. But it’s a uniquely large area with a lot going on. Further, the pizza place has the same rights as other restaurants in the city to have outdoor tables, particularly with such a large sidewalk.
Stop blaming it on the CBD shops…the area has been this bad since the start of Covid, before they even opened. If you want to point a finger look at the McDonalds and crappy pizza place.
It’s the stores fault? As always we find everything to blame but calling out the actual problem. Maybe the problem is the people who hang out there and get away with doing thing that are disruptive, disrespectful, or violate laws? Enforce laws.
How about asking the police department to set up a Koban on that block, it will solve the problem. You can also ask for a post office to be set up there, make better use of that space and it will be better for the elderly population. Im sure the employees of the current businesses are just as terrified of the criminals causing trouble there. There has been a lot of problems at the Mickey Ds, the youth tend to congregate there and then all hell breaks loose. And don’t even get me started about the CBD stores.
Google: japanese Koban, you will like the idea.
Stop voting for the same bad policies. We need leadership that will back up the police keep the streets safer and a DA that will do the job!