By Daniel Katzive
A 42-year old woman was punched repeatedly as an assailant tried to take her bag on West 79th Street late Saturday. The robbery was unsuccessful and the victim did not require medical attention, according to the police.
The NYPD circulated an email Monday evening requesting the public’s assistance in identifying a suspect captured by video footage. According to the email, the suspect approached the victim at approximately 11:35 p.m. in the vicinity of West 79th Street and Broadway. He asked her if she had a light and then “began to punch her numerous times about the face and arm.” The suspect tried unsuccessfully to remove her bag and then fled east on 79th Street.
Police described the suspect as male, medium complexion and balding wearing a blue jacket with writing on it and a yellow shirt. They request anyone with information on the incident to contact the NYPD’s Crime Stoppers Hotline at 1-800-577-TIPS (8477) or to log onto the Crime Stoppers website at https://crimestoppers.nypdonline.org/ . All calls are strictly confidential.
Too close to home. I live on 79th. Crime, crime and more crime is all you here nowadays. The city has slipped back to the 1970s/1980s. Muggings, stabbings, subway crime, graffiti. Just a short time ago this neighborhood was so safe and beautiful. Now . . .
How did we let it turn so quickly? Can it ever be saved?
Yes ..vote republican
Oh, please. We did vote Republican and all they did was place blame on POC and approve housing for their uber-rich donors, pushing the working class out of the neighborhood. Politicians are just plain useless.
Both parties have changed and not for better. It is not the matter of clinging to the remnants of old ideals that are not delivered anyway. It is the matter of showing the corrupt and reckless that they can and will be voted out if they disregard their constituents needs.
Well-said!
Didn’t we all do that during the last election? All of the republican candidates for congress, all loudly proclaiming that they would go to Washington and crime would be their number one priority?
And what was the result? They’ve done nothing. They’ve legislated nothing. They’ve brought nothing back to their NYC constituents,
And what Republicans are you speaking of? All the democrats were voted back in except a tiny number in Long Island and Staten Island.
And get approved gun carry laws. Nice try.
Not. Even. Close to where we were in the mid-aughts, even. Let alone the 90s/80s/70s.
You speak to me as if I haven’t lived here my whole life. Well, I have, and I’m now in my 60’s. I remember this neighborhood full well in the 70’s and 80’s. I can tell you things are going back in that direction. 10 years ago i could walk Broadway after dark without fearing I would be jumped or assaulted. It is very different now always watching over my shoulder. I agree this was not our own doing but the mismanagement of city officials that somehow want it this way. I’m just very sad they don’t care for this neighborhood as much as I do.
I’ve lived on 79th for over 45 years. No, life and crime in the neighborhood is nothing like it was in the 70s and 80s. Sorry. We just have more ways to immediately find out about problems.
Don’t be ridiculous. I have also lived in the city since the early 70’s and I don’t EVER remember ANYTHING like this. Not even close. I don’t care what the statistics say. I believe my eyes.
Agree and so frightening. I was walking home a little later by myself…could have easily been me.
“We” didn’t let it turn. Those who voted for our pathetic soft on crime elected officials did. It will only get worse unless we change our vote.
“We” didn’t let it turn. Those who voted for our pathetic soft on crime elected officials did.
-> Isn’t that the exact definition of ‘we’?
To be clear, it hasn’t slipped back to the 70s or 80s. Doesn’t mean you shouldn’t be concerned about it, but it’s not anything like it was back then. It’s still overwhelmingly safe and beautiful. But I hope very much that it doesn’t get worse.
No, it is no longer safe.
I’m sorry you feel that way. It’s not what I see or feel or what the facts bear out.
Well maybe its because you live in a doorman building and don’t venture out late at night (11pm ish?). I hear insanity out of my window NIGHTLY and that NEVER used to happen. Don’t tell me its rain ….
Please don’t invalidate our feeling. It is not “overwhelmingly safe”. I have lived here since 1999
I apologize. I didn’t mean to invalidate your feelings. My own feelings and opinion and observations are that things are overwhelmingly safe. I’ve also been here since the 90s (1995, to be exact, when the city was MUCH more dangerous). I agree that things are worse than they were a few years ago and I hope we can reverse course. But claiming we’re reliving the 70s and 80s simply isn’t true.
It may not be exactly like in 70s, but no, is not “overwhelmingly safe”.
Also sick and tired comparing now to 70e. Find a different benchmark when there was time women weren’t attacked left and right.
Live here too and I never see any police.
Please call Gale and let her know about the constant aggressive panhandling.
Phone: 212-873-0282
If you notice – this is Never random – but targeted at women or the elderly.
Ever see them pick on a 6’4 280 pound guy?
Gale hears this ALL the time in meetings, calls, emails and she does not do anything about aggressive panhandling. That would take changing a law and she has publicly said she won’t try to do anything as she believes the laws can’t be changed. I don’t believe that’s the right attitude but that is what she has said.
This is horrible. Hopefully they catch him. And hopefully he is prosecuted for a real crime – just because she didn’t end up in the hospital doesn’t mean this should not be treated seriously.
Not to victim blame, but at 11:30 at night, do not engage with anyone. Just keep walking. I don’t care how much it seems like they are a nice person who needs help. Keep walking.
Businesses pulling out of San Francisco and Chicago due to crime should be a cautionary tale. We could be next
Hmm what do all these cities have in common? Oh yeah super liberal leadership!
Crime in your fascist leader’s city of Miami is double that of NYC.
Read the facts. : https://www.bestplaces.net/crime/?city1=53651000&city2=51245000
Are you saying that the entire state of Florida support a fascist regime? What a disdain for the people who don’t think like you.
Why don’t you worry about your own state.
I see a surge in quality of life issues: aggressive panhandling, severe mental illness, reckless dirt bike and moped riders, more trash and waste on the sidewalks. Whenever I ask a police officer about it, the response is usually the same: our hands are tied. Talk to your representative. There has been a breakdown in many things since the pandemic. Ensuring our neighborhood is safe and secure must be a priority.
This started before the pandemic, I’m afraid to say. Remember the school kids that were being regularly assaulted on the UWS for their phones and jackets? Remebmer the poor family whose daughter from Columbia was stabbed to death. Let’s not lie to ourselves.
If business owners could upgrade their camera systems, it would be helpful. This is the best image available? Really.
Really? Who will pay for that? The city? Not fair to put that on a private business. The city should put in cameras all along Broadway. Oh wait, they said they would. Was the money taken away?
Only thing that I’m concerned with when walking the streets at night or waiting for a subway is wether there are multiple people around me. New York was always full of people.. Less so these days. Where is everyone? The UWS was humming all the time…! Now? Dunno!
I recently asked my doorman (on 79th Street) where all the people in the building are. He replied that they are nearly all in residence, they just don’t leave their apartments much. Not out of safety concerns, cocooning is in the age of the internet is sadly all too common.
The age of the internet or the age of the residents. Most of us need to go out and we don’t feel safe.
I have lived on the UWS since 1977. My husband and I have walked/jogged here in the parks over the many years. Awful crimes are occurring. My request to you is to not stare at my hubby a 6 foot black man when you see him. Be vigilant today but maintain your humanity. Watch your manners and fears. A machisimo stare down is not necessary. Our interactions with each other in OUR neighborhood still matters. This, my first post, reflects our current experiences.
Kudos and applause to this woman and
her successful fight to win!
It says a lot about what women are capable
of. Don’t mess with an UWS woman!!!!