By Anya Schiffrin
A doorman, Julian Bika, had his car stolen on Riverside Drive between 97th and 98th Streets, just before 6 a. m. Tuesday morning, Bika told West Side Rag, displaying the incident report filed with the police.
Bika was parking on his way to work when the super from a nearby building called to him for help. The super had interrupted three young men who were trying to steal a catalytic convertor from a car parked on Riverside Drive, and had turned the car on its side. Bika went to confront the three men and they responded that they had a gun.
“I stupidly left my car running, and then they were running and coming with their car to hit me and the super,” Bika said. Then, realizing Bika’s car was running, they jumped in and made off with it. In the car was $90 in cash and a cash card and wallet. Very quickly, Bika got a text alert from his bank as the men had apparently tried to withdraw $1,000.
“I think they were very young, because they were moving so fast. They were skinny and wearing masks that covered everything except their eyes,” Bika said, adding, “It’s a good thing they didn’t kill us.”
The super of Bika’s building said that car theft and vandalism is a daily occurrence on Riverside Drive.
An NYPD spokesperson said they had not yet received word of the incident. We will check back for an update.
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Hoodlums,
Horrible what the past two mayors have turned this city into
Bring back stop and frisk
I probably should not rise to the troll about stop and frisk – never the answer, but especially a poor notion here, for THIS automobile crime problem. In a high vulnerability, specific, spread-out location (leafy, long, and winding RSD) a specific type of crime carried out by fast moving groups absolutely warrants law enforcement presence, surveillance, and rapid intervention. It’s genuinely tough, however, because there is enough space for the criminals to watch for opportunities when law enforcement is elsewhere, and then move fast, as the doorman said.
Even if caught. Alvin Bragg wouldn’t prosecute this kind of thing. So what’s the point of and effort on the part of the police
But Gale Brewer said crime was (slightly) down?
“and had turned the car on its side” lol
luckily nobody noticed.
Please note:
Non-rich people do have cars and do need to drive to Manhattan.
Doormen can’t afford Manhattan rents and have to commute at odd hours.
Pity the doorman and pity us all.
I am aghast that the Mayor and all elected officials present and depend on their supposed “crime statistics” to build a case that crime “is less”, “murders are down”, concluding that the city is safe(er).
Where do they live? In ivory
towers? Don’t they walk down the same streets, we do? Is it a case of willful blindness?
Does anyone remember when quality of life mattered?
All you have to do is walk on any sidewalk, or navigate any crosswalk, to see the streets are out of control!
Policemen/women stand at the crosswalk directing traffic and never glance at the wheeled vehicles going the wrong way in a bike lane, speeding through stop signs at will, and menacing pedestrians on sideWALKS that are supposed to be for WALKING.
It saddens and frightens me to see the city, and particularly the UWS, deteriorate the way it has in the last few years.
It seems some citizens think they are entitled to do what they damn well please. And why is that?
BECAUSE THERE ARE NO CONSEQUENCES FOR UNLAWFUL OR INAPPROPRIATE BEHAVIOR.
IT’S A FREE- FOR- ALL and it gets scarier by the day!
Been residing in the UWS since birth (1967) . . . I was advised at a very young age to never park along Riverside Drive . With the numerous trees obstructing the street lights, the avenue, at times, can be dangerous for dog walkers; joggers; and parked vehicles alike.
The one time we parked on Riverside, our side mirror was removed. We never parked there again.
We were raised the same way. Doing anything on Riverside Drive is just asking for trouble
Things have changed in the last sixty years. I’ve been parking, walking dogs, running, and taking my daughter out along Riverside for years now. I’ve never had an issue. I’ve maybe seen one or two cars in that time that have been broken into, but it’s very rare.
Getting out of the car to confront them was your mistake. A car is very intimidating when you point it at someone and rev the engine.
Never ever park on riverside drive. Crime is out of control. Naysayers are in denial. I’ve been here my whole life. As bad as ever. And so random.
Terrible, and glad no one was hurt. They need tons of security cameras along Riverside Drive, but if the perps are wearing all black with faces covered….. there’s not much you can do except post armed guards at every corner…. and who wants that and who pays for it??.
You guys thought voting for Hochul and Adams was “law and order.”
Wake up, NY!
I’m not sure how literally we’re supposed to take the headline that car theft is a daily occurrence on Riverside Drive, but we have actual numbers on the this – in the first 210 days of the year there were 128 cases of grand theft auto in the entire neighborhood. https://www.westsiderag.com/2023/08/07/nypd-releases-citywide-and-uws-crime-stats-showing-we-are-safer-but-do-we-feel-it
Also I’m not clear exactly what happened here – the car was on its side? Is that how you normally steal a catalytic converter?
No one believes the numbers.
Do you think the NYPD is lying? Or that people aren’t bothering to report a stolen car (even though you need a police report to file any kind of insurance claim)?
The number of people in our neighborhood who choose not to believe in reality is getting scary. At the very least, claims that the data isn’t real with nothing to back them up don’t add a whole lot to the discussion in these comments.
While the anti-car urbanists who own cars on the UWS garage them.
Wait until Adams slashes the NYPD budget to pay for Biden’s migrant crisis.
My catalytic converter was stolen on my parked car on 76 th street between riverside and west end it would be good to compare notes . Find their pattern — i am sure there is one ..
I don’t understand why catalytic converters getting stolen on RSD is still a thing. The precinct should be either patrolling the street overnight, install surveillance cameras, or both. Reactionary policing is over!