By Gus Saltonstall
A woman was punched and robbed Saturday evening on the Upper West Side, a police spokesperson confirmed to West Side Rag.
The woman was walking near Central Park West and West 69th Street around 7:40 p.m., when a man approached her and punched her arm, police said. He then grabbed her bag and ran into Central Park, NYPD added.
The woman suffered a minor injury to her arm and was taken to Mount Sinai West, police said.
There has been no arrest and the investigation remains ongoing, police said.
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We are fortunate to have such a safe neighborhood that something like this becomes material for an article. I appreciate the NYPD taking good care of us.
How, exactly, does the NYPD ‘take good care’ of you — do you ever see foot patrols — does the NYPD ever *prevent* any crime? Get a grip.
There has been an uptick in crime. Last friday morning a guy with gun and last night w 77th and CPW- someone robbed using gun then fled on e bike.
You couldn’t be more wrong! This is NOT a safe neighborhood. There are wandering homeless on every block. Not to mention the abundance of shelters housing mentally unstable on every other block. Where do you live-certainly not in this neighborhood.
Homeless are allowed to wander. Shelters do house the mentally unstable.
A woman was hurt and your reaction “we are fortunate to have such a safe neighborhood “? How tone deaf.
Tell it to the victim.
So there was a police report and STILL nobody will release a description of the perpetrator.
Everyone in power hates us.
Yes
Reason for more cameras
Nope. Just you, dude.
You mean “man” is not enough? 🙂
nowadays, could have been a woman
It’s just politically incorrect to provide a description of someone who attacked a person. Interesting, eh
What information would help you, personally?
a “full description” is always helpful; is that a problem?
A human did something to another human.
White, black, whatever. Why is it so bad to say if they are black, white, brown? They should describe the person. Give the details. Height, weight, etc.
I had some white dude threaten to punch me near the 72nd and Bway subway station. We have to stop these people from threatening us. Its assault even if they dont hit you.
Vote Better
So just for the sake of it – if they said that it was a white male, 5’10”-6’, 160-180lbs, wearing blue jeans and a white tee shirt… what would you do with that information? It’s not like you can actually use that to identify a suspect for the police. Oh wait… could it possibly be that you are hoping for confirmation that the attacker was a minority just to satisfy your personal bias?
In fact, I now do recall seeing a white male, 5’11 170lb, wearing blue jeans and white T-shirt sprinting at that exact time in the vicinity of CPW and tossing the contents of a woman’s purse into a trash can right near 68th Str. before jumping into a yellow cab with a dent on its right bumper…
But I guess I’m not able to share that information with the police, since I don’t want to show biases or confirmation biases.
As if the people who are asking were asking for that reason. The reality is, if you had seen that, especially after learning that this attack happened, you would report it to the police and not to the West Side Rag.
Not sure what your point is, dude. Lots of people are so startled by the confrontation, and the focus is on their stolen goods, that they ultimately HAVE NO RECOLLECTION of what the perp looked like. That is FACT.
If you add on age, you can narrow down a group to stay away from.
Let’s say he was 20-30. So now you are going to “stay away” from every white 20something male on the UWS? I mean, I described the average height and weight and just chose white as the skin color. My neighbor fits that description. As well as probably about 10-20 people in my building. Not even adding the buildings next to me. So yeah, doesn’t hold water.
Another useless human on earth. I hope they catch him and serve life in prison.
Life is an exaggeration but a good 5-10 would probably help them think if what they did was a good idea or not. I can almost bet it’s not their first time doing this.
Let’s bring a little sanity to the discussion. Do you really think that life in prison is reasonable for a purse snatching and what’s probably misdemeanor assault? If so, should we be giving 5-15 years for littering? I’m in favor of stiff sentences where appropriate, but saying stuff like this makes us look silly.
Never, with the Democrats in charge it’s catch and release.
New York is doomed.
Doomed? Get real, NYC is on a generational run, it’s probably never better or safter to live in NYC (if you can afford it).
Every crime post gets these tiresome comment from people I would bet money don’t live here.
All major categories of crime are still up on 2019. The only exception is homicide – murders have indeed gone down – but everything else (assaults, robberies, rapes, etc) is up.
It might have been much more dangerous in ’70s but some of us were not born back then. We can only compare to what we know/remember and we remember NYC with less random violence. Memories from 2019 are still fresh.
Yes crime stats are up nationally since 2019, remind me, did anything unusual happen in 2020?
We are trending in the right direction under Mamdani/Tisch after 4 years under the corrupt Adams administration, the hysteria is unwarranted.
You might call it “hysteria”, the general public calls it “justified concerns”. Yes, Covid has been the catalyst for spiking crime but we are now in 2026 and people have got reasonable expectations for safety and law enforcement.
FWIW, I agree Tisch is doing a very good job (although I strongly disagree with her relaxed approach to parking/traffic violations for placard elite) but we are still too far away from the 2019 levels of crime. People are much less concerned about the headline number of homicides – which are dominated by gang and domestic violence. The real indicator of public “vibes” is random crimes / “stranger danger” (e.g. assaults and robberies) and those remain elevated.
Let me remind YOU: de Blasio happened, and things went downhill from there – public safety, schools, quality of life. Massive looting became normalized, and we’re still dealing with the repercussions today.
Generalize much? I’m not a fan of Bragg or Mamdani but I think childish, Trumpy exaggerations get us no where and are what is making this country so not great again.
Republicans are the ones who are letting people who assaulted police officers in the capital go free have loser thugs in masks (ICE) violating our civil rights (I think illegal immigration is an issue and those who violate laws should be dealt with but this is not the way to do so – it is just feeding Trump’s pathetic mafia boss complex).
Republican are arresting and deporting murderers rapists and drug dealers while Democrats fight to keep them in the country.
Don’t go away Mad, just go away.
Lawless New York, no wonder decent people are leaving. We better wake up and vote different to expect s different result .
I would like WSR to publish almost every day something like “No mugging, raping, or sucker punching yesterday”. What will be your comment?
I read this week that Nassau and Suffolk county have the highest discrepancy between home buyers and sellers in the country. 30% more buyers than sellers.
Wow, that’s just ridiculous
it’s now next to impossible to “vote different” when 1/2 the population gets almost everything free of charge (except for the tax payer)
Who comprises 1/2 the population getting almost everything free and what are they getting? Do you mean the One Percenters and their hefty tax breaks under Trump?
The only hefty tax break for high earners under the recent tax bill was the increase in the SALT cap, which was demanded by the house members of high tax (mostly dem) states like NY and California.
50% of the population pays no federal income tax. 50% of New Yorkers pay no NYS income tax. NY millionaires, who make up .9% of the population, pay 44.6% of NYS income tax
The 45% of NYC on Medicaid, and 30% on food stamps
New York City recorded its safest summer and fewest murders in recorded history through August 2026, according to data from the NYPD.
Great voting by the people of NYC to get this result!
Thank you Mamdani!!!
Thank you for keeping Adams’s police commissioner and policies in place. We shall see what happens after Novembers election.
Let’s not give Adams any credit; Hochul effectively forced Adams to appoint Tisch after his prior three resigned amid federal investigation and his own indictment for corruption
He was upset because Ted Cruz got booed in Texas.
Was that the cause of the NYPD helicopter hovering over our neighborhood for 45 minutes last night?
I was wondering about that too.
looking for a late closing donut shop
Where are the cameras? The police?
A good old fashioned mugging!
Crime is down except for the victim.
Be careful out there.
Another day in Mamdani’s “crime is down” city.
When will people wake up and start voting like their life depends on it? Because it does.
Maybe start by putting Saritha Komatireddy in the Attorney General’s office and getting rid of Tish James.
Some people care more about political party affiliation than their own safety and wellbeing. It’s like being in a dv relationship when the person keeps getting abused but continues going back to their abuser over and over.
Ah yes, I long for the completely crime-free days under Giuliani and Bloomberg. 20 years of no crime whatsoever in New York City. Do you remember it? Of course not because it didn’t happen.
Most normal people felt safer during those times when toothpaste wasn’t locked up.
And children on their way to school carried “mugging money” to placate thieves. The past always looks golden to the discontented.
Correct. In the 70s and 80s. Can we please snap out of the memories of a half a century ago?
It was actually way safer when those two were in office. I’ve lived in the upper west side for over 20 years and I’ve noticed the decline since democrats took over. I used to feel safe walking home at 2 or 4 am. Now I don’t feel safe even at 3pm. Strict laws make people think twice before committing a crime. Catch & release emboldens criminals. It’s basic commonsense.
You don’t feel safe at 3 pm? Sounds like a you problem.
Or maybe MsE is a woman and you are a man and there is a vast difference between those two in the sense of vulnerability.
You may “feel” this way because certain media outlets spend all their energy pushing a narrative that NYC is dangerous, however that doesn’t make it true. Facts don’t care about your feelings as they say.
“Facts all come with points of view,
Facts don’t do what I want them to”
–Talking Heads
It wasn’t safer at all. There was far more crime then. As noted above: New York City recorded its safest summer and fewest murders in recorded history through August 2026, according to data from the NYPD.
How about Bragg? I seem to recall that he got a 34 count felony felony conviction not too long ago against someone.
I live on 67th and CPW which has never been all that safe due to mentally ill people or drug addicts roaming the park. Beware! I moved here in 1980 and try to be vigilant.
a neighborhood gets what it voted for, neeeext
Oh please!! Crime numbers ARE down. I’ve lived on UWS for over 60 years. My brother and I were mugged frequently back in the ‘70’s!
Down on ’70s. Still up on 2019 with the exception of homicides.
To compare to the 70s (over 55 years ago) crime is down. To compare to 10 years ago it is up.
Compared to 10 years ago, some crime is up (assaults) and some is down (murder). https://www.nyc.gov/assets/nypd/downloads/pdf/analysis_and_planning/historical-crime-data/seven-major-felony-offenses-2000-2025.pdf
Under New York’s no bail for many crimes law since the crime is a Third Degree Robbery with force but no weapon if he were arrested the Manhattan Court would be required to release him without his posting bail.
When we keep voting Democrat, this is what you are going to get. Catch and release policies…I bet you that jerk who robbed her had priors.
Long live Alvin Bragg!
We’re getting the usual stupid comments about how a single isolated violent incident “shows” that crime is up, even though NYPD’s statistics show that NYC just had its safest summer ever.
It’s the equivalent of “well, it was colder than usual today! Therefore the demonstrably true data showing the earth’s climate is warming is wrong!”
I’d like to think these ignorant takes are people from outside NYC. It hurts to think people in the UWS are actually this cerebrally challenged.
Me not so smart. ( ME live in NYC ).
Me see armed guards at retail stores.
Me see items locked up at CVS.
Me not see it 10-12 years ago,
Exactly it’s hard to believe people on the UWS are this statistically challenged. Crime will always continue to occur *and* NYC is incredibly safe. Both are true!
I am statically challenged.
When it is dry out I always get a shock,
Shock good for brain,
Dear UWS Dad,
I majored in statistics. There’s no need for insults just because someone questions numbers that support your ideological views.
Statistics depend heavily on how data are gathered, processed, categorized, analyzed, and interpreted. Biases, collection methods, assumptions, missing data, and analytical choices can all produce very different results from the same underlying reality. The basic rule still applies: garbage in, garbage out.
https://www.amstat.org/your-career/ethical-guidelines-for-statistical-practice
Yes there can be bias in data collection etc. Feel free to provide some evidence, otherwise you are just claiming your feelings are more valid than the crime statistics.
As one of my professors liked to say “in God we trust, all others bring data”
My response wasn’t about my “feelings.” It was about one thing: how statistics can be manipulated, depending on how data is collected, categorized, and reported. So please don’t deflect. I’m not going to stoop to your level and call you “reading-comprehension challenged,” as you so often belittle people who disagree with you.
As for current crime rates, they clearly show increases in many crime categories. And that’s before accounting for crimes that go unreported or underreported, or are downgraded into different categories – all of which can distort the statistical baseline and make comparisons misleading.
Do yourself a favor: go to the NYC crime data and compare the numbers year by year.
If you reread my comment you’ll see I agree with you that statistics CAN be manipulated. I’m still waiting for your evidence that they ARE being manipulated.
Some categories of crime are up since the absolute low in 2019 (COVID is definitely a factor btw) but that’s different than claiming crimes are being under reported *at a higher rate than they were under reported in 2019* and therefore the stats are unreliable
You’re the one making the unsupported assumption here: that underreporting and downgrading are occurring at the same rate as in 2019. Since then we’ve had Raise the Age, bail and discovery reforms, major changes in NYPD enforcement and arrest practices, and shifts in prosecutorial charging. You can’t assume all of that had zero effect on what gets reported, charged and counted, and then demand proof from me that your assumption is wrong.
For those in ivory towers – yes. For the rest of us – no.
What does that mean? I don’t live in an ivory tower (figuratively or literally).
You don’t need to be an academic or terribly smart person to understand this concept.
Hmm… “low-IQ people.” Where have I heard that before? Oh, right – from our leader whenever someone has the nerve to disagree with him. Nice company you’re keeping.
as Mark Twain said, “there are 3 kinds of lies, “lies, damned lies and statistics, neeeext
Crime on the UWS may be down but we don’t live in a bubble. Pay attention to what’s going on in the other boroughs. They’re only a train ride away from us. There were 3 violent crimes at the 86th and Lex station just this weekend (and the weekend isn’t over yet). How much does it take to convince you there’s an issue?! 🙄
That safest-summer-ever stat wasn’t about the UWS or Manhattan, it was about the entire city. It doesn’t mean there’s no crime or we shouldn’t worry about crime, but every single incident doesn’t need to lead to mass hysteria.
Some of us are old enough to remember the noir tv show that ended each episode with the narrator intoning, “There are 8 million stories in the Naked City.” https://youtu.be/OJ_vZa9jwR8 I lived in Queens in the 1970s when David Berkowitz aka “Son of Sam” terrorized young women like me. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/David_Berkowitz Currently crime is down, not nonexistent, and it’s absurd to blame Mamdani for every incident.
It doesn’t take much to bring out the doomers. Do yourself a favor and don’t be one.
I believe this is where Rick Moranis was attacked? Also did I read that someone else a week or so ago? Easy access to the park right there. Was she on the park side, I wonder?
On a Saturday night when there are lots of people walking around that area, when it is not yet quite dark out. There needs to be more of a police presence.
The commentator who speculated that the perp has a list of priors is probably correct.
As long as the democrats stay in power, things will only get worse. Vote for Bruce Blakeman on 11/3.
If the police stop using their cell phones while they work maybe they will actually see these crimes!
Shocking that their heads are always buried! I support the police and NYPD! But this cell phone thing must be addressed!
Agree. I’ve lived on UWS since the ‘90’s when police used to walk their beats paying attention to street life. Now they’re standing around paying attention to their cell phones. It can’t all be official business.
Where were the violence interrupters? I think I saw one at the McDonald’s near Cafe Luxembourg trying to return a milkshake at the very same time the crime happened.
You and your love ones must not feel safe. Perhaps one of us will be next.
Ladies, please make sure your pocketbooks are cross body bags or slung over your body in a manner that no one can just “grab it” despite being punched. Your bag should also never be behind you, where a pickpocket can get it without you feeling it … but carried like a football in front of your body. Also, scream as loud as you possibly can and act like a bigger maniac than the perp is …
Wait, I’m confused. I thought this was an incredibly safe residential neighborhood and the statistics prove it. Apparently the statistics work even better if you scream loudly enough.
What I notice is that it was a Saturday, early evening, and not an isolated area. In good weather on a Saturday evening there are usually plenty of tourists and locals around there.
One reason a lot of us are registering more danger is that the days, times, and places where attacks are happening are increasing. It used to be you could avoid being robbed/mugged if you stayed out of the park after dark, avoided isolated streets and avenues, and weren’t walking around by yourself or taking the subway after midnight. (Not that you shouldn’t be able to do all those things, but they were accurately perceived as higher risk).
People like to feel like they have *some* control over their own safety, and if crime spreads to times and places that used to be safe, it’s a big problem.
So many valid points. So much sadness and anger. NYC 50 years ago was not and IS not NYC today, by a long shot. By almost any measure, NOW is when you want to experience our great city. Looking back is yearning for youth, naivety. Living in the now is navigating the unfairness, the separations which have always existed. Crime in and around CP was a major issue 150 years ago. as reported on by several publications. For as diverse as we are and successful in spite of tribal animosities, the UWS shines vey bright when compared to similar neighborhoods in London, Paris or Rome, if you like looking back. Hell people, Atlanta had a Jewish mayor AND a black mayor before NYC. We were not all that progressive then , or radical now. Hold your water. The current Mayor and Police Commissioner represent an honest 2026 attempt to govern better and keep us safe in the process. NYC and the UWS thrives because the vast majority of folks love our history, culture and will always figure out a way to gain the advantage…be it through education, family connections, cultural referrals or hard work and street smarts. This test tube of ours is not without danger, but the outcomes and rewards can be life changing. Embrace opportunity, don’t regret it.