[Reader-submitted photo]
The New York Post checks in with a not-so-subtle piece on the recent spate of burglaries/robberies in the neighborhood: "East Village crime wave has residents living in fear."
Per the report:
A brazen bandit is causing panic in the East Village, where petrified residents are demanding a sit-down with the NYPD following as many as eight break-ins.
In one case, the bold thief stood over his sleeping victim with a flashlight and demanded his belongings. In two other heists, stunned residents walked in on the invader as he ransacked their $6,000-a-month apartments.
There are interviews with residents of an East Fourth Street building that was hit.
Jeff Young, 50, a fourth-floor resident of the same building, said on Wednesday that two men posing as gas-company workers tried to talk their way into his apartment.
Young said he “heard a click” that convinced him they had a gun, but the would-be home invaders “bugged out” and he warned them he “had a gat [pistol].”
“This neighborhood was rising and now it’s falling apart,” he told The Post.
And a third-party perspective on this.
Joseph Giacalone, a retired NYPD detective sergeant and professor at John Jay College of Criminal Justice, said the burglar’s brazen behavior is worrisome.
“This is not normal burglar behavior and has a high likelihood of more serious implications — rape or murder,” he said. “Burglars don’t look for a confrontation — they want to enter your home, grab your stuff and get out.”
Flyers posted in the buildings where the break-ins occurred mentioned a multi-block association meeting with the 9th Precinct set for Wednesday evening. However, according to the article, this isn't happening.
Meanwhile, crime statistics (PDF here) in the 9th Precinct show that burglaries are up 58 percent in 2017 (38) from 2016 (24).
The overall crime line in the Precinct is down 1.8 percent for the year ... and you can see the historical numbers...
NYPD sources told the Post that the 9th Precinct has made 17 burglary arrests in 2017.
And here's the map an EVG reader made showing where the recent robberies/burglaries took place..
The Post reported that the "targeted buildings house college students and young professionals, and none have a doorman. At all but two, a reporter was buzzed in, no questions asked."
Finally, some common-sense advice from the NYPD...
Be sure to close & lock your windows when heading out. #NYPD #Burglary pic.twitter.com/oL3rnGUAIR
— NYPD 9th Precinct (@NYPD9Pct) April 8, 2017
Updated 6 a.m.
ABC 7 has a similar news story titled "Crime Wave Leading to Fear, Panic Among East Village Residents."
Previously on EV Grieve:
A report of 7 burglaries in the past month in these 6 East Village buildings
20 comments:
A lot of the younger residents in our building are NYU kids from the burbs. They have never lived in the city and they don't always lock their doors. They also buzz in people without finding out who they are. The thieves have realized they are plenty of easy marks here now. I try to educate the younger people in my building and some of them listen but others don't get it. They think the neighborhood is "nice" now and that things have changed and crime isn't a problem. It's hard to combat the ignorance.
I think some of the young people moving in the EV think crime does not exist here at all. They move into buildings with no old timers who could clue them into how to not be a victim with some common sense rules such as never buzz someone in that you are not expecting. For the most part this is a somewhat affluent victim these thieves are going for, they know where to find them and that they are an easy mark.
My guess the culprits live nearby. This type of criminal only operates on familiar turf, they know where to hide, run to to avoid being seen or captured. The cops need to school these victims on some safety basics, and the landlords have to step up their buildings security using some of that inflated rent money to install camera would be a start.
I don't blame the victims here I had a similar break in the within the first week of moving here in 1981. It was a disturbing thing to wake up with 4 men standing above you asking for your stuff. I had no stuff back then and they left but without an incident but that night changed how I perceived my surroundings to this day.
Close and lock your doors huh. I learned that particular rule to live by when I was, I don't know.. four years old? I grew up in the suburbs by the way. Jesus Christ.
Please, stop letting people into buildings without verifying that they belong there. I see a lot of people doing this like it's not a big deal, but it's insane.
If someone rings your bell and claims to be a guest/delivery for another apartment, don't just buzz them in to be "nice". (accept stranded deliveries at the front door if you must, even though it's a lot of trouble) Always close building doors behind you & be wary of strange people trying to nudge in behind a resident. And definitely do not take it upon yourself to let in "utility workers" if the building management has posted or sent no notice that such people are expected.
Plus, always report a broken front door & make your management company's phone ring off the hook if that's what it takes. And keep windows closed/locked/guarded, particularly windows with A/C units and windows facing fire escapes.
Let's make this easy: if everyone who leaves their front doors and windows open would just post their address here then the burglar can focus his efforts on their apartments and he can leave the rest of us alone.
Last week I chewed out a young guy who tried to quietly catch the door behind me. He was probably innocent, as he was wearing hospital scrubs, but the point still stands: catching the door behind people is what criminals do. I don't care if you are "just there to see a friend."--I don't know you, you are a stranger to me. People like this young man need to realize we are in NYC, that kind of behavior is not kosher. In past, less polite eras he would've gotten a punch in the mouth.
Delivery people like Amazon, UPS, Fresh Direct, Blue Apron ETC. buzz everyone until someone lets them in. They seem to think they have a right to enter regardless. I caught Fresh Direct following someone into my building even though I went out there and specifically told them not to come in since those who they were for were not home.
This excessive new package delivery situation is the major problem, but also tenants too afraid to refuse to let a stranger in behind them. All you have to do is say you're from Amazon and some stupid transplant or airbnb jerk will buzz you in. Burglars know this. Again -- Unless they are coming directly to YOUR APT for you, do not buzz ANYONE in. EVER. Just say "Sorry, you buzzed the wrong apartment." That's how we do it.
Really ... I grew up in suburbs, we had crime and knew enough to look our damn doors. Gift it a rest already.
I had a college or just out of college age person in my building move out and she left a fair amount of stuff in the hallway. Not particularly uncommon.
The next day she was sitting in the entryway and asked me if I saw a few garment bags. I had to tell her that if you left it wasn't stealing, it's called "free stuff".
Don't remember being that clueless and before I moved here 20+ years ago, I was living in a town with 150 people and never took the keys out of my truck or locked my house.
This nut bag must live right in the area considering how small his strike zone is.
Interesting to note that when Kushner's company Westminster renovates apartments, they generally replace the old door with its three or four old locks and deadbolts, with a new door with one medium-security lock. Realizing that he, too, is a relative newcomer to the neighborhood, I only hope he is more cognizant when it comes to the national security of the USA.
What crazy is these buildings renovate the apartments and charge these kids insane rents but don't upgrade the buzzer systems. There is no reason why all of these systems could be upgraded to camera systems so you could see who is buzzing. And there should be security cameras in every building. They are so inexpensive now. But the landlords make minimal, cosmetic upgrades and don't do a thing about security.
Similar sprees and waves are going on in Queens and Brooklyn too. The same shit being robbed too, iphones, laptops, loose cash, jewelry too. The same lack of precautions by the victims and the greedy and stingy landlords also.
It should not be a surprise that these stupid marks who are paying stupid high rents live under a false sense of security with the daily hype of how supposedly safe the city is compared to 30 years ago and are so blissfully arrogant that they think nothing will happen to them or think they are immune from being violated by criminality.
No wonder major cities, well hot and vibrant cities like ours, are getting rid of hospitals.
@1:22 pm
No, it's absolutely stealing unless the owner intended to abandon the items, which of course they didn't, since they were in the lobby not the street. Keep telling them youngings to stay off your lawn!
Is it stupid to leave your door unlocked? Yes. Is the east village a safe neighborhood? Also yes.
Get Ring for your apartment.
12:26pm you are NO ONE to chew out the guy when YOU allowed him to be in position to catch the door thus break in if he was a burgular. When opening the door make sure no one is around to catch it.
Btw wtf were you doing chewing out a stranger? What if he had a gun or a knife?
Here's what you/all of you do: when you open your front door, you close it immediately. If someone comes to the door and asks you to open it, ignore him or her. If the person opens the door and chews you out for not opening it, say "What are you bitching about when you have the key?" and walk away.
WE
DON'T
PANIC
@8:59pm: Get a grip! ANYTHING left in hallways is generally considered a fire hazard b/c it blocks egress, and the FDNY would be the first to say it has to be removed ASAP.
Further, you don't move out in "stages" - this young woman was very naive (to put it politely) to leave anything of value in a public hallway and expect it to be there the next day. She could have asked for another resident to hold her stuff in their apartment as a favor or for a small fee.
I get the sense that there may be more to this story than has been told here.
I've lived in the east village for over 30 years and burglary has always been a problem. I live in a newish building now so decent security but people still just buzz anyone in. If I am not expecting anyone, I do not answer the buzzer. Also very few people have a deadbolt lock on their front door in my building. They just have the single lock. I learned some years ago in my previous building that the thieves will always go for the easy in and out. No lock is foolproof but if it's my door with a deadbolt or the neighbor with the flimsy door lock they are going for the easy option.
I learned the hard way many many years when I lived in Queens on the ground floor and didn't put gates on my window. When you are young, you never think anything is going to happen... well guess what.. stuff happens.
JB @1:22 -- You must be new here since you are so unfamiliar with our ways. When you want to get rid of something, you leave it in the hallway of your building. It means anyone who wants it can have it. It has meant that forever. On top of that, I've never heard of anyone ever leaving something overnight in the hall and expecting to see it there the next day. We don't do that because we know we won't see it again. That's not your space and leaving it like that IS abandoning it.
Any tips on computer stores in the East Village that buy laptops? I had mine stolen last week and, without getting anyone in trouble, am looking to find it. I have a hunch that the person who took it was looking to make a quick sale of it.
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