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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...
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
