NYC TNB

[The Bobster]

Woman shot with dog in NYC may have been innocent victim: sources

Jennifer Ynoa was inside the Salim Smoke Shop on DeKalb Avenue in Bedford-Stuyvesant with her pit bull around 9:45 p.m. when the suspect got out of a car, walked inside, and fired off three shots.

nypost.com

Woman ID’d after she and dog were shot dead in NYC smoke shop​

By
Amanda Woods


January 3, 2022 9:15am
Updated

Jennifer Ynoa was inside the Salim Smoke Shop with her pit bull when the suspect got out of a car, walked inside, and fired off three shots. Twitter

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The woman who was gunned down with her dog by a lone gunman late Sunday lived just blocks from the Brooklyn smoke shop where she was killed, cops said.
Jennifer Ynoa, 36, was inside the Salim Smoke Shop on DeKalb Avenue in Bedford-Stuyvesant with her pit bull around 9:45 p.m. when the suspect got out of a car, walked inside, and fired off three shots – striking Ynoa and her pup, police said.
Ynoa, who lived about two blocks from the store near Franklin Avenue, stumbled just outside the door, where she was discovered with a gunshot wound to her torso, cops said. She was taken to the Brooklyn Hospital Center, where she was pronounced dead.
Her dog, discovered next to her, also died of its injuries.
It was unclear whether Ynoa was targeted, or whether the gunman was aiming for someone else in the shop. Police also did not immediately know whether Ynoa knew the shooter.
Jennifer Ynoa’s pit bull died after being shot by the suspect.Facebook
No arrests had been made by Monday morning.
In a separate shooting hours later, a 25-year-old man was standing at East New York Avenue and Albany Avenue in Crown Heights around 1 a.m. Monday when someone fired multiple rounds from a car, striking him in the leg, cops said.
He was taken to the Kings County Hospital Center in stable condition.
It was unclear whether Jennifer Ynoa was targeted or if the gunman was aiming for someone else in the shop.Wayne Carrington
It is unclear whether he was the intended target.

 

[The Bobster]

NYC wiped out five years of policing progress in 2021

The Big Apple saw an increase in almost every category of major crime in 2021 — returning to levels not seen in five years, NYPD data shows.

nypost.com

NYC wiped out five years of policing progress in 2021​

By
Craig McCarthy


January 3, 2022 2:55pm
Updated

The tally for major crime topped 100,000 incidents for the first time since 2016. Spencer Platt/Getty Images

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The Big Apple saw an increase in almost every category of major crime in 2021 — returning to levels not seen in five years, NYPD data shows.
The tally for major crime — murder, rape, robbery, felony assault, burglary, grand larceny and grand larceny auto — topped 100,000 incidents for the first time since 2016.
Felony assaults surpassed 22,000 incidents for the first time since 2001, according to police data that also showed a 9.8 percent jump from 2020.
Another pandemic crime trend, stolen cars, was up 15 percent from 2020 and reached levels not seen since 2010.
And for the first time in a decade, murders neared 500 last year — which closed out with 486 slayings, compared to 468 the year prior.
Burglary was the only category of the seven major crimes that saw a decrease — 18 percent — from 2020 to 2021, but it was still up 17 percent compared to pre-pandemic figures from 2019, according to the data.
Guns are displayed on a table during a gun buy-back event at a church in Staten Island on April 24, 2021.Spencer Platt/Getty Images
Misdemeanor assaults were also down by nearly 14 percent compared to 2019.
Reversing the troubling crime trend remains one of the main challenges for Mayor Eric Adams, who has said he wants his police administration, led by new top cop Keechant Sewell, to create a blueprint for policing in other major cities.
Homicides steadily decreased in the Big Apple before spiking during the pandemic, primarily driven by the two-year pattern of surging gun violence.
Police gather at the scene of a shooting along Ludlow Street on March 30, 2021, in New York City.Spencer Platt/Getty Images
In 2021, the NYPD recorded 1,562 incidents of gun violence with 1,877 victims, a 101 percent and 103 percent increase from 2019.
Robberies were up slightly from 2020 and 2019, 5.1 percent and 2.8 percent, respectively.
Grand larcenies were also up but still remained lower than pre-pandemic levels.

 

[The Bobster]

Manhattan DA to stop seeking prison sentences in slew of criminal cases

In his first memo to staff on Monday, Alvin Bragg said his office “will not seek a carceral sentence” except for in homicide and a handful of other cases

nypost.com

Manhattan DA to stop seeking prison sentences in slew of criminal cases​

By
Larry Celona and

Tamar Lapin


January 4, 2022 11:32am
Updated









Alvin Bragg was sworn in as District Attorney on Jan. 1





Manhattan’s new district attorney has ordered his prosecutors to stop seeking prison sentences in a slew of criminal cases, according to a set of progressive policies made public Tuesday.
In his first memo to staff on Monday, Alvin Bragg said his office “will not seek a carceral sentence” except with homicides and a handful of other cases, including domestic violence felonies, some sex crimes and public corruption.
Alvin Bragg said his office “will not seek a carceral sentence” except for in homicide and a handful of other cases.Craig Ruttle/AP
“This rule may be excepted only in extraordinary circumstances based on a holistic
analysis of the facts, criminal history, victim’s input (particularly in cases of
violence or trauma), and any other information available,” the memo reads.
Assistant district attorneys must also now keep in mind the “impacts of incarceration” including on public safety, barriers to housing and employment, financial cost and race disparities, Bragg instructed.
In cases where prosecutors do seek to put a convict behind bars, the request can be for no more than 20 years for a determinate sentence, meaning one that can’t be reviewed or changed by a parole board.
Alvin Bragg was sworn in as Manhattan’s new district attorney on Jan. 1.Julie Skarritt/Richard Fife PR via AP
“The Office shall not seek a sentence of life without parole,” the memo states.
Bragg, who was sworn into office Jan. 1, also made clear his mission is to reduce the number of defendants locked up pretrial, telling his prosecutors, “Particularly given the ongoing crisis at Rikers, we must reserve pretrial detention for very serious cases.”
The 48-year-old also vowed to stop pursuing many low-level offenses in his note to staff, titled: “Achieving Fairness and Safety.”
Alvin Bragg made clear his mission is to reduce the number of defendants locked up pretrial.Craig Ruttle/AP
A civil rights lawyer and former federal prosecutor, he drew on his own experiences growing up in the 1980s in Harlem in his note to staff — and during the campaign — saying it has influenced his belief in reforming the criminal justice system.
“Data, and my personal experiences, show that reserving incarceration for matters involving significant harm will make us safer,” the memo reads.

 

[The Bobster]

Man shot during robbery on Upper East Side during violent night of crime

The victim said he was inside a black SUV at East 96th Street and First Avenue around 7:45 p.m. when a thief shot him in the upper right leg and snatched his wallet, according to police.

nypost.com

Man shot during robbery on Upper East Side during violent night of crime​

By
Amanda Woods


January 5, 2022 10:02am
Updated

Police at the scene of a stabbing near Greely Square and 33rd Street. William Miller

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A man was shot during a robbery on the Upper East Side late Tuesday, cops said.
The victim said he was inside a black SUV at East 96th Street and First Avenue around 7:45 p.m. when a thief shot him in the upper right leg and snatched his wallet, according to police.
The shooter took off, and it appeared the injured victim ran about two blocks after he was shot, cops said.
Investigators found a handgun on First Avenue near East 85th Street — 11 blocks away — that they believe may be linked to the shooting, police said.
The victim was taken to Weill Cornell Medical Center with non-life-threatening injuries, cops said.
Hours later, a woman was shot in the leg inside an apartment on Broadway near Chauncey Street in Brownsville around 4 a.m. Wednesday, police said.
Cops said the woman initially told investigators a stranger knocked at her door and she opened it – though investigators were questioning that narrative later in the morning, authorities said.
Blood at the scene of the violent stabbing incident.William Miller
She claimed the man pistol-whipped her – and when she tried to mace him, he shot her, police said.
She was taken to Brookdale University Hospital Medical Center in stable condition.
No arrests have been made.
A man was also wounded in an overnight stabbing in Midtown Manhattan, cops said.
The victim was arguing with another man on Broadway near West 33rd Street around 11:30 p.m. Tuesday when his rival stabbed him in the right leg, police said.
The suspect in a random weekend subway stabbing flees the scene.
He was taken to Bellevue Hospital with non-life-threatening injuries.
The suspect, believed to be in his 40s and last seen wearing a black jacket and yellow sweatshirt, fled after the incident.
Meanwhile, cops early Wednesday said a homeless man was hurt – and possibly left paralyzed – in an unprovoked stabbing on the rails over the weekend.
The 36-year-old victim was waiting for a Manhattan-bound A train at the Rockaway Boulevard station in the Ozone Park section of Queens at 2:25 p.m. Sunday when an assailant suddenly came up behind him and stabbed him twice in the neck with an unidentified object, cops said.
The victim, whose address is listed as a shelter, fell to the ground and the attacker – who said nothing during the assault – fled out of the station.
Cops said Wednesday he was listed in critical but stable condition at Jamaica Hospital Medical Center. Investigators believe he could be paralyzed from the neck down, according to police sources.
Cops released a photo showing the suspect – wearing a blue jacket and carrying a duffel bag in one hand and holding what appears to be a weapon in the other – fleeing the station.

 

[The Bobster]

Victim identified in NYC’s first homicide of 2022, suspect found dead

Shwesin Nyuntwai was found lying in a pool of blood next to a Rite Aid in Astoria around 8:30 p.m. New Year’s Day after surveillance video showed her walking with an unidentified man.

nypost.com

Victim identified in NYC’s first homicide of 2022, suspect found dead​

By
Larry Celona and

Amanda Woods


January 6, 2022 12:17pm
Updated

Shwesin Nyuntwai was dead next to a Rite Aid in Astoria on New Year's Day. Christopher Sadowski

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The woman stabbed to death in the city’s first homicide of the year was identified by cops Wednesday — as the suspect in the grisly case was found dead in his apartment, police sources said.
Shwesin Nyuntwai, 41, was found lying in a pool of blood next to a Rite Aid in Astoria around 8:30 p.m. New Year’s Day — a short time after surveillance video shows her walking with an unidentified man, police said.
Nyuntwai, of Elmhurst, was stabbed in her upper left back, left breast and twice just below her left shoulder — and was taken to Mount Sinai Queens, where she was pronounced dead, cops said.
On Wednesday, a 60-year-old man, eyed in connection to the slaying, was found dead in his apartment on 33rd Avenue near 14th Street, about three blocks from the spot Nyuntwai’s body was found, police sources said.
Shwesin Nyuntwai was stabbed in multiple places before she died.Christopher Sadowski A 60-year-old man, who was a suspect in the case, was found dead in his apartment.Christopher Sadowski
There were no signs of trauma, and the city medical examiner’s office will officially determine how he died.
The man worked on the same block as the victim and may have been stalking her — though no previous complaints or arrests have been made, according to the sources.
The slain victim’s brother, Arkar Nyuntwai, 33, of Beaver Creek, Ohio, told The Post the local police department notified his family about Shwesin’s death on Monday – and they flew to New York the next day.
Shwesin had just left her job as a seamstress when she was attacked, her brother said he learned from police.
“I haven’t seen her for three years, but we talked,” Arkar said. “She called my mom a lot, every day pretty much. So I knew about her, you know, from my mom. We text her, you know, Happy New Year that New Year night and I replied back to her, and that was the last text that we had.”
The victim’s brother said he knew nothing about the suspect in the slaying.
“She’s a very kind-hearted woman, you know,” he added. “I mean, she’s just the last person to be killed like this.”
“It’s the only sister we’ve got, you know? We’re still in shock.”

 

[The Bobster]

Knife-wielding suspect has felony charge reduced under Manhattan DA Alvin Bragg’s policies

A wanted ex-con allegedly stole more than $2,000 worth of merchandise by threatening a drug store worker with a knife — yet had his armed robbery charges downgraded.

nypost.com

Knife-wielding suspect has felony charge reduced under Manhattan DA Alvin Bragg’s policies​

By
Joe Marino,

Tina Moore,

Ben Feuerherd and

Bruce Golding


January 11, 2022 5:23pm
Updated









Video shows suspect William Rolon allegedly robbing a Duane Reade at knifepoint








A wanted ex-con allegedly stole more than $2,000 worth of merchandise by threatening a drug store worker with a knife — yet had his armed robbery charges downgraded under the controversial, progressive policies of Manhattan’s new district attorney, The Post has learned.
The move followed a similar case — featured on the front page of Sunday’s Post — in which prosecutors reduced a felony robbery charge to misdemeanor petit larceny as per the marching orders DA Alvin Bragg gave them last week.
“Bragg’s policies are an affront to every law-abiding citizen in New York City,” fumed former Manhattan assistant district attorney Daniel Ollen, who’s now a defense lawyer.
“Violent criminals now have carte blanche to re-offend, knowing full well that they will never again sniff the inside of a jail cell.”
Ollen added: “If you thought things couldn’t get any worse, think again. God help us.”
Manhattan DA Alvin Bragg is under fire after his new policies helped reduce the charge of an alleged armed robber who is an ex-con. William C. Lopez/NYPOST
In the latest case, career criminal William Rolon, 43, is accused of filling a plastic trash bag with cold medicine and other items inside a Duane Reade store on the Lower East Side around 12:20 a.m. Saturday.
When Rolon left the store at 100 Delancey St. without paying, a female manager confronted him and saw he was brandishing a pocket knife, according to court papers.
“F–k you, I’m taking everything,” he allegedly said.
Rolon and an unidentified accomplice then headed west with the loot, which was worth $2,209, law enforcement sources familiar with the matter said.
Rolon returned to the store around 5:30 p.m. the same day and allegedly stole more cold medicine, some paper towels and other items, according to court papers.
A video shows suspect William Rolon allegedly robbing a Duane Reade at knifepointNY Post William Rolon allegedly robbed more than $2,000 of merchandise from a Duane Reade in Manhattan.
Another manager recognized Rolon from the earlier incident — which was caught on surveillance video — and called the cops, leading to his arrest, sources said.
While in custody at the nearby 7th Precinct headquarters, a small package of heroin allegedly fell out of Rolon’s sock, according to court papers.
Cops charged Rolon with first-degree robbery and criminal possession of a weapon in the first incident, sources said.
But when he was arraigned in Manhattan Criminal Court early Sunday morning, the robbery charge was dropped by the Manhattan DA’s Office and he was instead charged with two counts of petit larceny and related low-level offenses, including second-degree menacing, court papers show.
“If you’re a cop, you cannot charge a menacing with a petit larceny. That’s a robbery,” a law enforcement source said.
“This is Police Academy 101.”
William Rolon later returned to the store to rob it a second time, but was recognized by a manager who called the cops. William Farrington
The move by prosecutors was in keeping with the orders outlined by Bragg in a “Day One” memo he issued on Jan. 3, his first full day in office.
Under Bragg’s directives, certain robberies of businesses are to be prosecuted as petit larcenies provided that no victim was wounded and there’s no “genuine risk of physical harm.”
The manager who Rolon allegedly threatened told cops she feared for her life and didn’t want to return to work, sources familiar with the matter said, and the criminal complaint notes that Rolon’s alleged conduct “placed her in fear of physical injury, serious physical injury or death.”
“He just ignored the victim,” Manhattan defense lawyer Michael Discioarro said of Bragg.
“He’s telling the victim: You don’t deserve protection from the state.”
Discioarro, a former Bronx prosecutor, added: “If this is how we’re going to prosecute crime — by ignoring crime — we’re in trouble.”
The manager declined to comment.
The police charged William Rolon with first-degree robbery and criminal possession of a weapon but the Manhattan DA’s office reduced those charges.Christopher Sadowski
The incident at the Duane Reade followed a robbery arrest Thursday at a TJ Maxx store in Chelsea, after which the NYPD’s Sergeants Benevolent Association claimed a prosecutor “intentionally omitted” from the criminal complaint an allegation that the suspect threatened workers with a pair of scissors.
The arresting officer refused to sign the complaint until that information was added, but prosecutors still downgraded a third-degree robbery charge to petit larceny, in accordance with Bragg’s orders, sources said.
In his memo, Bragg initially said all cases of commercial robberies with a “deadly weapon” or “dangerous instrument” would be downgraded, but his office walked back that directive the following day amid outrage from Manhattan shopkeepers.
Instead, commercial robberies involving guns will still be prosecuted as felonies, the DA’s office said.
At the time of Rolon’s arrest Saturday, he was wanted in Brooklyn for failing to appear in court in October on charges that include felony assault with a weapon, records show.
That case involves an incident that took place in April, records show.
He was freed on supervised release at his Manhattan arraignment on Sunday and then taken to Brooklyn Criminal Court, where he was released without bail.
Manhattan DA Alvin Bragg has attracted controversy for his progressive policies.G.N.Miller/NYPost

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Gubernatorial hopefuls slam DA Bragg for new policies, call for removal ​

Former Manhattan prosecutor Mark Bederow said the decision to charge Rolon “with petit larceny, in essence, assured that bail would not be set and he would be back out on the street after arraignment.”
“Charging him with a misdemeanor also likely meant the court in Brooklyn who saw him after the Manhattan arrest might have been unaware that the allegations were much more serious than a simple petit larceny, which likely led to his release again without bail,” he said.
Bederow, now a defense attorney, also noted that Rolon’s record means that he could “be classified as a violent predicate felon, which would subject him to a substantial and mandatory prison term if he was convicted of a violent robbery on his recent Manhattan arrest.”
Bederow added, “The charging decision made by the Manhattan ADA appears to be in lockstep with the Bragg memo and exactly what many people feared.”
Rolon has a rap sheet that lists more than 20 arrests that date back to 1991 and involve charges of rape, robbery, assault and drug dealing, sources said.
In 1997, Rolon was sentenced to three to six years in prison for robbery in upstate Fulton County, and he was later slapped with a five-year sentence in 2009 for attempted robbery in Brooklyn, records show.
He was released from supervision in the latter case in 2019, records show.
A veteran cop said that while he agreed with Bragg that homeless, mentally ill shoplifters should be diverted to treatment, “the violent guys who have weapons — they need to be prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law.”
“He’s saying all of them should get a break and I can’t concur with that,” the cop said.
Rolon is being represented by the Legal Aid Society, which didn’t immediately return a request for comment.
Bragg’s office didn’t return repeated requests for comment and only sent a reporter Rolon’s criminal complaint — a public record under state law — after multiple inquiries.
The incidents at Duane Reade came after the SBA alleged that Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg’s office intentionally omitted the use of a weapon from a criminal complaint regarding a robbery at a TJ Maxx. Google Maps
But during a Monday morning radio interview on WNYC’s “The Brian Lehrer Show,” Bragg drew a distinction between robberies committed by someone who “goes into the store” with a gun and “waves it around” and those that involve what the Penal Law calls a “dangerous instrument.”
“They are, you know, cases that, you know, someone attempts and throws something at you like a pork chop,” he said.
“I don’t want to be frivolous about it, but that literally can be a dangerous weapon under the law.”

 

[The Bobster]

Two drivers carjacked in Manhattan less than an hour apart

Two drivers were carjacked in separate Manhattan incidents less than an hour apart on Wednesday, police said.

nypost.com

Two drivers carjacked in Manhattan less than an hour apart​

By
Peter Gerber and

Kenneth Garger


January 13, 2022 12:02am
Updated









Two drivers carjacked in Manhattan less than an hour apart







Two drivers were carjacked in separate Manhattan incidents less than an hour apart on Wednesday, police said.
The first of the brazen auto thefts took place on West 55th Street and Broadway at about 4:30 p.m. when a male suspect stole a black Audi SUV, according to police.
The man threatened the driver with what cops described as an “ineffective” Taser before driving away in the victim’s luxury ride.
Part of the first carjacking was caught on camera and the footage was shared by Instagram account WhatIsNewYork.
The wild video shows the suspect ram a sedan head-on as what appears to be an officer opens the driver’s door and tries to stop him.
Witnesses said the carjackers struck at least two other cars in his wild escape.
The wreck of an Audi that was hit by a carjacker in New York.Peter Gerber
Police said the man ditched the Audi near Columbus Circle and fled underground into the subway.
One of the drivers whose car was hit by the suspect recalled the harrowing scene in an interview with The Post.
The man, who was inside his Toyota Camry, said he was on the phone with his wife when he saw police approach the Audi and order the suspect to put his hands up.
The wrecked car was ditched near Columbus Circle.Peter Gerber
But the suspect instead hit the gas, the victim said.
“He started hitting my car, going the wrong way into me,” the victim recalled. “It’s scary … my car got hit.”
About 45 minutes later, another male suspect armed with a box cutter stole a black Infiniti with TLC plates on West 36th Street near Seventh Avenue, cops said.
No injuries were immediately reported in either incident.
Both carjacking suspects remained on the loose late Wednesday.

 

[The Bobster]

Big Apple carjackings continue to spike, NYPD stats show

Carjackings raced out of control in the Big Apple last year, surging 55 percent over 2020, according to new NYPD data Thursday.

nypost.com

Big Apple carjackings continue to spike, NYPD stats show​

By
Tina Moore and

Jorge Fitz-Gibbon


January 13, 2022 4:57pm








Two drivers carjacked in Manhattan less than an hour apart






Carjackings raced out of control in the Big Apple last year, surging 55 percent over 2020, according to new NYPD data Thursday — a day after two car thieves struck in Manhattan less than an hour apart.
“New York has become carjack city,” one NYPD official told The Post. “Between the guns and the low-risk of stealing cars, we’ve seen this explosion in carjackings.”
From 2018 to last year, carjackings in the five boroughs shot up 355 percent — led by a staggering 4,400-percent jump in the NYPD’s Manhattan North borough command and increases of more than 400 percent in the Bronx and Brooklyn North commands, the statistics show.
So far this year, police have reported 20 carjackings, five of them in the two Manhattan borough commands, which are made up of precincts, the department said Thursday.
Cops reported 510 carjackings last year, compared to 112 in 2018. Last year’s number represents a 55.5 percent leap over the 328 carjackings in 2020.
There have already been 20 carjackings in New York City in 2022, according to the NYPD.EPA/JUSTIN LANE
The biggest spike last year over 2020 was in the Bronx, where 151 carjackings were reported — more than double the number the prior year and an increase of nearly 129 percent, the numbers show.

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The NYPD’s Brooklyn South command saw 112 incidents in 2021, nearly twice the 2020 number of 65 for a 72-percent increase, according to the stats.
“The cars are difficult to steal when they’re parked so they become moving targets,” said retired NYPD Detective Sgt. Joseph Giacalone, who now teaches at the John Jay College of Criminal Justice in Manhattan.
“This is a big problem,” Giacalone continued. “People try to hold onto their cars, which increases the chance of getting killed. The public message should be if you participate in this kind of crime, we’re going to throw the book at you.”
“Any firearm or instrument used to take property is a robbery,” he added. “It’s the imminent use of force.”
An NYPD official told The Post that “New York has become carjack city.”EPA/JUSTIN LANE
Judges cannot set bail for defendants charged with car theft under New York’s criminal justice reform law. But carjackers are typically charged with first- or second-degree robbery, which is still eligible for bail in the Empire State.
Violent car thefts in the city have been rising for years.
On Wednesday, brazen thieves made off with a black Audi SUV in broad daylight on West 55th Street and Broadway in Manhattan, threatening the driver with a Taser before taking off.
Wild video of the incident shows the stolen Audi slam head-on into a sedan — while striking at least two other cars before one of the thieves fled into a subway station.
Less than an hour later, another carjacker used a box cutter to steal a black Infiniti on West 36th Street near Seventh Avenue. That suspect also got away.

 

[The Bobster]

Two killed in overnight NYC shootings

Two men were killed in separate shootings across New York City overnight.

nypost.com

Two killed in overnight NYC shootings​

By
Dean Balsamini


January 15, 2022 8:48am
Updated

Passerby near the crime scene at 1491 Brodway in Brooklyn. Seth Gottfried for NY Post

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Two men were killed in separate shootings across New York City overnight, police said.
A man was fatally shot in the neck and torso at about 4:50 a.m. in front of 1491 Broadway, near Jefferson Avenue in Bushwick, Brooklyn, cops said. The victim, 44, was pronounced dead at Wyckoff Heights Medical Center. There are no arrests and the investigation remains ongoing.
Hours earlier, just before 10 p.m. Friday, cops responding to a 911 call found a 30-year-old man with gunshot wounds to the back and neck inside of an apartment in the Lillian Wald Houses in the East Village, police said.
Davon Venable was pronounced dead at Mount Sinai-Beth Israel Medical Center.
There have been no arrests in either killing, police said.

 

[The Bobster]

One man killed, two injured in NYC shootings Sunday morning

Three people were shot in the early morning hours in the Big Apple Sunday, including a 44-year-old who was killed in upper Manhattan, police said.

nypost.com

One man killed, two injured in NYC shootings Sunday morning​

By
Tina Moore


January 16, 2022 10:23am
Updated

Shootings took place in the Bronx, Washington Heights, and Bedford-Stuyvesant. Christopher Sadowski

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Three people were shot in the early morning hours Sunday in the Big Apple, including a 44-year-old who was killed in upper Manhattan, police said.
The man was found around 2 a.m. in the lobby of 501 West 176th Street in Washington Heights with an apparent bullet wound to his stomach, cops said.
He was taken to New York-Presbyterian Hospital but couldn’t be saved. The city medical examiner will determine his cause of death.
The first shooting was reported around 12:20 a.m. at 2703 Webb Avenue in the Bronx, where a 39-year-old man was blasted once in the left leg, cops said. He was taken to St. Barnabas Hospital and was expected to survive.
Three males fled the scene of the shooting in a red Honda, according to police, who said the motive was unknown.
A short time later, a 29-year-old was shot once in the right hand at 760 Broadway in Bedford-Stuyvesant, cops said. He was taken to Woodhull Hospital by private means and was expected to survive.

 

[The Bobster]

Man stabbed in NYC subway, latest in wave of transit-system violence

A man was hospitalized after he was stabbed Saturday at the Grand Street subway station, police said – in the latest violent incident in the city’s transit system.

nypost.com

Man stabbed in NYC subway, latest in wave of transit-system violence​

By
Larry Celona and

Patrick Reilly


January 16, 2022 3:14am
Updated

A 37-year-old man was stabbed in his buttocks at the B and D train station at Grand Street and Chrystie Street. Christopher Sadowski

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A man was hospitalized after he was stabbed Saturday at the Grand Street subway station, police said – in the latest violent incident in the city’s transit system.
An unidentified assailant stabbed a 37-year-old man in his buttocks at the B and D train station at Grand Street and Chrystie Street around 10:40 p.m., according to police. The attacker fled in an unknown direction.
The victim was transported to Bellevue hospital where he is recovering.
No further details on the incident were immediately available. No arrests have been made and the investigation is ongoing.
The stabbing comes on the same day that an Asian woman was tragically pushed to her death in front of an oncoming subway car by a deranged homeless man at the Times Square station on West 42nd Street.
Blood is visibly seen on a turnstile where the stabbing happened, as the victim was transported to Bellevue hospital where he is recovering.Christopher Sadowski
Michelle Alyssa Go, 40, was waiting on the southbound platform when she was shoved onto the train tracks unprovoked and struck by an R train, police said.
The attacker, 61-year-old Simon Martial, was arrested and admitted that he pushed the woman as he was escorted out of the Midtown South precinct claiming he is “God.”
“Yeah because I’m God. Yes I did. I’m God, I can do it,” Martial shouted to a drove of reporters, adding “she stole my f—ing jacket, that’s why,” when asked about his motive.
The Grand Street subway station stabbing comes on the same day that an Asian woman was fatally pushed in front of an oncoming subway car.Christopher Sadowski

 

[The Bobster]

One person dead in overnight NYC shooting

The victim, who was shot in the abdomen and legs, was taken to Lincoln Hospital, where he was pronounced dead, authorities said

nypost.com

One person dead in overnight NYC shooting​

By
Dean Balsamini


January 22, 2022 9:32am
Updated

The victim, who was shot in the abdomen and legs, was taken to Lincoln Hospital, where he was pronounced dead, authorities said Christopher Sadowski for NY Post


A 33-year-old man was fatally wounded during an overnight shooting in the Bronx, police said.
The deadly gunfire erupted at 6 a.m. Saturday in front of 809 East 139th Street, near Walnut Avenue, cops said.
The victim, who was shot in the abdomen and legs, was taken to Lincoln Hospital, where he was pronounced dead, authorities said
There are no arrests, the NYPD said. “What took place leading up to this right now is unclear,” an NYPD spokesman said.

 

[The Bobster]

NYPD reported more subway assaults in 2021 than any year since 1997

The New York Police Department reported 461 felony assaults in the subway system in 2021; data shows this is the most assaults since 1997.

nypost.com

NYPD reported more subway assaults in 2021 than any year since 1997​

By
David Meyer


January 23, 2022 5:58pm
Updated

MTA Chair Janno Lieber is pushing for Mayor Eric Adams to have more NYPD officers on duty in subway stations. Christopher Sadowski

​

The NYPD reported 461 felony assaults in the subway system last year — a disturbing rate not seen since 1997, according to data released ahead of Monday’s MTA board meetings.
Eight homicides also occurred in the transit system in 2021, the highest since such statistics started being tracked in 1997.
The troubling subterranean trend is despite a decline in crime at the year’s end. In December, there were 194 total major felonies — down from 235 in November, the NYPD said.
Subway robberies — which doubled from October to November — plummeted in December, from 88 the previous month to 58.
Grand larceny and assault also dropped in December, when one murder and four rapes were also reported.
Overall, cops reported 2.46 crimes per million riders — well above both the 1.47 crimes per million riders reported in all of 2019 and comparatively lower figures from just this past summer.
Overall crimes in NYC have decreased since November 2021, unlike the rising transit crimes. Getty Images NYC residents feel safer when officers are present in the subway station.Daniel William McKnight Eight homicides occurred in 2021, the highest since the transit system statistics started being tracked in 1997.Christopher Sadowski Mayor Eric Adams spoke at the vigil honoring the latest subway victim, Michelle Go.AFP via Getty Images
Average weekday subway ridership in January is 2.3 million, according to MTA statistics.
Mayor Eric Adams took office Jan. 1 and pledged to reassign NYPD officers on desk duty to subway patrols. The city has nevertheless continued to experience tragedies on the rails, most notably the recent subway shove killing of Michelle Go.
MTA Chair Janno Lieber said on Sunday that he had spoken with the mayor about subway safety “several times” and that Adams agrees with his push for cops to be stationed on trains and platforms.
“Riders want to see the cops in the areas where they feel a little more vulnerability, and that’s the platform’s and on the trains,” Lieber said on ABC7 New York. “The mayor has stepped up … and said not only are we using the cops who were in Transit, but the cops who are at surface level doing patrol are also going to come down into the system as well.”

 

[The Bobster]

Chaos rules in Soho, where residents say they fear for their safety

Open fires burning on the street. Dangerous vagrants. Fear after dark. This is life these days in SoHo — one of Manhattan’s ritziest neighborhoods.

nypost.com

Chaos rules in Soho, where residents say they fear for their safety​

By
Georgett Roberts and

Gabrielle Fonrouge


January 27, 2022 4:04pm
Updated









Open fires on street in SOHO neighborhood

​

Open fires burning on the street. Dangerous vagrants. Fear after dark.
This is life these days in Soho — one of Manhattan’s ritziest neighborhoods, with home costs that soar into the millions.
Late Wednesday night, video emerged of an open fire burning on Canal Street, and people who live and work in the neighborhood told The Post that crime and chaos has gotten so far out of control, they no longer feel safe.
“I used to be more comfortable letting my children, especially the two older kids, travel by themselves to school and now I don’t,” Maud Maron, a mother of four who’s lived in Soho for over a decade, told The Post Thursday.
“It doesn’t matter if it’s the most expensive neighborhood or the least expensive neighborhood in New York City. Every single New Yorker deserves safety and the ability to walk down the street without open fires.”
Maron, a New Yorker for 32 years, said she used to allow her kids to walk down Canal Street and take the subway to school but these days, but now she opts to drive them.
Last Wednesday, an open fire in the wealthy Manhattan district of Soho was captured on video.jacquetnyc/Twitter
“The reality is, our city is not as safe as it used to be,” said Maron, 50.
“It’s unconscionable because we’re also not helping the people who are clearly suffering. I don’t wish ill on people who are obviously mentally suffering and dressed poorly in the winter but I also don’t want that person near my child.”
Maud Maron expressed her concern about the deterioration of Soho.Gabriella Bass
The Post spoke with a half-dozen New Yorkers who live and work in Soho who all said there is a noticeable change in the neighborhood compared to a few years ago.
In the 1st Precinct, which covers Soho, crime has soared 52.6 percent over the last 28 days compared to last year, and year to date, it’s up 48.4 percent, NYPD data show. The numbers mimic citywide crime trends that show an overall increase of about 40 percent so far this year compared to 2021.
The open fire occurred on Canal Street. Residents complain that homeless and mentally ill people are engaging in violent and unsafe practices in public.jacquetnyc/Twitter
John Constantine, who manages a luxury boutique on Prince Street, moved out of the neighborhood a year ago and said he hasn’t looked back since.
“This neighborhood is awful,” said Constantine, 34.
“I saw a homeless man with a machete fighting with another man with rebar. You can kill someone with that. That was two months ago.”
Recently, a mentally ill man with no shirt came into his store and started dancing, forcing Constantine to “evacuate” his customers.
Local business owners say that rising crime has contributed to a drop in sales and that the neighborhood is in decline.William Farrington The sidewalk where a fire raged in Soho.William Farrington
“He started spitting on the cops. He swung at a female cop. When they were taking him down, he urinated on one of the cops to keep them off of him,” Constantine recalled.
“With the crime and the cold weather, we have a dip in sales. We used to do as much as $10,000 a day. Now we do $1,000. This is the worst I’ve ever seen it. It’s exacerbated by how the neighborhood is going down.”
Ana Fabiolo, who works at a Prince Street juice bar, said she used to work the night shift, but she switched to days when it got “too scary.”
Crime has increased citywide by 40%. Many who work in Soho complain that the neighborhood is no longer safe at night. William Farrington
“About three months ago, my boss went to get pizza. This guy was following her with a blowtorch. He was yelling at her and threatened her with it,” the 23-year-old recounted.
“When I am here by myself, I get afraid. You never know who will come in … It’s ridiculous that this neighborhood is so crappy and rents are so high and you have all these high-end stores around.”
Bruce Lane, who’s lived in Soho for 50 years, said he avoids walking around after dark.



“You can feel it, there is a palpable thing in the neighborhood. It’s just not safe. I’m alarmed and afraid,” said Lane, 76.
“I watch my surroundings more carefully. It’s all over this neighborhood. I don’t like when my wife goes out alone.”
Ashley Maynor, a 39-year-old librarian who moved to Soho from Tennessee five years ago, said she worries more these days than she ever has since arriving in the Big Apple.
“There has been a shift, no one can deny it,” Maynor said.
“I’m definitely ready to see action and change from the new mayor. We can’t act like nothing happened.”
Maron, the Manhattan mom, echoed those comments and had a message for Mayor Eric Adams after voting for him: “He better live up to all the promises that he made.”
City Hall didn’t return a request for comment.

 

[The Bobster]

Two shot, one person stabbed in string of Brooklyn homicides

Two people were fatally shot and a third knifed to death in three separate homicides in Brooklyn, police said Saturday.

nypost.com

Two shot, one person stabbed in string of Brooklyn homicides​

By
David Meyer


January 29, 2022 12:56pm
Updated

EMTs enter the Ebbets Field Apartments in Crown Heights, where a a 44-year-old was found fatally shot on Jan. 28, 2022. Wayne Carrington

​

Two people were fatally shot and a third knifed to death in three separate homicides in Brooklyn, police said Saturday.
The bloodshed began Friday evening in Crown Heights, where police found a man lying outside an 11th-floor elevator at the Ebbets Field Apartments at 5:34 p.m.
The unidentified victim, 44, suffered a gunshot wound to the left arm and head, NYPD said. He was pronounced dead upon arrival at Kings County Hospital.
Then at 2:22 a.m. Saturday in East Williamsburg, cops responded to reports of a man shot in the head outside a residence at 209 Jackson Street.
The unidentified man, 42, was unresponsive upon cops’ arrival and later pronounced dead at Woodhull Hospital.
Less than two hours later at 3:49 a.m., police received a call about an assault in progress outside Catrinas Mexican Grill in Bay Ridge. Officers found two men, both 22-years-old, at the scene, one fatally stabbed in the chest and the other slashed in his head.
Police investigate the fatal shooting on Jackson Street in Brooklyn on Jan. 29, 2022.Seth Gottfried A 22-year-old man was fatally stabbed at Catrinas Mexican Grill in Bay Ridge on Jan. 29, 2022.Seth Gottfried Police investigate the scene at Catrinas Mexican Grill.Seth Gottfried
A police investigation found the pair had been part of a “large” dispute at the location.
No arrests were made in any of the three incidents, but investigations are ongoing, NYPD said.

 

[The Bobster]

Shootings soar in January as most major crimes in NYC return to pre-COVID levels: police data

The first month of 2022 recorded a 38.5 percent increase in nearly all major crime categories — rape, robbery, felony assault, burglary, grand larceny and car thefts.

nypost.com

Shootings soar in January as most major crimes in NYC return to pre-COVID levels: police data​

By
Craig McCarthy


February 3, 2022 6:18pm
Updated

Nearly all major crime categories rose to pre-pandemic levels in January 2022, NYPD statistics show. Christopher Sadowski

​

Crime, including car thefts and shootings, soared in the Big Apple in January, according to NYPD data released Thursday — the same day President Biden visited the city in response to the rise in violence.
The first month of 2022 recorded a 38.5 percent increase in nearly all major crime categories — rape, robbery, felony assault, burglary, grand larceny and car thefts — in a return to pre-pandemic levels, the statistics show.
There were 100 shootings in January, a jump from the year prior when 76 were logged. Those figures show a marked increase from 2020 and 2019 when there were 67 and 52 acts of gunplay, respectively.
Car thefts, another COVID-era crime trend, saw the largest increase last month from prior years.
Over the first few weeks of 2022, New York City saw 1,187 reports of grand larceny auto, according to the data. That is about double 2021 and 2020, when 620 and 578, respectively, were logged, and nearly triple that same month in 2019.
Crime soared in the city during the first month of 2022, according to NYPD data.Gregory P. Mango NYPD Commissioner Keechant Sewell did not hold a news conference to announce the monthly crime stats.AFP via Getty Images
Murder was the only category to trend down from January versus the same month last year — 28 compared to 33, according to the data.
The monthly crime statistics were not announced at a press conference by Police Commissioner Keechant Sewell, as her predecessors regularly did alongside the mayor and police brass.
The data comes the same day Biden met with Sewell, Mayor Eric Adams and Gov. Kathy Hochul following the murders of NYPD officers Jason Rivera and Wilbert Mora in Harlem.
President Biden met with Mayor Adams and Gov. Hochul to address the growing gun violence in the Big Apple.
AFP via Getty Images There were 100 shootings that took place in New York City in January 2022.Christopher Sadowski
“It remains critical that all partners come to the table in this shared mission to combat gun violence,” Sewell said at a press briefing with Biden at One Police Plaza.
Overall, major crime was up in January compared to the prior few years. The majority of the increase can be attributed to car thefts, but an uptick in felony assaults and grand larceny also added to the total tally.
Cops recorded 1,735 felony assaults last month, up 12 percent from the same time the prior two years, the data shows.
January saw 4,047 grand larcenies, up from 2,559 last year and 3,708 in 2020, according to the data.

 

[The Bobster]

Two people wounded in separate overnight NYC shootings

A 17-year-old and 31-year-old were hurt in separate overnight shootings in Brooklyn, police said.

nypost.com

Two people wounded in separate overnight NYC shootings​

By
Dean Balsamini


February 5, 2022 1:25pm
Updated

A 31-year-old man was shot following a dispute inside Kingz Secret Gem on Feb. 5, 2022. Seth Gottfried for NY Post


Two people were hurt in separate overnight shootings in Brooklyn, police said.
In the latest incident, a 17-year-old youth was shot in the right foot on Watson Street, near Riverdale Avenue in Brownsville shortly after 10:30 a.m. Saturday, police said. There have been no arrests, cops said.
The teen, who told cops he heard gunshots and then felt pain, was taken to Maimonides Medical Center in stable condition, police said.
Police investigate the scene of a shooting at Kingz Secret Gem in Marine Park on Feb. 5, 2022.Seth Gottfried for NY Post The victim — who was shot in the stomach — was taken to Kings County Hospital.Seth Gottfried for NY Post
Hours earlier, a 31-year-old man was struck in Marine Park, cops said.
The gunfire erupted around 2:50 a.m. Saturday following a dispute inside an event space on Flatbush Avenue, near Utica Avenue in Marine Park, police said.
The victim, who was shot in the stomach by an unknown male assailant, was taken to Kings County Hospital in stable condition, police said. There are no arrests. The suspect fled in a four-door black Nissan last seen on Flatbush and Nostrand avenues, authorities said.

 

[The Bobster]

DA Alvin Bragg’s Harlem neighbors say they’re terrified of local recent crime

It’s been hell in Harlem — the backyard of accused soft-on-crime Manhattan DA Alvin Bragg.

nypost.com

DA Alvin Bragg’s Harlem neighbors say they’re terrified of local recent crime​

By
Jack Morphet,

Tina Moore,

Craig McCarthy and

Jorge Fitz-Gibbon


February 7, 2022 6:20pm
Updated









Thousands attend the funeral for fallen NYPD officer Wilbert Mora at St. Patrick’s Cathedral

​

It’s been hell in Harlem — the backyard of accused soft-on-crime Manhattan DA Alvin Bragg.
In the past few days alone, the storied neighborhood has seen a series of high-profile crimes, including an off-duty cop shot, a man pummeled and run over by a car in a brutal gang assault and a city transit bus full of passengers hit by a stray bullet in broad daylight.
And those crimes come on the heels of the shooting deaths of two young NYPD cops in Harlem late last month.
Crime is up nearly 30 percent so far this year in the area. And while the crime rate has risen even more in other city neighborhoods, Harlem residents are shaken to their core, given the recent spate of local crimes grabbing headlines.
Harlem has experienced a series of high-profile crimes, including an off-duty cop shot, a man pummeled and run over by a car in a brutal gang assault and a city transit bus full of passengers hit by a stray bullet in broad daylight just in the past few days. William Miller
“If I saw the DA in the street, I would slap him in the face, honestly,” said Mildred Serrano, 59, who lives in Manhattanville Houses, where off-duty cop Robert Manley was shot in the foot Saturday.
“Crime is just getting worse and worse and worse,” she lamented to The Post on Monday. “A lot of people with horrible charges, including gun crimes, don’t get incarcerated and are out roaming free again. They need to stop allowing repeat offenders back on the street.”
NYPD officers Jason Rivera and Wilbert Mora were fatally ambushed by a career criminal in Harlem.Michael Dalton
Local resident Kathy Marie, 30, added, “I have a 3-year-old kid. I wouldn’t dare take her to any of these parks around here.
“I’ve lived here my whole life. This is definitely the worst I have seen it,” the mom said. “There’s shootings almost every day.”

​

Bragg — who lives in Harlem less than a mile from the housing development — came under fire for pushing his office to downgrade some felonies to misdemeanors, while ignoring misdemeanors altogether.
He was forced to walk back portions of the aggressively progressive policy, including his stance that armed robberies would only be prosecuted as misdemeanors as long as there was no “genuine risk of harm” to anyone during them.
A spokesperson for Bragg said that reducing crime in Harlem is “personal” for the district attorney.
“He grew up there and has spent his career prosecuting New Yorkers who break the law,” the spokesperson, Danielle Filson, told The Post. “He has been crystal clear that getting guns off our streets is his number one priority so that kids and families feel safer walking in their neighborhoods.”
A man who works as a bank security guard on Bragg’s block told The Post that he’s terrified of the recent local violence.
“It’s definitely been getting worse,” the man said. “Not long ago, there were shots fired [nearby]. Anyone with guns should be put in jail. If you’ve got a gun on the streets, it’s for a bad reason.”
On Feb. 1, a reputed member of the Broad Day Shooters street gang, was “shot multiple times in the chest.”Citizen
The upper Manhattan neighborhood’s recent spree of violence included the horrific deaths of NYPD cops Jason Rivera and Wilbert Mora, who were ambushed by career criminal Lashwan McNeil during a domestic-violence call Jan. 21 and mortally wounded.
According to NYPD statistics released Monday, major crimes in Harlem’s five police precincts are up 29.5 percent this year compared to the same period last year.
Shootings rose more than 83 percent, although the number of increased incidents between last year and 2022 is relatively small: 11 so far this year compared to six last year. Meanwhile, misdemeanor assaults are up to 216 from 146 — a 48 percent increase.
The five murders reported this year are more than double the two at this point in 2021.
Those crime rates are actually higher in many other city neighborhoods, with the Big Apple experiencing an overall 41 percent jump in serious crimes so far this year compared to 2021. In The Bronx under tough-on-crime DA Darcel Clark, crime has even risen 39 percent.
According to NYPD statistics released Monday, major crimes in Harlem’s five police precincts are up 29.5 percent this year compared to the same period last year. NYPD
But Harlem has been getting the lion’s share of the headlines.
“Putting the murders of the two cops aside, it seems as if every day there’s some other horrific story coming out of Harlem,” acknowledged retired NYPD Sgt. Joseph Giacalone, now an author and an adjunct professor at John Jay College of Criminal Justice.
“Are the numbers off the charts where we should start worrying about things? Not yet,” Giacalone said. “But we always have to keep an eye on exactly what’s bubbling up to the surface. If anybody learned anything from the last year, you need to look at these things with an objective eye and see what’s going on.”





An NYPD cop with more than 20 years on the job told The Post on Monday, “Every day, there’s something happening up there. We were just talking about that.”
Officer Manley was wounded by an apparently errant bullet from a nearby shootout, police have said.
Other recent high-profile Harlem crimes include the MTA bus hit by a stray bullet on Lexington Avenue and 125th Street on Sunday, with the slug nearly striking a passenger.
A transit union official told The Post it was the fourth time in the past six months a city bus was hit by gunfire — with some drivers even asking for bulletproof vests.
Sources said a nearby car — with a toddler inside — was also hit by one of the bullets.
Last week, a disturbing video captured a man being brutally beaten by three people at the intersection of 116th Street and First Avenue.
Crime has risen in Alvin Bragg’s Harlem neighborhood.AP
Left unconscious in the roadway, the unidentified 31-year-old victim was then run over by a car, leaving him in serious but stable condition at Harlem Hospital, police said.
In another attack, Davantay Butts, 26, a reputed member of the Broad Day Shooters street gang, was “shot multiple times in the chest” around 11:10 a.m. on Feb. 1 on East 103rd Street and Third Avenue, according to police.
On Jan. 31, a 26-year-old man turned himself in at the 32nd Precinct stationhouse after getting caught on video violently slugging his 2-year-old son at a local eatery.
And on Jan. 25, a straphanger was stabbed in the leg on the southbound platform of the West 125th Street station after a squabble, with the suspect fleeing the scene.

 

[The Bobster]

Crime up 60 percent citywide in the past week, NYPD stats show

Crime in the Big Apple continues to spike, with a nearly 60 percent hike in the past week alone compared to the same period last year.

nypost.com

Crime up 60 percent citywide in the past week, NYPD stats show​

By
Larry Celona and

Jorge Fitz-Gibbon


February 7, 2022 2:33pm
Updated

NYPD investigators at the scene of a shootout that took place at the corner of Drew Street and Linden Boulevard on January 22, 2022. Gregory P. Mango

​

Crime in the Big Apple continues to spike, with a nearly 60 percent hike in the past week alone compared to the same period last year — even amid frigid temps, according to NYPD figures released Monday.
“Near-zero temperatures can’t keep the criminals away,” a Bronx cop told The Post. “It will only get worse as it gets warmer.”
The biggest jump for the week ending Sunday came in reported car thefts, with 255 for the week compared to 118 in 2021 — an increase of more than 116 percent, the stats show.
Grand larceny soared by more than 93 percent, with 908 reports compared to 470 for the same week last year, and reported rapes jumped by nearly 67 percent, to 35 from 21 last year.
Crime in New York City had a nearly 60 percent hike in the past week alone.Christopher Sadowski
Transit crimes have also gone up over the past week, with 34 this year compared to 18 for the same period in 2021, a nearly 89 percent leap.
Since the start of the year, overall crime has gone up by nearly 42 percent in the five boroughs, according to the numbers.
Car thefts have gone up by more than 96 percent, grand larceny by nearly 62 percent, rapes by more than 35 percent, and robberies by nearly 35 percent over the same period last year, the statistics show.
Transit crimes have also gone up over the past week by nearly 89 percent from the same period a year ago.Robert Mecea
The year-to-date numbers also show that transit crimes have increased to 227 compared to 130 over this time last year, a spike of nearly 75 percent.

 

[The Bobster]

DA Alvin Bragg’s Harlem neighbors say they’re terrified of local recent crime

It’s been hell in Harlem — the backyard of accused soft-on-crime Manhattan DA Alvin Bragg.

nypost.com

DA Alvin Bragg’s Harlem neighbors say they’re terrified of local recent crime​

By
Jack Morphet,

Tina Moore,

Craig McCarthy and

Jorge Fitz-Gibbon


February 7, 2022 6:20pm
Updated









Thousands attend the funeral for fallen NYPD officer Wilbert Mora at St. Patrick’s Cathedral







It’s been hell in Harlem — the backyard of accused soft-on-crime Manhattan DA Alvin Bragg.
In the past few days alone, the storied neighborhood has seen a series of high-profile crimes, including an off-duty cop shot, a man pummeled and run over by a car in a brutal gang assault and a city transit bus full of passengers hit by a stray bullet in broad daylight.
And those crimes come on the heels of the shooting deaths of two young NYPD cops in Harlem late last month.
Crime is up nearly 30 percent so far this year in the area. And while the crime rate has risen even more in other city neighborhoods, Harlem residents are shaken to their core, given the recent spate of local crimes grabbing headlines.
Harlem has experienced a series of high-profile crimes, including an off-duty cop shot, a man pummeled and run over by a car in a brutal gang assault and a city transit bus full of passengers hit by a stray bullet in broad daylight just in the past few days. William Miller
“If I saw the DA in the street, I would slap him in the face, honestly,” said Mildred Serrano, 59, who lives in Manhattanville Houses, where off-duty cop Robert Manley was shot in the foot Saturday.
“Crime is just getting worse and worse and worse,” she lamented to The Post on Monday. “A lot of people with horrible charges, including gun crimes, don’t get incarcerated and are out roaming free again. They need to stop allowing repeat offenders back on the street.”
NYPD officers Jason Rivera and Wilbert Mora were fatally ambushed by a career criminal in Harlem.Michael Dalton
Local resident Kathy Marie, 30, added, “I have a 3-year-old kid. I wouldn’t dare take her to any of these parks around here.
“I’ve lived here my whole life. This is definitely the worst I have seen it,” the mom said. “There’s shootings almost every day.”

​

Bragg — who lives in Harlem less than a mile from the housing development — came under fire for pushing his office to downgrade some felonies to misdemeanors, while ignoring misdemeanors altogether.
He was forced to walk back portions of the aggressively progressive policy, including his stance that armed robberies would only be prosecuted as misdemeanors as long as there was no “genuine risk of harm” to anyone during them.
A spokesperson for Bragg said that reducing crime in Harlem is “personal” for the district attorney.
“He grew up there and has spent his career prosecuting New Yorkers who break the law,” the spokesperson, Danielle Filson, told The Post. “He has been crystal clear that getting guns off our streets is his number one priority so that kids and families feel safer walking in their neighborhoods.”
A man who works as a bank security guard near Bragg’s block told The Post that he’s terrified of the recent local violence.
“It’s definitely been getting worse,” the man said. “Not long ago, there were shots fired [nearby]. Anyone with guns should be put in jail. If you’ve got a gun on the streets, it’s for a bad reason.”
On Feb. 1, a reputed member of the Broad Day Shooters street gang, was “shot multiple times in the chest.”Citizen
The upper Manhattan neighborhood’s recent spree of violence included the horrific deaths of NYPD cops Jason Rivera and Wilbert Mora, who were ambushed by career criminal Lashwan McNeil during a domestic-violence call Jan. 21 and mortally wounded.
According to NYPD statistics released Monday, major crimes in Harlem’s five police precincts are up 29.5 percent this year compared to the same period last year.
Shootings rose more than 83 percent, although the number of increased incidents between last year and 2022 is relatively small: 11 so far this year compared to six last year. Meanwhile, misdemeanor assaults are up to 216 from 146 — a 48 percent increase.
The five murders reported this year are more than double the two at this point in 2021.
Those crime rates are actually higher in many other city neighborhoods, with the Big Apple experiencing an overall 41 percent jump in serious crimes so far this year compared to 2021. In The Bronx under tough-on-crime DA Darcel Clark, crime has even risen 39 percent.
According to NYPD statistics released Monday, major crimes in Harlem’s five police precincts are up 29.5 percent this year compared to the same period last year. NYPD
But Harlem has been getting the lion’s share of the headlines.
“Putting the murders of the two cops aside, it seems as if every day there’s some other horrific story coming out of Harlem,” acknowledged retired NYPD Sgt. Joseph Giacalone, now an author and an adjunct professor at John Jay College of Criminal Justice.
“Are the numbers off the charts where we should start worrying about things? Not yet,” Giacalone said. “But we always have to keep an eye on exactly what’s bubbling up to the surface. If anybody learned anything from the last year, you need to look at these things with an objective eye and see what’s going on.”

​

An NYPD cop with more than 20 years on the job told The Post on Monday, “Every day, there’s something happening up there. We were just talking about that.”
Officer Manley was wounded by an apparently errant bullet from a nearby shootout, police have said.
Other recent high-profile Harlem crimes include the MTA bus hit by a stray bullet on Lexington Avenue and 125th Street on Sunday, with the slug nearly striking a passenger.
A transit union official told The Post it was the fourth time in the past six months a city bus was hit by gunfire — with some drivers even asking for bulletproof vests.
Sources said a nearby car — with a toddler inside — was also hit by one of the bullets.
Last week, a disturbing video captured a man being brutally beaten by three people at the intersection of 116th Street and First Avenue.
Crime has risen in Alvin Bragg’s Harlem neighborhood.AP
Left unconscious in the roadway, the unidentified 31-year-old victim was then run over by a car, leaving him in serious but stable condition at Harlem Hospital, police said.
In another attack, Davantay Butts, 26, a reputed member of the Broad Day Shooters street gang, was “shot multiple times in the chest” around 11:10 a.m. on Feb. 1 on East 103rd Street and Third Avenue, according to police.
On Jan. 31, a 26-year-old man turned himself in at the 32nd Precinct stationhouse after getting caught on video violently slugging his 2-year-old son at a local eatery.
And on Jan. 25, a straphanger was stabbed in the leg on the southbound platform of the West 125th Street station after a squabble, with the suspect fleeing the scene.
Edermi Castillo, who lives in the Manhattanville Houses, said, “I only leave my apartment to go to work. I don’t walk around here, it is too scary.”
“I don’t even do my laundry in these buildings anymore,” he added. “I go down to 125th Street or uptown to 177th Street.”
Bragg’s office did not immediately respond to a request for comment.