A hard-working fruit stall vendor was beaten so badly that his family had to put a fedora over his beaten head at his funeral.
An innocent 29-year-old father who was looking forward to his daughter's upcoming 3rd birthday was murdered by a violent gang member.
A man with autism and obsessive-compulsive disorder carelessly moves the killer's backpack, leaving him bleeding in the lobby.
These are some of the crimes that took place in the NYPD's deadliest precinct in 2024, the 46th Precinct in the Bronx, with 27 murders and 65 people shot to death, leading police to seek more resources and Residents feared walking through blood-soaked streets.
The department, which serves troubled neighborhoods such as Fordham, University Heights, Morris Heights and Mount Hope, faced a staggering 107.7% increase in homicides over the previous year, according to NYPD data. Other serious crimes also increased rapidly.
“If you hit someone, they're going to try to kill you,” said Ronald Gomez-Mesa, 29, the brother of an innocent bystander stabbed to death in Morris Heights on July 2. Gomez, 25, said.
“Right now, we don't have any safety. We don't know when it will be safe to go home because everything is crazy right now.
“This is really terrible,” she said of the spike in homicide rates.
“How can we live like this? This is not what we want.”
Gomez's worries are interrupted by a spike in crime in the area served by the 46th Precinct.
The precinct saw an increase in serious crimes in all categories, including murder (107.7%), rape (54.5%), robbery (9.1%), felony assault (10.9%), robbery (28.9%), and grand theft (21.2%). . Grand theft autos are excluded, according to NYPD data.
Bullets flew, and about 65 people were killed in 50 gunfights.
Declining crime rates in other parts of the Big Apple have done little to ease the Gomez family's fear and grief.
“We hear that crime rates are going down, but it doesn't really feel like it,” his sister told the Post after the heartbroken and close-knit family vacationed without Ronald. Ronald lived with his parents. Ronaishi and children.
A few months ago, Ronald Gomez-Mesa was sitting outside Jason's Deli and Grocery at West Tremont Avenue and Phelan Place when a woman and a man got into a fender bender, sources said. That's what it means.
The woman then called Clement Boateng, an alleged member of the River Park Towers gang. Boateng has been arrested four times in the past, including for gun possession on September 22, 2016, sources told the Post.
After the man threw something at him and ran off, Boateng, 35, appeared and randomly attacked unsuspecting bystanders, surveillance video showed.
Enraged, Boateng lunged at two men nearby, including Gomez-Mesa.
The victim fought back before Boateng thrust a knife into his chest.
Just a week before Gomez-Mesa was killed, he had passed his TLC driving test, which he hoped to use to support his daughter Rosalia, who will turn 3 in a few weeks.
“He didn't even enjoy spending his birthday with us,” Ronaishi said, adding that his mother was devastated by the murder.
On September 12, fruit vendor Leslie Sanchez, 56, was attacked 1.5 miles away while working at her sales location on East Fordham Road near the Grand Concourse. He was beaten to death with a baseball bat.
Sanchez, a father of two, was so badly bruised that his family said they placed a fedora on his head in the coffin to hide the bruises.
His heartbroken widow, Maciel Vasquez, called his killing “unjust.”
“My husband was a good man. He wasn't a problem person,” she told the Post after police arrested her as the suspect in her husband's attack. Both had been arrested previously.
“We ask that the police and the governor do their job properly,” she implored.
Law enforcement experts and Bronx police officers interviewed by the Post blamed the high crime rate on bail reform, a recent exodus of officers from police stations and a lack of patrols.
“This is a poor area, so people are just exhausted,” said Michael Alcazar, a former New York City police detective and professor at the John Jay College of Criminal Justice. “We can’t saturate an area with law enforcement when we normally can.
“If we don't have police officers, crime will only skyrocket,” he added.
Bronx police officers said that on some nights, only two or three cars patrol the entire vast school district.
“There are no police officers patrolling the premises,” he said.
“Criminals have no problem carrying guns because they know there are no cops.”
City Councilman Oswald Ferris (D-Bronx), whose district partially overlaps with the 46th Ward, called for more police in a September letter to then-Interim Police Chief Tom Donlon. .
He argued that parts of the Bronx have been “left behind” amid a surge in violence.
“These are not just numbers; they also represent families who have been traumatized by the horrors of violence,” Felix told the Post.
“We need more police officers in these communities. We also need to think about the laws that allow individuals to terrorize communities like this.”
Last month, Mayor Eric Adams announced a pilot program called .Every block mattersIt directs multi-agency resources to specific streets in Brooklyn's 73rd Precinct and the Bronx's 46th Precinct, which have the highest number of shootings citywide.
The administration said there have been no shootings or shootings along three major thoroughfares in the Bronx: Morris Street, Elm Place and Walton Street since the program began in October. The city says this is equivalent to four shootings in 2023.
One Bronx police officer said the program, like others in the past, did little to change the out-of-control gang violence.
“This place has been crime-ridden for over 30 years. Politicians have promised to provide the service forever,” he fumed.
“It's the same story. Everyone promises and nothing happens.”
An NYPD spokesperson said the department is “increasing patrols” in high-crime areas within the precinct through “precision enforcement.”
“The NYPD has identified specific crime reduction zones in the 46th Precinct where officers will increase patrols in high-crime areas to eliminate violence and disorder,” a spokesperson said.
“The NYPD is also taking suspected attackers off the streets, making 29 of 46 murder arrests, an increase of 163.6%, and overall arrests increasing by 19.4%.”
Despite arrests being made, local residents remain shaken by the unrest.
“[It’s] It was really, really bad,” said Gabby Almonte, who was visiting her mother in Mount Hope.
“Because if you're walking, you don't know if you'll be able to get home.”
Additional reporting by Dorian Geiger and Craig McCarthy
