Violent crime is soaring in New York's busiest tourist destinations, even as Mayor Eric Adams is set to deliver an impassioned State of the City address about how safe the five boroughs have become.
As of September 8, the North Precinct of Manhattan, which includes tourist attractions such as Radio City Music Hall, Rockefeller Plaza, the Theater District and St. Patrick's Cathedral, has seen robberies surge by more than 90% and felony assaults increase by nearly 73% compared to the same period in 2023, according to NYPD crime statistics.
Theft cases also increased by 58%, the district dealt with three murder cases (one more than the same period last year) and rape cases increased by two, from seven last year to nine this year.
“Society is in chaos and all we can do is pray,” a security guard working at the intersection of Eighth Avenue and West 47th Street told The Post on Sunday.
“There's something going on every day, whether it's drugs or homelessness,” the official said.
Local residents said homeless people in their neighborhood were a particular nuisance.
“They're getting in the way of the residents of the building,” the source said. “They're blocking the stairs. We have to tell them to leave because we won't let them stay. So [security] “Here I am.”
The figures for northern Manhattan contrast with citywide figures for the same period, which showed an overall 2.5% decrease in crime across the five boroughs and a roughly 13% decrease in murders.
“This is a beautiful block. Problems come up one after another, but we bring them to our attention and solve them,” said a local resident, 55, who gave his name as Ojo. “The block had a problem with vacant buildings, but it got better after that was solved. We have a block association, which helps us a lot.”
Thefts citywide are also down nearly 9% so far this year.
The softer statistics are expected to be a cornerstone of Mayor Adams' State of the City address on Monday.
“Public safety and justice are prerequisites to prosperity, and from day one of this Administration, we have been committed to keeping New Yorkers safe,” a representative for the mayor said in an email to The Post on Sunday.
“Since my Administration took office, we have removed more than 18,000 illegal firearms from our streets, implemented policies that have driven shootings in August to their lowest number ever recorded for the month, lowered subway robberies to their lowest number ever recorded and led to eight consecutive months of declines in overall crime.”
“The NYPD is filled with dedicated public servants who continue to serve and contribute to our city every day.”
Residents and shopkeepers in northern Manhattan said the numbers so far this year may be grim, but they're better than recent times.
“It's definitely safer than it was before the pandemic,” said local resident Adam Richardson, 51. “Obviously there are issues with shelter and rehabilitation facilities, but I think it's definitely a lot better.”
“We've seen a lot less syringes. That was a real problem before.”
Another resident, Sal Baker, 42, agreed that things have improved.
“A lot better than a year ago. A lot better,” he said. “Last year was awful.
“It used to be a big problem for dog walkers because there were needles everywhere,” Baker added. “Not only were there needles, but there were also these little pink and purple pills that contained fentanyl.”
Still, underground it's a different story.
The murder rate in the subway has risen 60% this year, The Post reported Sunday.
While transit crime is down overall, eight people have been murdered on the subway so far this year, up from five during the same period in 2023.
According to the NYPD's oldest publicly available data, from 1997 to 2020, there were never more than five homicides in the subway system in a single year.
But northern Manhattan, which sees a steady stream of tourists as the holiday season approaches, has been an exception recently when it comes to violent crime.
According to New York City Police Department statistics, there had been 158 robberies in the area as of September 8 this year, up 90.4% from 83 during the same period last year.
Police also reported that felony assault cases in the region increased 72.9 percent to 204 from last year's 118, while property crimes jumped 58 percent to 139 from last year's 88.
Even the neighboring Midtown South NYPD Precinct, which saw an overall crime decrease of more than 10 percent from last year, reported four murders, two more than last year, and 20 rapes this year compared to 10 during the same period last year, according to statistics.
Midtown South includes other city mega-facilities like Penn Station, Madison Square Garden and Greeley Square, as well as a bustling block so dilapidated it's been nicknamed “City of Despair.”
Shopkeepers along 8th Avenue say open-air drug use, emotionally unstable homeless people and brazen shoplifters have become a part of life on the block.
“It looks like it's been bombed,” a resident said in a previous Post report. “It's awful. You can see money being exchanged, crack pipes being lit, people fighting.”
“I don't want to be caught up in that.”
