By: Jared Evan
The NYPD is adding dozens of patrol officers in Times Square after two shootings in the area in the past two months in which tourists were hit by stray bullets, including a child, New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio announced.
Times Square ironically has always had an abundance of police patrolling the famous tourist area.
WSJ reported:
The latest shooting occurred Sunday evening when a tourist from upstate New York was struck in the back after a gunman opened fire at a group of people near Seventh Avenue and West 46th Street, according to NYPD officials.
The victim, Samuel Poulin, was in stable condition Monday, according to police officials. He is a 21-year-old Marine, according to military officials.
Mr. de Blasio said the increased patrols in Times Square include uniformed and undercover officers. The patrols will join other government agencies to target illegal street vendors, he said.
Reports allege that the shooters are involved with a long-standing scam which occurs in the area, where local hoodlums target tourists by posing as “rappers” and claim they are selling their independently produced rap C.Ds. The fake rappers, target tourists and aggressively follow them around, using race-based guilt trips to get their victims to shell out a couple of dollars, for what is usually a blank CD or a disc containing other famous rapper’s music.
This scam has become commonplace in NYC’s theater district since 2011 and has exploded under de Blasio, who has taken a more hands off approach to nonviolent crime. The area has also become riddled with non-licensed street vendors, often of Nigerian origin, selling fake designer handbags and wallets. The vendors often fight with each other for territory, and police have laid back, allowing the pirates to thrive.
“I worked in Times Square, until the pandemic, and the area has always had an extraordinary amount of police officers, it’s not the amount of cops, it’s what they are allowed to do, and they have let the punks with the C.D’s and the illegal handbag vendors dominate the streets for quite a while”, an anonymous TV associate told the publication.
“We are going to flood the zone in Times Square with additional officers to make sure this situation is resolved,” Mr. de Blasio said.
WS pointed out:
Times Square and the southern part of Midtown Manhattan have seen a rise in violent crime in recent months. NYPD records show from Jan. 1 through June 27, six shootings have occurred in Patrol Bureau Midtown South, which includes Times Square. There were no shootings there at this time last year or in other recent years, according to NYPD records.
