By: Hadassa Kalatizadeh

New NYPD police statistics are out, and they confirm that the city has become a hotspot for crime.

As reported by the NY Post, major crimes in the Midtown South have soared 44 percent as of Feb. 5, compared to the same time last year.  Thats 412 reported incidents compared to 287 in 2021.  While the NYPD data shows that overall total incidents of crime inched up only 2.6%, certain precincts showed alarming increases in crime.  The stated statistics for Midtown South is particularly disturbing.  The precinct includes some of the city’s most crowded and iconic streets, including Times Square, Grand Central Terminal, Madison Square Garden and the Port Authority Bus Terminal.  In Midtown South, felony assaults in Midtown South skyrocketed 115 percent, at 56 incidents up from 26.  Robberies jumped 59 percent, with 59 incidents compared to 37.  Grand larceny surged 39 percent (to 237 from 170); burglaries increased 10% (to 53 from 48), and auto thefts are up 20% (to 6 from 5), the NYPD data shows.

Per the Post, on Thursday, bullets flew by at West 44th Street and Eighth Avenue, outside a Shake Shack around 5:35 p.m., leaving 22-year-old Bronx resident, Idrissa Siby, dead and pedestrians on the packed street running for dear life. The killing is thought to have been carried out by drug dealers, police sources said.  Last Monday night, an armed robber had snatched a man’s Rolex watch and fired off a gunshot during a stick-up near Rockefeller Plaza, as per the Post. In January, a slasher went on a spree that left three people injured near the overcrowded bus terminal.  Luis D Rosas, 41, has been arrested in connection with the slashings, and is said to be connected with previous menacing.

Midtown South “continues to be decimated as if the city has almost given up on Times Square, [Grand Central Terminal], Penn Station and Koreatown; all under criminal control,” tweeted tech entrepreneur Reza Chowdhury, founder of Alley Watch and New York Startup Lab.

“It’s kind of a race to the bottom. I don’t know if they don’t have enough cops or they just don’t care,” one Manhattan business owner told the Post.  “The mentally ill aren’t being addressed, there’s open air drug use and it’s all symptomatic,” he continued. “The ironic thing is this is the commercial corridor of the city. This is the heart of what New York is known for . . . The city isn’t doing a lot to clean this up.”

“Just about everyone who comes to New York City to work, visit, or play in Manhattan comes through Penn Station, Grand Central Station or the Port Authority Bus Terminal – all located within the not so friendly confines of the Midtown South precinct,” said Joseph Giacalone, a retired NYPD sergeant and now a professor at John Jay College.  “You want to see the Knicks, Rangers, or go to a concert? You take the LIRR into Penn for Madison Garden.  The mayor and other politicians continue to push companies to get people back to work, but the precinct that has the major hub for transportation is struggling mightily with crime. Can we blame people for not wanting to come in?”

The NYPD commented saying, it “continuously monitors crime conditions and drivers of violence as part of our mission of public safety for all New Yorkers.” “To address this crime condition, steady foot posts have been added and targeted enforcement continues to be conducted by Public Safety and Neighborhood Coordination Officers,” the department said.