Crime on the Rise in Lower Manhattan Compared to First Half of 2015

NYPD Commissioner Bill Bratton and Mayor Bill de Blasio touted "historic" low crime numbers at a press conference Monday, and while that's true citywide, numbers are actually up in Lower Manhattan.

First-half crime statistics were finalized last week, and major crimes — murder, rape, robbery, felony assault, burglary, grand larceny, grand larceny auto — are up 4.14 percent below 14th Street year-to-date from 2015.

Of the five precincts below 14th Street, only the 6th Precinct (Greenwich Village) saw a decrease in crime. In total, there were 115 more crimes committed in Lower Manhattan in the first half of 2016 as opposed to the first half of 2015.

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There was a sharp increase in car thefts in four of the five precincts. On the whole, there were 88 stolen cars in Downtown Manhattan in 2016 versus just 60 in 2015.

Among the noteworthy increases downtown, the number of rapes were up by seven in Greenwich Village, car thefts were up 180 percent in the Financial District and Tribeca and felony assaults were up 33.9 percent in the East Village. Burglaries were down 26 percent in Greenwich Village and the Lower East Side.

Citywide in 2016, there were 11 fewer murders and 110 fewer shootings year-to-date from 2015. And brass made special note of June 2016 statistics, which were the lowest for that month since the start of the CompStat era (beginning in 1994).

“The numbers we’re presenting today are phenomenal: in the first six months of this year, shootings are down 20 percent while gun arrests are up 20 percent," de Blaiso said in a statement. "Under Commissioner Bratton we are using precision policing to tackle gun violence and take these dangerous weapons off our streets. I want to thank all the members of NYPD for their commitment to keeping our city’s neighborhoods safe, while working to deepen the relationship between police and community.”

The numbers in Manhattan are not necessarily great, though, as CompStat paints a mediocre picture in the borough. On the whole, major crime is up 3.77 percent in Manhattan year-to-date.

In only two of the seven major crimes are statistics down year-to-date from 2015 — murder and burglary. There have have been four fewer murders in Manhattan the first six months of 2016 (18) as compared to 2015 (22). Burglaries are down 33 year-to-date from last year (1,211 vs. 1,244).

But crime is up in Manhattan in the other five categories — rape, robbery, felony assault, grand larceny and grand larceny auto.

There have been five more rapes in 2016 (141) than 2015 (136). Robberies are more or less the same, though they've gone from 1,389 in 2015 to 1,396 in 2016. Felony assaults have made a jump from 1,699 in 2015 to 1,814 in 2016. The total number of grand larcenies has seen a major rise (355) from 7,615 to 7,970, including an increase in 25 auto thefts (362 vs. 337).

The 1st Precinct alone, which covers the Financial District and Tribeca, has seen an increase in four rapes (133 percent) year-to-date in 2016. The 7th Precinct has seen the biggest rise in rapes, with three in the first half of 2015 and 10 so far this year. Rapes are also up 150 percent in Midtown South Precinct and 117 percent in the 30th Precinct (Sugar Hill). The 1st Precinct has seen a 10 percent uptick in major crimes overall, with an 180 percent rise in car thefts.

Murders saw their biggest rise in the 9th Precinct (East Village), where only one murder was committed in the first half of 2015, but four have been committed so far this year. There was also a marked rise in misdemeanor sex crimes from 449 year-to-date last year to 583 so far this year.

On the good side, the 6th Precinct (Greenwich Village) has seen a 26 percent reduction in burglaries. And while the 1st Precinct has seen a marked rise in car thefts, the 13th Precinct (Flatiron, Gramercy, Stuyvesant Town), has seen a decrease of 70 percent. Rapes are down 50 percent in Midtown North Precinct, 62 percent in the 34th Precinct (Inwood) and, most notably, 71 percent in the 24th Precinct (Upper West Side).

Photo Credit: John V. Santore/Patch