Bad old days are back in ‘Villages’
One lady started putting [goods] in her pocket like it was her house.
- Sara Morales (left)
They’re the Villages of the Damned.
Major crimes are surging in both the East and West villages, turning Manhattan’s onceiconic arts and culture hubs into cesspools of rampant property thieves.
The Sixth Precinct, which patrols the West Village, saw an 84% spike in major crime rates when compared to 2021’s yearto-date numbers — the highest increase among Manhattan’s 22 precincts and nearly two times the citywide jump of 44% — NYPD data shows. The Ninth Precinct, which serves the East Village, the Bowery and NoHo, is also seeing an uptick in property thefts and violent attacks, with the total major crime rate jumping 54% so far this year compared to the same period in 2021, police data shows.
In Greenwich Village: Grand larcenies more than doubled from 147 to 308.
Burglaries surged from 59 to 100, or 70%.
Robberies rocketed from 47 to 69, or 47%.
Vehicle thefts increased from 3 to 12.
Felony assaults ticked up from 32 to 41.
Residents and business owners there are fed up with the abundance of shoplifters that include vagrants, small-time fencers and even families.
“I certainly feel not safe. Coke heads, heroin, what have you —
It’s just mayhem out there,” said Terr Le, a liquor store owner who calls the cops on crooks at least twice a week. “It’s just crazy and people are on the edge.”
Sara Morales at the West 4th Market Place said she’s dealt with constant shoplifters since the deli opened in January.
“One lady started taking candies and drinks and putting them in her pocket like it was her house,” she said. “She took a hammer out of her bag, trying to hit my co-worker when we went to stop her.”
Despite threats to her business and health, Morales said she’ll often give away food if vagrants simply ask.
Kyle McCoy, who manages Atelier on West Eighth Street, recently stopped a father, mother and teenage daughter from swiping a $1,300 skirt. He said there’s no solution because bail-reform laws go easy on criminals. Some incidents in the Sixth Precinct were perpetrated by recidivist criminals, a statewide consequence of bail-reform laws, critics of the law say.