BY LUCAS ROPEK | An opportunity for locals to hear the latest neighborhood crime statistics and voice their concerns, Wed., Feb. 24’s Community Council meeting was a particularly informative edition of the monthly event, held at Chelsea’s 10th Precinct (230 W. 20th St., btw. Eighth & Ninth Aves.).
Deputy Inspector Michele Irizarry, the Precinct’s Commanding Officer, reported that a violent con artist discussed at last month’s meeting was now in custody. Accused of “selling swipes” from old MetroCards, officers apprehended the man on Sat., Jan. 30, for tampering with MTA property and attempting to solicit money from riders.
“He is behind bars for the moment,” said Irizarry, noting that the perp’s 45 prior arrests and subsequent releases (mostly for various forms of petty theft) was indicative of “some of the deficiencies in our criminal court systems.”
The scam was originally brought to the NYPD’s attention at Wed., Jan. 27’s Community Council meeting, when a local resident recounted how she had been assaulted by him at the Eighth Ave. and W. 23rd Street C/E station.
The criminal’s scam — which involved taping over one of the swiping kiosks in order to ruin a local’s card, and then selling a few remaining “swipes” off a mostly used card — was foiled by the resident. “I pulled the tape off and went through because my train was coming,” she said, recounting the incident in an interview with Chelsea Now. The formidable woman, who asked to remain anonymous due to the violent nature of her assailant, said that the convict became angry and attacked her after she foiled his scam. “The train doors opened and he hauled off and slugged me in the side,” she said. Luckily, a large crowd was present on the subway platform, and she managed to escape.
The resident was present again at last Wed. night’s meeting, and was thanked by Irizarry and other law enforcement officials for bringing the criminal’s activities to their attention.
Later in the meeting, Captain Anthony Carter, Commanding Officer of the NYPD’s Transit District 2 gave a short presentation on his unit’s work to keep transit-goers safe throughout the city.
“I know we’ve been in the news a lot lately,” said Carter, referencing some of the violent attacks that have occurred in the city’s subway system over the past year. “It seems every time you open the newspaper, there’s some kind of new, shocking crime. These incidents are upsetting and they are something that we are addressing.”
While Carter conceded these incidents were disturbing, he also asked that residents look at the “big picture.” Out of the 842 miles of track in the city’s transit system, and the 5.5 million riders that occupy the MTA at any given time, Carter noted that the city’s subways average only six crimes per day.
Furthermore, the violent, confrontational crime characterized by the recently jailed scammer is statistically less prevalent than non-violent crime. “Only 25% of overall crimes are robberies, burglaries, or assaults,” noted Carter, who reported that 75% of the 2,500 reported crimes for 2015 were grand larceny — non-violent incidents where criminals reached into people’s bags or took property off their person. “It’s a very safe system,” reiterated Carter. “We do the absolute best we can to keep everybody safe.”
Carter also stressed the role of law enforcement in keeping those numbers low, noting that there are over 2,500 police officers who patrol the city’s 469 stations. District 2 also uses a team of 40 dogs — the largest of any department in the country — to search for narcotics and explosive devices, and help with bag checks. Additionally, plainclothes agents are often present at many stations (several such officers were responsible for nabbing the scam artist at the end of Jan.).
After Carter’s presentation, Irizarry reported that the precinct’s crime has decreased 36.5% over the past 28-day period, and is also down 28.2% for the year-to-date period. “I realize it’s February and we’ve still got 10 months to go. We’re not throwing in the towel yet,” Irizarry said before affirming that the precinct was off to a good start for the new year. “I want to assure you that we are doing everything we can to keep these numbers down.”
The officers present also asserted the importance of the public’s cooperation in apprehending criminals and keeping the city safe.
“Anytime we get information from the public, we really try to act on it promptly,” said Irizarry, who again thanked the resident for coming forward with her experience about the subway scammer.
