A week after NYPD brass warned about a young street gang creating mayhem in Times Square, department leaders sought to dispel concerns that the increased activity had turned the “Crossroads of the World” into a criminal playground.
On Oct. 15, amNewYork Metro reported that a young immigrant gang — known as “Los Diablos de La 42,” the Little Devils of 42nd Street, a subset of the Tren de Aragua (TDA) migrant gang — has committed numerous armed robberies and snatch-and-grab thefts in Times Square for the last several months. Detectives told amNewYork Metro that the Los Diablos operates out of city shelters and prey on the children in them by recruiting them to their malicious cause, which they use to stay out of custody.
But Times Square is not lost to criminal chaos, according to Chief of Patrol John Chell. Despite the reported crime wave, robberies in the Times Square area (6th to 8th Avenues, between 42nd and 49th Streets), robberies have dropped 12% year-to-date, while grand larcenies are down 26%. Burglaries, however, are up 5%.
However, things are not as bad as they might seem in Times Square. According to Chief of Patrol John Chell, in just the Times Square area, which consists of 42nd to 49th Streets, robbery has actually fallen by 12%, grand larceny has dropped by 26% since the start of the year compared to 2023, and burglary is up by 5%.
“The conversation is that the last couple of days, these TDA gang members, running all over Times Square, doing all sorts of crimes, robberies specifically, but the numbers don’t reflect that,” Chell said. “I don’t want to paint the picture that TDA is sitting in Times Square, robbing and stealing property.”
Police brass say, however, that the gang activity in Times Square has also been seen in other parts of the city — including along Roosevelt Avenue in Queens, where the city recently launched a major campaign to combat prostitution and illegal vendors in the shadow of the 7 line, which provides a rail link to Times Square itself.
Chief Chell reported that the department has identified 44 members of the syndicate whose names are currently being housed in the department’s gang database and who together have been arrested hundreds of times. Nineteen of the 44 reside in the Manhattan area, while others are believed to be located in the Queens North area.
Police now say they believe the notorious gang may have also taken a foothold along Roosevelt Avenue, contributing to the ongoing quality of life issues that the NYPD is working to address.
“Do we think some of them are on Roosevelt Avenue? Yes, we do. Is the detective bureau working those angles? Yes, they are,” Chief Chell told amNewYork Metro.
Deputy Commissioner of Operations Kaz Daughtry also told amNewYork Metro that he believes the troublesome Queens strip has grown worse in recent years since the dawn of the migrant crisis.
“Every time I walk Roosevelt Avenue, and I engage with the everyday New Yorkers who live there, they say that, within the last three years, that this is the worst that they have ever seen it,” Daughtry said. “Now I’m getting the word that they’re moving from the streets from Roosevelt Avenue and they’re starting to move into the bars, but we have a plan for that too.”
Daughtry also unveiled that the NYPD is working on a camera pilot program he hopes will be implemented by the end of 2024. The program will see hundreds of existing cameras around the city connected to NYPD technology so cops can swoop in and make narcotics-related arrests during illegal transactions as they happen.
Such efforts could help stop Tren de Aragua, which NYPD sources say is often involved in narcotics operations, and their affiliates.
“When you look at all the intelligence of briefings that have come through, they are involved in anywhere from extortion to that pink cocaine. They’re involved in guns, retail theft, robberies, grand larcenies and the robbers,” Chief Chell says.
Even with the recent troubles in Times Square, the NYPD maintains that overall citywide crime continues to drop, with major felonies down 10% last week alone. Chell stressed that the department will continue its work combating Tren de Aragua, the Little Devils and other street gangs to keep the streets safe for all New Yorkers.
“If we just take the migrant status off of their title, we’re gonna treat them like any other crime,” Chief Chell said. “They’re being dealt with the same way that a crew conspiring to commit whatever crime.”
