NYC Crime Spikes in Manhattan’s East and West Villages

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Major crimes are surging in both the East and West villages, turning Manhattan’s once iconic arts and culture hubs into cesspools of rampant property thieves.

The Sixth Precinct, which patrols the West Village, saw an 84 percent spike in major crime rates when compared to 2021’s year-to-date numbers — the highest increase among Manhattan’s 22 precincts and nearly two times the citywide jump of 44 percent — 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 percent so far this year compared to the same time 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 percent
• Robberies rocketed from 47 to 69, or 47 percent
• 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.”

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Kyle McCoy, who manages Atelier on W. 8th St., 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.

“It’s stupid,” he said. “Shoplifters get a little slap on the wrist.”

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Over in the East Village, things aren’t much better.

Compared to 2021’s year-to-date numbers, robberies more than doubled from 37 to 81, grand larcenies shot up 79 percent from 154 to 275 and felony assaults increased from 42 to 55.

Folks there say the neighborhood is starting to revert to the bad old days.

“It seems like a lot of unstable people walking around the neighborhood. Fights breaking out everywhere,” bartender Rob Rossi, 49, said in a text. “Lotta stores are getting robbed, especially bodegas. People getting robbed in plain daylight. {snip}

“The neighborhood looks like it’s from the ‘90s, before it took a turn for the better.”

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