Theft, Petty Crime Up on UWS; Robberies, Burglaries Climb 18%
Major crimes are down significantly so far this year, but lesser crimes have flourished.
| 23 Feb 2025 | 05:21
Crimes like murder and assault are significantly lower than this time last year, but Upper West Side robberies and burglaries are up some 14 percent and 22 percent, respectively, police stats show. (
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Within the 20th police precinct of the Upper West Side, robberies and burglaries are up about 18 percent compared with a year ago. A year ago, through Feb. 20., 2024, 21 burglaries were reported, along with nine robberies. Fast-forward one year and the 20th precinct has seen 24 burglaries and 11 robberies. That amounts to an increase of 14.3 percent in burglaries and 22.2 percent in robberies, according to the NYPD’s CompStat program.
[Police classify an incident a robbery when the criminal takes something from a person; if it is a theft without a person present, it is considered a burglary. Combined, it makes for roughly an 18 percent increase in theft-related crimes so far in 2025.]
Denizens of the area certainly have their concerns. On Tuesday, a user on Reddit claimed that police have “been investigating” instances of would-be burglars climbing scaffolding and fire escapes “looking for unlocked windows and terrace doors to break in.” The user then claimed that a would-be burglar gained access to their terrace and knocked on their door, presumably to see if the apartment was empty.
According to the user, they received the information on police investigations from a number of concerned neighbors. The user then stated that police responded that same day to some similar disturbance at the Kenilworth, as well as a possible burglary “at a smaller building” on West 75th Street.
On Thursday, an NYPD spokesperson denied that any investigations are underway, and no police reports on file support the claims circulating on Reddit. The spokesperson did acknowledge there has been an increase in reported burglaries and robberies throughout the 20th precinct, though.
Dr. Ruth Cohen, a psychiatrist and longtime resident of the UWS, said she visited the upscale Citarella market on Broadway and suspects a pickpocket stole her purse from her backpack while there. She said the thief got away with about $250 in cash and she quickly canceled all her missing credit cards. She said she told Citarella about the theft, which she suspects happened about 2 p.m. on Feb. 15, and was told that management would review security footage and get back to her. Five days later she said she had not heard back. The Spirit emailed the story to try to obtain more info but had not heard back by press time. It is an incident that won’t show up in police statistics. Cohen said she has not gone to the police, because the amount lost was not big enough to warrant NYPD attention.
Further statistics on CompStat show that four of the reported burglaries occurred within two weeks of one another, in the vicinity of Broadway and West 73rd Street. Another two occurred in the area of Broadway and West 62nd. Five others were reported on Columbus Avenue, with each one occurring at West 70th and West 74th streets.
As for the robberies, almost all were instances of commercial shoplifting. Only one is recorded as a home robbery, which occurred at Amsterdam Avenue and West 61st Street on Jan. 8.
No police reports on file support the claims circulating on Reddit, the NYPD said, but acknowledged an increase in reported burglaries and robberies in the 20th precinct.