Smack Downs, Robberies in Brooklyn Heights

By on November 8, 2007 10:56 am in News

The New York Sun reports today on the 31% rise in assaults in the last two years in Brooklyn Heights:

New York Sun: Rise in Assaults…: Amy Finnerty said she was more surprised than frightened when a group of teenagers surrounded her recently as she was leaving her apartment building on a tranquil street in Brooklyn Heights. The sun had not yet dropped from the sky, and she was heading to a meeting nearby at her children's school.

"The last thing I was thinking was that I was going to get mugged," Ms. Finnerty, 47, said. "They were so young, at first I walked away."

The teenagers circled close, however, and grabbed her handbag, which was full of cash she had received for her birthday.

The article mentions incidents on Atlantic Avenue as well as on "quiet streets".  Apart from what appears to be a rise in clochards rummaging through trash for cans and bottles have you noticed or experienced this "crime wave"?

(Update: Fresh NYPD Compstat figures for the 84th Precinct don't reflect a "crime wave".)  

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  • embee

    I think I posted a few months back when my neighbor was mugged late at night near the corner of Hicks and Cranberry. There were two guys in a car, one got out and did the mugging. He beat up my neighbor on first approach.

  • max

    It hasn’t been a good news week for the Heights. PS 8 gets a “C”, muggings and robberies are on the rise, and yesterday there was another bank robbery on Montague Street. Is the neighborhood slipping down the drain?

  • eric

    Is it legal for those guys to rummage through our trash?

  • NrthHeights

    People assume that the Heights, because it is historical, charming, moneyed, etc. will never fall. However, the commerical space is too expensive to support anything but large chains and there is no nightlife (except for Atlantic Avenue). Less people traffic at night plus perceived money-filled pockets and the uprise in crime (muggings, etc.) makes sense.

    It’s something I’ve been thinking about for awhile (before even learning about the increased crime), but is the Heights in a bit of a decline?

  • Jimmy Q. Wilson

    A 31% increase doesn’t tell us much, given the preexisting low number. Expressed as percentages, it’ll seem higher than if expressed in absolute values.

  • Homer Fink

    JQW – you are correct. Current CompStat numbers don’t reflect any “crime wave”.
    http://www.nyc.gov/html/nypd/downloads/pdf/crime_statistics/cs084pct.pdf

  • http://www.petebrush.com pbdotc

    what’s a crime is how long it takes BHB to load

  • anon

    One of the things keeping crime down in the neighborhood is that robbers can’t find a place to park either.

  • Teddy

    It’s only a crime wave when it happens to you. Statistics don’t mean anything…unless you become one. Anyway, I wouldn’t call it a crime wave, but rather a “newspaper/blog lead”.

  • MadeInBrooklyn

    If things do go down, best of luck with the 84th showing up in anything even remotely resembling a timely manner: Just ask the guy who was getting beaten by two other guys on Atlantic Avenue a few months ago. Word has it, it took two phone calls to 911, and it still took the cops over 25 minutes to show up by which time the assailants were strolling down Henry Street. Did the cops give chase? Ha ha.

  • MadeInBrooklyn

    Or how about when the deli on the corner of Henry and Atlantic was robbed by a bunch of kids? Look into how the cops handled that if you want a good view of the 84th.

  • FYI

    A car was set on fire on Clinton Street near Pierrepont a few weekends ago. Some weirdo stuffed a sock in near the gas tank and lit it on fire. Real family neighborhood here.

  • April

    There is definite a rise of car vandalism in the North Heights. At least two to three times a week cars are vandalized on Hicks Street by the BQE. I am not sure I understand why the cops have not been able to stop this. This should be zoned a no parking area, as it is now becoming a public nuisance.

  • Me!

    How about those “clochards rummaging through trash.” There literally seems to be a street war between these people on my block. There are three different ones have I have noticed and they keep getting earlier and earlier as to beat the others to the punch. Most people in my building have stopped seperating their glass from the rest of their trash as these people are doing us the service of taking care of it for us. Thanks “clochhards”!

  • http://http:www.myspace.com/billyreno Billy Reno

    Last year, some guy (white? Hispanic?) in a hoodie tried to mug me on Sidney Pl simulating a weapon in his pocket. I called his bluff and kept walking, him screaming “I’ll shoot you!” the whole time. I crossed the street as a cab was coming, he hesitated and I got in my bldg and called 911. He bolted, but the cops were there in seconds. Don’t think they got him. We have to take back our streets! I’m shopping for sword canes.

  • nabeguy

    Yeah, and let’s start building that wall around the neighborhood while we’re at it. Come on, people, crime happens everywhere in this town. Complaints about the 84th precinct not withstanding, the Heights still happens to be a pretty safe area

  • MadeInBrooklyn

    nabeguy, i agree with you 100% the neighborhood is quite safe overall! any place that is quiet late at night with lots of dark streets is prime for muggers–as you would anywhere, people just need to be aware and watch their back.

    i was just speaking about the 84th, as i am quite disappointed with them–i could list at least two more incidents where they dropped the ball bigtime putting folks in danger or leaving them feeling helpless.

  • Me!

    Personally I don’t think there was a time where I ever felt unsafe, but I do come from Philadelphia where people are often mugged by 3rd graders. Seriously.

  • bklynblogger

    I remember fondly the days when 75 year olds drove around in a Ford Pinto with a revolving yellow light on top as the neighborhood security…Bring back the BH Patrol!! Please save us BH Patrol!! – no seriously, if any muggers try anything they will be much the worse for wear – Sincerely, – Mr Cleaver…..

  • MadeInBrooklyn

    ha ha. the “brooklyn heights patrol” was pretty hysterical — that’s a fond memory i’ve not thought of in i do not know how long. somewhere packed away i have a pretty funny photo of those serious crime busters!

  • BHA Needs to Allow Night Life

    The dead traffic is one of many reasons to let night life take a hold in Brooklyn Heights. I blame this lack of service squarely on BHA.

  • Neighbor

    Would that the BHA were so powerful! Why do you think that the BHA does not “allow” nightlife in the Heights? In fact, the BHA, among other things, is actively pushing the city to find some way to help local shop owners — who are more involved in the community and sensitive to its needs — so that they can compete with the chain stores that threaten to dominate Brooklyn brownstone neighborhoods.

  • neighbortoo

    i have to believe the newest dorm has had a significant effect on the uptick of crime in our hood. it seems like the kids in the new dorm have more cash to spare and they flaunt it – they’re great targets for muggings (naive and, many, new to the city.) Plus, with dorm security in place, it would be tough to get drug dealers into their residence so I wouldn’t be surprised if we’ve had an influx of drug deals going down on the more secluded streets around here. That’s another invitation for street crime – known individuals carrying drugs and money through our streets. Drug wars?! I’m just speculating here but between these two scenarios, I’d imagine the Heights must seem like a very inviting opportunity if you’re bored and like to mug people. And hey, after they’ve procured some cash/jewels/whatever, they can go sit down at the promenade and take in the sights. Ah, American Gangsters.

  • Pilar

    I have lived in the heights for 13 yearas and have always felt very safe. I do have an opinon on the dorms. I see a lot more “Kids” hangind around henry street late at night; and many times I see what looks to be a “pack of young guys” and I wonder if they are residents of the dorms or if they are hangin’ around about to cause some trouble.
    I was never thrilled with the idea of the dorms.

  • MadeInBrooklyn

    Perhaps it’s time for some of the readers of this blog to get the F out of our fine borough, and move into a gated community somewhere.