The 104th Precinct has experienced nearly a 32% increase in reported major crimes this year to date, according to recent crime stats released by the NYPD.
The precinct covers the neighborhoods of Ridgewood, Glendale, Maspeth and Middle Village.
According to the data, property crimes are posing the biggest problem in the community, driven by a 72% rise in robberies, a 33% rise in auto thefts and a 25% rise in burglaries.
Petit and grand larceny also continue to be an issue, with these categories increasing by a combined 43%, according to the data.
These numbers are consistent with citywide crime levels, which increased overall by 26% in August 2022 compared with August 2021, according to officials. Property crimes also drove the citywide rise in crime levels.
“Five of the seven major index-crime categories saw increases, driven by a 38% increase in robbery, a 35% increase in grand larceny and a 31% rise in burglaries,” an NYPD official told QNS.
Councilman Robert Holden, whose district covers Ridgewood, Glendale, Middle Village and Maspeth, said that the statistics highlight a depraved indifference to human life in the city.
“The recent crime stats are just the latest evidence of the lawlessness that has overtaken our city. The violent crime without consequence and depraved indifference to human life are rampant, in plain sight every day, and dominate our newspapers,” Holden said.
Last month, QNS reported the conversation around bail reform had reignited as crime rose citywide and Mayor Eric Adams lashed out at New York’s justice system. Holden also still believes that the reform is a major factor in the hike in crime levels in New York.
“We know how to stop it as a city because we’ve done it before. For starters, we need to bring back Broken Windows, support our cops, fire prosecutors who won’t do their jobs, and end the ludicrous social experiment called bail reform,” said Holden.
The Broken Windows theory suggests that policing methods that target minor crimes such as vandalism, loitering, public drinking, jaywalking and fare evasion help to create an atmosphere of order and lawfulness.
It was popularized in the 1990s by former New York City Police Commissioner William Bratton and Mayor Rudy Giuliani, whose policing policies were influenced by the theory.
Gun-related crimes saw an exponential rise in the community with eight shooting incidents so far this year, while there was one in the same period in 2021. The trend doesn’t reflect across the city as the NYPD reported that last month saw the fourth-lowest number of shootings in any August since the early 1990s. Officials said that these statistics are a sign that the NYPD’s work to eradicate violence is taking hold.
“Citywide shooting incidents decreased in August by 30.3% driven by steep decreases in the Bronx, southern Queens and northern Brooklyn,” an NYPD official told QNS.
Transit crimes increased by 20% across New York in July and the areas in mid-Queens are no different. There was a whopping 125% rise in transit crimes compared to the same period of 2021. Hate crimes also rose by over 33%.
