Felony assaults have increased throughout Queens year-to-date, compared to the same period in 2022, according to the latest crime stats released by the NYPD. At the same time, grand larceny has been on the decline.
Felony assaults were up 16.5% in northern Queens for the year through Nov. 12, rising from 2,184 in 2022 to 2,544 in 2023. In southern Queens, felony assaults rose 5.8% for the year through Nov. 12, from 2,354 to 2,490.
In the past month, there has been a significant uptick in two Queens precinct. In the 110th Precinct, which covers Corona and Elmhurst, there were 55 felony assaults reported for the 28-day period ending Nov. 12, up from 41 for the same 28-day period a year ago. Meanwhile, in the 103rd Precinct, which encompasses Hollis Park Gardens, Hollis, Lakewood and Jamaica, they jumped from 37 to 65 for the 28-day period year-over-year.
Two recent felony assault cases involved attacks on transit workers. One incident took place in College Point and the other in Jamaica, within the confines of the 109th and 103rd Precincts, respectively.
Meanwhile, grand larceny cases have declined 4.9% in northern Queens for the year through Nov. 12, from 6,164 last year to 5,863 this year. In southern Queens, there was a 3.6% dip, from 3,263 to 3,147.
Grand larcenies have plummeted in two precincts over the past 28 days. In the 109th Precinct, which covers Flushing, Queensboro Hill, College Point, Whitestone and Bay Terrace, the number of grand larceny cases reported for the 28-day period ending Nov. 12 was 97, down from 115 for the same period a year ago. Meanwhile, they dropped from 45 to 19 for the 28-day period in the 113th Precinct, which covers Hollis, South Jamaica, South Ozone Park and St. Albans.
Despite the increase in felony assaults and decrease in grand larceny, northern Queens has seen a 6.26% year-to-date increase compared to last year in major crimes — murder, rape, robbery, felony assault, burglary, grand larceny and grand larceny of automobiles — from a total of 13,572 in 2022 to 14,421 this year.
Southern Queens has experienced a slight drop in major crimes this year compared to last year. Major crimes dropped 0.39% year to date, from 9,589 to 9,552 crimes reported.
Another noteworthy trend is the change in the number of rape cases in northern and southern Queens. Despite the fact that both areas have seen fewer cases year-to-date compared to last year, there has been an increase in southern Queens during the latest 28-day period. Rape cases have more than doubled over that span, from 13 last year to 21 this year. This is in large part due to Howard Beach, Lindenwood and Ozone Park in the 106th Precinct seeing cases rise from one to six. Northern Queens, on the other hand, continues to see rape cases trend down, from 22 to 14 during the same period of time, including a drop from 8 to 1 in the 109th Precinct.
Other than felony assault, the only major crime category in northern Queens to see a rise in cases over the 28-day period was grand larceny of automobiles. These cases rocketed up 21.4%, from 182 to 221. In addition to the 109th Precinct (41 to 56), the 112th Precinct (8 to 23), which oversees Forest Hills and Rego Park, saw 15 more cases.
Robberies joined felony assaults and rape as the only major crimes in southern Queens to have cases rise over the 28-day period compared to last year. There was a 4.5% increase in robberies, from 112 to 117. This included a surge in cases across Cunningham Heights, Hilltop Village and Fresh Meadows in the 107th precinct, where they rose from 8 to 19.
