Despite the rate of crime decreasing citywide, crime increased in the borough of Queens in 2018.
New York City achieved hit record lows in several major crime categories in 2018, according to a press release from the NYPD. The number of murders in the city was below 300. Citywide robberies and burglaries, less than 13,000 and 12,000 respectively, were down from their 2017 totals. There were also fewer than 800 shootings, also down from 2017.
“Look, I want to put this in perspective; we had in 2017 a record setting year,” said Mayor Bill de Blasio at a press conference about citywide crime on Jan. 3. “We had crime down in ways that no one believed possible previously. And in 2018 the NYPD beat the record again. ”
But according to NYPD data, rapes, murders, felony assaults and incidents of grand larceny have increased in Queens.
In 2017, there were 50 murders, 307 rapes, 2,823 robberies, 3,820 felony assaults, 2,914 burglaries, 7,842 incidents of grand larceny and 1,568 incidents of grand larceny auto in the borough.
According to NYPD end-of-year crime statistics, there were 63 murders, 389 rapes, 2,523 robberies, 3,848 felony assaults, 2,496 burglaries, 8,070 incidents of grand larceny and 1,555 incidents of grand larceny auto in 2018.
The 114th Precinct, which encompasses Astoria, Long Island City, Woodside and Jackson Heights, reported 10 murders in 2018. In 2017 there were three. This makes the 114 the area with the highest number of homicides in the borough.
Meanwhile, the 110th Precinct, which covers the neighborhoods of Corona and Elmhurst, reported 43 rapes in 2018, a major jump from the 25 reported 2017. The neighborhoods within the confines of the 110, Corona and Elmhurst, had the highest number of rapes in 2018. It was also the area with the highest number of robberies, 263, but that number is a 16 percent decrease from 2017.
The highest number of felony assaults that occurred in Queens last year occurred the neighborhoods of the 103rd Precinct — Jamaica, Hollis, Lakewood and Hollis Park Gardens. The NYPD reports that there a total of 406 incidents of assault in the areas, a 5.18 percent increase from 2017.
The neighborhoods of Downtown Flushing, East Flushing, Queensboro Hill, College Point, Malba, Whitestone, Beechhurst and Bay Terrace — all within the confines of the 109th Precinct — had the highest amount of burglaries throughout Queens in 2018. Data shows that the neighborhoods saw a 17.39 percent increase in the number of burglaries. The NYPD reported a total of 324 burglaries in 2018 and 276 in 2017.
Not only did the 109th Precinct have the most burglaries in Queens last year, the command also saw the borough’s highest number grand larceny crimes. NYPD data shows that 970 incidents of grand larceny took place within the neighborhoods covered by the precinct — an 8.92 percent increase from 2017.
Finally, the most stolen vehicles in 2018 (classified as grand larceny auto cases) occurred in the 105th Precinct. The southeast Queens command covers Queens Village, Cambria Heights, Laurelton, Rosedale, Springfield Gardens, Bellerose, Glen Oaks, New Hyde Park and Floral Park. There were 165 incidents of grand larceny auto in 2018 within the 105th Precinct, a small percentage increase from the year prior, 2.48.
On the other hand, the 111th Precinct — which includes all or parts of Bayside, Douglaston, Little Neck, Auburndale, Hollis Hills and Fresh Meadows — reported zero murders for 2018, making it the precinct with the fewest number of murders in Queens.
The 111th also had the lowest number of robberies in 2018, with NYPD data showing that 39 took place last year and 35 in 2017.
The 100th Precinct — which serves the southern portion of Queens on the Rockaway Peninsula, Arverne, Belle Harbor, Breezy Point, Broad Channel, Neponsit, Rockaway Park, Rockaway Beach and Roxbury — had the fewest number of rapes, burglaries, incidents of grand larceny and auto thefts in 2018. According to NYPD data, five rapes, 59 burglaries, 161 incidents of grand larceny and 18 car thefts occurred within the neighborhoods under the guard of the 100th precinct last year. In 2017, there were nine rapes, 73 burglaries, 157 incidents of grand larceny and 21 car thefts.
The 112th Precinct — which serves Forest Hills and Rego Park — reported the fewest number of assaults for a Queens precinct in 2018. NYPD data shows that 53 incidents of assault occurred within the 112th, two less than reported in 2017.
