Most crime was down; Club-related assaults were up

By Albert Amateau

Felony crime in Chelsea, the Village and Soho continued the downward trend of the past 15 years, according to New York Police Department statistics tracking crimes in 2006 compared with previous years. But there were increases in felony assaults in the 10th Precinct, covering Chelsea, and the Sixth Precinct, covering the Village, two neighborhoods where clubs and lounges account for much of the increase.

And on the Lower East Side, crime in the Seventh Precinct increased 4.4 percent last year with a spike in the number of burglaries.

The citywide murder rate increased 9.2 percent last year compared to 2005, an increase that police officials attribute partially to victims who were attacked in previous years and who died in 2006. Nevertheless, the citywide number of crimes in the six major categories last year declined 4.71 percent.

10th Precinct

In the precinct covering Chelsea and the southern part of Hell’s Kitchen, two neighborhoods which have the city’s largest concentration of clubs and lounges, felony assaults increased from 117 in 2005 to 151 last year, a 29 percent increase.

“Of those 151 assaults, 56 were club related and 48 of them happened inside the clubs,” said Captain Stephen Hughes, the precinct’s commanding officer.

Since Aug. 7 the precinct has concentrated increased resources on West Chelsea after several violent incidents in clubs like Opus 22, where one man was shot to death and three others injured, in Crobar on W. 28th St., where two women patrons were shot in the leg, and at Guest House, where a 19-year-old New Jersey girl was drinking before she was picked up on the West Side Highway, allegedly by the man who later murdered her.

“We have 24 more officers covering the neighborhood, the Mounted Unit does crowd control, and we have a mobile command post between 10th and 11th Aves.,” Hughes said. “We have a mobile electronic sign warning people about drunk driving and warning that using false I.D. is a crime. We’ve made 453 club-related arrests and issued 1,400 quality-of-life summonses — conditions on the streets outside the clubs have improved,” Hughes said.

There were three murders in the precinct last year compared to four the previous year and 10 rapes compared to 15. Robberies declined 3.3 percent from 179 in 2005 to 173 in 2006. Burglaries were down 1.1 percent from 178 in 2005 to 176 last year. Grand larceny was up 3.3 percent from 837 to 865 last year, an increase partly attributed to bar and lounge patrons leaving their bags unattended. Auto theft was up 4.4 percent from 89 to 93 last year.

Sixth Precinct

“Felony assaults were up 13.3 percent — almost exclusively attributed to incidents early last year in clubs and bars,” said Detective Mike Singer, community affairs officer of the Sixth Precinct. “Inspector [Theresa] Shortell got a handle on the situation and it’s already improved in the past couple of months,” Singer added.

There were three murders in the Sixth Precinct last year compared to one the previous year.

“One was the actress [Adrienne Shelly] who was murdered in November in her Abingdon Square apartment, and the other was [Martin Barreto,] the former Giuliani aide killed in his E. 10th St. apartment in August. There were arrests on both of them,” said Singer. The third was of a homeless man killed on Halloween in 2004 when he hit his head after someone pushed him to the pavement at Bleecker St. The crime was not categorized as a murder until January of last year and there has been no arrest, Singer said.

There were six rapes last year compared to nine in 2005. There were 213 robberies last year compared to 228 the previous year, a drop of 6.5 percent. As for the increase in assaults, there were 119 compared to 105 the previous year. Burglaries in the Sixth Precinct dropped from 316 in 2005 to 272 last year, a 13.9 percent decline. Grand larceny, the crime with the largest incidence, dropped from 1,309 in 2005 to 1,272 last year, a 2.8 percent decrease. Auto theft dropped from 83 in 2005 to 72 last year, a 13.9 percent decline.

Ninth Precinct

In the Ninth Precinct, covering the East Village between Broadway and the East River from 14th to Houston Sts., there were declines in five of the six felony categories.

“We did well but we struggled with some burglaries,” said Deputy Inspector Dennis De Quatro, precinct commander.

There were 301 burglaries last year compared to 289 in 2005, an increase of 4.1 percent, which De Quatro attributed to residential development in the neighborhood.

“We’ve been urging people to remember to lock their doors and windows — especially fire escape windows,” De Quatro said.

The biggest change was in auto theft, which declined from 115 in 2005 to 78 last year, a 32.1 percent decrease. De Quatro attributed the drop to increased use of devices like LoJack and to longer jail sentences in the past few years for people convicted of auto theft.

There was one murder last year compared to two in 2005 and 12 rapes last year to 17 the previous year. Robbery declined by 4.6 percent down from 261 in 2005 to 249 last year. Felony assault declined 1.8 percent from 166 to 163 last year. Grand larceny declined 2.7 percent from 782 in 2005 to 770 last year.

13th Precinct

Crime in the 13th Precinct, which covers the Flatiron and Madison Square neighborhoods between Seventh Ave. and the East River from 14th to 29th Sts., declined 2.33 percent last year from 2005.

But robberies increased 6.1 percent last year, with 311 compared to 293 in 2005. Burglaries also increased 4.2 percent from 420 in 2005 to 438 last year.

There were two murders in the precinct last year down from three in 2005 and eight rapes down from nine in 2005.