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Update February 1, 2016- The police blotters have a new SoHo violent robbery to report. A woman was sitting in the park at Duarte Square (that empty plot next to Canal and 6th Ave) when a man approached her asking for the time. As she looked at her a phone, a second accomplice male grabbed her iPhone and ran.
This incident seems to be very similar to the one on North End Avenue where a local teen was approached by a group of males, asked for the time, then they attempt to grab his phone. Be alert of this scam and never use your iPhone in public.
January 28, 2016- by Steven E. Greer
I previously posted the essay “New York City is worse than it was in the 1970’s”.
Today, I was in SoHo on some business and spotted NYPD patrolling on foot in the heart of the fancy shopping district. I spoke to one officer. It is a new patrol set up to stop the smash-and-grab felonies that have become routine. The expensive handbags and so forth are easy prey for gangs.
This used to be nonviolent crime. However, one of the robberies led to a shootout recently.
The real answer to this problem is for SoHo business to form a BID, or something like it, and hire private security, armed with guns, to patrol the shopping district. Then, Mayor de Blasio needs to be impeached.