Police Blotter
FIFTH PRECINCT
Subway group attack
A man was victimized in a group attack
on the subway on Sept. 7, according
to police. At 3:40 a.m., a 38-year-old
man was on an Uptown D train, when
fi ve people approached and demanded
his money. The victim refused, and two
of the men then started to punch him.
When the victim resisted, a third man
asked one of the women in the group
to give him his knife, which he used to
stab the victim in the head and torso
area. The group fl ed the train when it
arrived at the Grand St. station. E.M.S.
medics took the victim to Bellevue
Hospital for treatment.
SIXTH PRECINCT
5th Ave. purse snatch
A woman was robbed earlier this
summer at Fifth Ave. and 10th St., according
to a police report. On July 9,
around 3:10 p.m., a 31-year-old woman
was at the location when two males
snatched her purse from her hand and
fl ed in an unknown direction. The
purse contained $40 and credit cards.
NINTH PRECINCT
Bowery bank robbery
There was a robbery inside the Chase
bank at 305 Bowery, at E. First St.,
last week, police said. On Fri., Sept.
6, around 11:40 a.m., a man entered
the branch and approached a teller. He
passed a note while verbally demanding
cash. The teller complied and the
robber grabbed about $1,000 and fl ed.
Rings theft
There was a jewelry theft in the
East Village on Aug. 23, police said.
At 8 p.m., two people reportedly entered
Still House, at 307 E. Ninth St.,
between First and Second Aves., and
tried on jewelry at the counter. When
the store employee was distracted,
they took two rings, valued at around
$2,980. The perps also used a counterfeit
$100 bill to buy two $25 gift cards,
before leaving the store, police said.
10TH PRECINCT
Residential robbery
A woman was robbed Sun., Aug.
25, inside an apartment building near
Seventh Ave. and W. 21st St., police
said. Around 12:30 a.m., a woman approached
the 30-year-old victim in a
stairwell and struck up a conversation.
The perp then dragged the victim down
the stairs to the third-fl oor landing.
The attacker took the victim’s iPhone
X and wallet case, containing a credit
card. The mugger then fl ed outside,
with a man. E.M.S. took the victim to
an area hospital for head pain, a cut on
her tongue and bruising.
Restaurant burglary
A burglar seeking bills and booze
broke into a Chelsea eatery on Sat.,
Aug. 24, according to police. It was
around 6:50 a.m. at Chelsea Ristorante
Italiano, at 108 Eighth Ave., between
W. 15th and 16th Sts., when the suspect
entered the place through a broken
window. Once inside, he swiped a
bottle of liquor and $370 from the register.
He then fl ed north on Eighth Ave.
and ducked into the A/C/E/L subway
station at W. 16th St.
Pizza d’oh!
There was a late-night assault at
Gotham Pizzeria, at 114 Ninth Ave.,
between 17th and 18th Sts., early last
Saturday, according to a police report.
On Sept. 7, around 12:05 a.m., a
28-year-old man was out with friends
getting food, when an unknown man
bumped him and asked if he wanted
to fi ght. A physical altercation fl ared
and the stranger picked up a chair and
hit the victim with it. The victim lost
consciousness, and when he awoke, he
ordered an Uber to go home. He later
walked into Booth Memorial Hospital
in Flushing, where he was treated for
a broken cheekbone, a closed black eye
and cuts on his nose.
Gummy fi ngers
There was a shoplifting incident inside
the Duane Reade at 131 Eighth
Ave., between W. 16th and 17th Sts.,
last Saturday, police said. Around 4
p.m., a store employee saw a man take
several items, including six-packs of
Wrigley’s gum and 5 Infi niti charging
cables, with a total value of $91.
Lonnie Brown, 58, was arrested the
same day for petit larceny, a misdemeanor.
Gabriel Herman
Wash. Pl. group targets drugs, crime, trash
BY GABE HERMAN
A new Village group, the West
Washington Place Block Association,
plans to address local
crime and other issues like excessive
garbage and beautifying the area.
The new block association was coorganized
by two Washington Place
residents, Nancy Bass Wyden, owner
of the Strand Book Store, and Rosalind
Resnick, who owns and rents out eight
townhouses in the Village, including
three on Washington Place.
Wyden and Resnick have been friends
for many years and were on their coop
board for 12 years when they lived
together at 39 Fifth Ave., after which
they separately both wound up living
on Washington Place.
Recently, Resnick was in the Strand
when Wyden suggested forming a block
association, since they work well together
and both have a business background,
Wyden said.
The group’s fi rst meeting, titled
“Save Our Street,” will be Wed., Sept.
18, from 6:30 p.m. to 8 p.m., at 122
Washington Place, between Sixth Ave.
and Sheridan Square.
On the west side of Washington
Square Park, Washington Place is two
blocks long, running from the park to
Sheridan Square and Sixth Ave. This
group will only focus on the westernmost
Washington Place and Sixth Ave. looking west.
block, as there is already another
block association for the eastern half.
Wyden and Resnick said the pressing
issues for the new group include crime
and homelessness, which they said have
gotten worse in recent years.
Wyden noted she has young children
and that the scene across the street
from her home is concerning.
“It’s just a continuous loop of people
sitting on those steps and smoking
crack,” she said.
She added that there is scaffolding
on a New York University building next
door, under which up to eight homeless
people camp out.
PHOTO BY GABE HERMAN
“They feel very unsafe,” she said of
her children, “as do I.”
Wyden said a friend just bought a
townhouse around the corner and it
has already been broken into, forcing
the owner to board up the windows.
She said she has also seen people looking
through fl ower beds on the block,
presumably for drugs.
Resnick said that trash boxes on the
block have been used as drop-off points
for drug deals, as well.
On election night in 2016, Resnick
said, she woke up at 2 a.m. and heard
someone outside grabbing the door
handle and trying to get into the house.
She said it was a homeless drug addict,
and that it took three 911 calls before
police fi nally arrived. When they did,
they found the man sprawled by the
front gate, and the offi cers remarked
that they knew the guy. Resnick said
she’s never seen police on the block.
“That’s why we as neighbors are getting
together to form the block association,”
she said, “to get our voices heard
as a community.”
The women hope a group voice can
make a difference. They said that individually
they have reached out about
various issues to N.Y.U., the police and
the community board, but those groups
have largely been unresponsive.
Other local issues they would like to
address through the new group include
excessive trash on the streets and adding
fl ower boxes.
“I know we can beautify it,” Wyden
declared of the block. She said a grassroots
group could have an impact locally,
plus would be a fun way to get to
know neighbors.
Wyden and Resnick said they are trying
to learn from other local block associations,
such as the ones on Charles
St., E. 11th St. and W. Ninth St. And
the president of the eastern side of
Washington Place has been very supportive
of their effort, they said.
People can RSVP for the fi rst meeting
at WestWPBA@gmail.com.
4 September 12, 2019 TVG Schneps Media
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