The NYPD said a cell phone store in Kingsbridge was robbed at gunpoint on Thursday, April 7. The incident comes on the heels of the NYPD releasing the latest crime statistics for March, and following news on Thursday that the delayed State budget has been agreed in principle. The budget was due to be brokered by April 1, and despite long negotiations, some are still not happy with the final plan, a scenario reminiscent of the 2020 contentious City budget negotiations amid the old rallying cry of “Defund the Police.”

Regarding the Kingsbridge robbery, a police official said the store, located at 5609 Broadway, was robbed at around 6.45 p.m. on Thursday, with the perpetrator making off with some merchandise and cash of an undisclosed value. Boost Mobile store is located at this address. No firm description is currently available for the perpetrator. There was one employee and no customers in the store at the time of the incident. No shots were fired and no injuries were reported. Neither were there any arrests. The investigation remains ongoing.

In terms of citywide crime statistics, the City saw a 15.8 percent drop in homicides compared to March 2021 (32 versus 38). NYPD officials said officers made 28.2 percent more arrests in the seven, major, index crime categories i.e. 4,025 versus 3,140 during the same period in 2021.

Police officials said overall index crime increased by 36.5 percent in March 2022, compared to the same period a year ago (9,873 versus 7,232),  a total that police said was driven by a 59.4 percent increase in grand larceny auto crimes (1,044 versus 655), a 48.4 percent increase in robberies (1,267 versus 854), and a 40.5 percent increase in grand larceny crimes (4,078 versus 2,902). Citywide burglaries also increased by 40 percent (1,326 versus 947) in March 2022, compared to last year.

Citywide shooting incidents increased by 16.2 percent (115 versus 99) in March 2022, compared to the same period last year. NYPD officials said the department remains focused on eradicating gun violence and delivering just, effective policing. Officers made 410 gun arrests in March 2022, driving the 1,207 overall arrests for illegal firearms for the first quarter of 2022. They said this is the highest number of quarterly gun arrests since early 2021, when 1,385 such arrests were made.

In the context of the latest statistics, Police Commissioner Keechant L. Sewell, said, “The NYPD will continue to provide fair, effective, and responsive policing that best reflects the needs of the communities we serve.” She added, “But the NYPD needs the steadfast commitment of all its partners, pulling in the same direction, to realize our goal of public safety for every New Yorker.”

The crime statistics for March cap a historic period for an administration approaching its 100^th day in office, and NYPD officials said they remain focused on the drivers of crime and disorder in New York City. They said the eight patrol boroughs, along with detectives and intelligence analysts, work tirelessly every day to assimilate information and build strong, long-term investigations.

Taken together, officials said the first three months of 2022 have been defined by successful takedowns of violent subjects and the seizure of caches of illegal guns – including traditional weapons and newly emerging firearms known as “ghost guns” which can be assembled at home. “These efforts highlight the critical collaboration and close working relationship between the NYPD, its federal law enforcement partners, and the city’s district attorneys,” police officials said.

Norwood News reported on Thursday, April 7, that some of the 20 gang members arrested for various crimes (82 separate charges) over a three-year period in and around the Norwood area had been formally charged on Tuesday, April 5, during an arraignment at Bronx County Court. Charges included murder, non-fatal shootings and stabbings.

According to the police department, since January 2022, more than 400 officers were hand-selected for the NYPD’s new Neighborhood Safety Teams. The first groups began their 50 hours of training over seven days on topics including constitutional policing, community engagement, law and tactics, critical thinking, communication, and de-escalation.

Since their deployment on March 14, police officials said the first 218 of the officers assigned to these teams have been making a difference – effecting 121 arrests, including 25 for gun possession. “They continue to take illegal weapons off the streets while working in the 30 precincts and four Police Service Areas that accounted for 80 percent of the city’s shooting incidents in 2021. We are seizing record numbers of illegal firearms, citywide,” police said.

Chief of Department Kenneth Corey said, “The officers doing this vital work are ensuring that these guns never victimize another New Yorker. This is the most dangerous kind of work we do, but it can have the greatest impact on public safety. Our officers are precisely targeting the small number of criminals willing to carry a gun, and to use it.”

To augment the mission of the Neighborhood Safety Teams, the NYPD in March announced a citywide initiative meant to address a rise in quality-of-life offenses that are often precursors to violence. They said the initiative is in direct response to the public-safety concerns of New Yorkers, and is driven by the specific needs and crime-complaints of people in each neighborhood. A similar effort was instigated by the 52nd precinct last year, as reported.

Chief of crime control strategies, Michael LiPetri, said “Today’s NYPD officers are expanding their focus by studying crime trends and monitoring community complaints, such as those to 311 that shed deeper insight into the geneses of crime.” He added, “Proactive engagement with offenders, relentless investigations and follow-up, and rapid deployment are proven methods to reduce crime and disorder on the streets, in the subways, or in public housing.”

In conclusion, department officials said they would never waver in their continuing fight on behalf of every New Yorker. “The department’s efforts, though, are not exclusive and are closely linked to the work of its law enforcement and government partners. Turning the tide against shootings, thefts, and overall disorder relies on every stakeholder doing their part to achieve our shared public-safety vision for every New York City neighborhood,” police said.

The following crime statistics are preliminary and subject to further analysis, revision, or change, according to the NYPD.

Index Crime Statistics: March 2022

Additional Statistics: March 2022

Rape Incident Reporting Statistics: March 2022 

(Reports filed from March 1 – March 31 in years indicated)

Police said rape continues to be under-reported, and appealed to victims of sexual assault to come forward and report such crimes. The 24-hour NYPD Special Victims Division hotline number is: (212) 267-RAPE or (212) 267 7273.

Hate Crime Statistics: March 2022

(Representing March 1 – March 31 for calendar years 2022 and 2021)

As reported, Keechant also reinforced the importance of the Neighborhood Safety Teams during a press conference on Monday, April 4, following the shooting dead of a 61-year-old female bystander in crossfire in the Fordham Heights section of The Bronx, the result of an armed dispute among a group of young men.

Not everyone is in favor of such enhanced policing efforts, however. State Sen. Alessandra Biaggi (S.D. 34) who represents parts of The Bronx and Westchester counties, shared a tweet on Thursday from Emily Galvin-Almanza, a lawyer who worked previously with The Bronx Defenders, who said that in Denver, a program called STAR which sends social workers instead of police to incidents has responded to over 2,200 calls regarding low-level incidents / intoxication / mental health calls and that the social workers in question never had to call police for back-up due to a safety issue.

New York, you hear that? https://t.co/jvmVeC6AI4

— Alessandra Biaggi (@Biaggi4NY) April 7, 2022

Progressives are also largely disappointed with the final State budget agreed on Thursday, April 7, which includes funding for a private football stadium in Buffalo, Gov. Kathy Hochul’s hometown. Hochul has come under the radar for her alleged entanglements with the proposed, private stadium venture, as reported by several media outlets. Some progressive Democrats are of the view that funds for the stadium should have been allocated instead to financing more social services like healthcare, including mental healthcare.

New York City Public Advocate Jumaane Williams, who is running for governor, said in response to news of the final budget, “Tonight, Gov. Kathy Hochul brokered a $220 billion budget that benefits billionaires, big-money special interests and the owners of the Bills – not struggling and working New Yorkers who who can’t make ends meet.” He continued, “After a historic delay, her inaugural budget will go down in history as a colossal missed opportunity.

The governor’s office, on the other hand, touted the deal, saying the State’s reserves under her latest State budget plan would increase to a record level of 15 percent of State operating funds spending by FY 2025. “As we make our comeback from the COVID-19 pandemic we are embracing this once-in-a-generation opportunity to usher in a whole new era for New York, with a bold budget that brings much-needed economic relief to New Yorkers and looks to the future with historic investments in education, health care and infrastructure,” Hochul said. “This agreement brings us closer to an enacted budget and makes good on our promise of a stronger, safer, more inclusive and more prosperous New York State, she added, before thanking her colleagues for their work on brokering the deal.

The budget includes the following:

• tax relief for middle-class New Yorkers and small businesses;
• suspending fuel taxes to tackle the high cost of gasoline which has surged in recent months as a result of the war in Ukraine;
• helping to support small businesses most affected by the COVID-19 pandemic, like restaurants, by authorizing the sale of to-go alcoholic beverages;
• “billions of dollars” to rebuild the health care workforce, support home care workers, and build a health care system of the future;
• a historic investment in education to strengthen higher education institutions and support teachers and school employees;
• increasing funding for, and access to, child care;
• a historic investment in pandemic recovery funding;
• a comprehensive housing plan to make living in New York more affordable;
• a record-level investment in a five-year transportation infrastructure plan;
• a record investment in clean energy infrastructure, climate resiliency and preservation;
• improving ethics oversight and restoring trust in state government by replacing Joint Commission on Oversight of Public Ethics (JCOPE) with a new Commission on Ethics and Lobbying in Government; and
• moving forward toward a safer, more just New York by cracking down on the trafficking of illegal guns, stopping the cycle of repeat offenders, protecting the victims of domestic violence and hate crimes, and investing in mental health infrastructure.

With a conceptual agreement in place, the legislative houses are now expected to vote on its approval.

Hochul’s office said that since the governor proposed her draft executive budget in January, additional revenue has been forecast and surplus funds have been realized. The total budget for FY 2023 is currently estimated at approximately $220 billion, based on a preliminary assessment of the negotiated changes to the original executive proposal.

Meanwhile, below are the year-to-date crime statistics for The Bronx, as of April 3, according to police data.

Anyone with information regarding the Kingsbridge cell phone store robbery is asked to call the NYPD’s Crime Stoppers Hotline at 1-800-577-TIPS (8477) or for Spanish, 1-888-57-PISTA (74782). The public can also submit their tips by logging onto the Crime Stoppers website at https://crimestoppers.nypdonline.org/, or on Twitter @NYPDTips.

All calls are strictly confidential.

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Welcome to the Norwood News, a bi-weekly community newspaper that primarily serves the northwest Bronx communities of Norwood, Bedford Park, Fordham and University Heights. Through our Breaking Bronx blog, we focus on news and information for those neighborhoods, but aim to cover as much Bronx-related news as possible. Founded in 1988 by Mosholu Preservation Corporation, a not-for-profit affiliate of Montefiore Medical Center, the Norwood News began as a monthly and grew to a bi-weekly in 1994. In September 2003 the paper expanded to cover University Heights and now covers all the neighborhoods of Community District 7. The Norwood News exists to foster communication among citizens and organizations and to be a tool for neighborhood development efforts. The Norwood News runs the Bronx Youth Journalism Heard, a journalism training program for Bronx high school students. As you navigate this website, please let us know if you discover any glitches or if you have any suggestions. We’d love to hear from you. You can send e-mails to norwoodnews@norwoodnews.org or call us anytime (718) 324-4998.