New York's wealthy Upper East Side reports a shocking 286% increase in robberies - with armed gunmen holding up residents just feet from the homes of billionaires
- 27 robberies have taken place on Manhattan's Upper East Side over the past four weeks - a 286 percent increase when compared to the same time last year
- Over the weekend, cops charged three teenagers for a spate of armed hold-ups that took place near the homes of billionaires Henry Kravis and John Paulson
- An analysis of data reveals that robberies are also on the rise in other affluent Manhattan neighborhoods, including TriBeCa, SoHo and the West Village
- It's proof that New York's wealthiest residents are not immune from crime spike gripping the city
- New York City reported a 177 percent increase in shootings in July when compared to the same month last year; murders spiked by 20 percent
More than 1,500 NYC inmates have been released during coronavirus crisis
Mayor Bill de Blasio’s office announced Friday that more than 1,500 inmates have been released from city jails in three weeks — shrinking the number of incarcerated to its lowest level in 70 years.
“Largely through efforts from judges, district attorneys, defenders, DOC and New York State DOCCS, over 1,500 people have been released from jail since March 16,” the Mayor’s Office of Criminal Justice touted in a fact sheet posted online. “Today the jail population is at a number last seen in 1949.”
The 20 percent decline from 5,447 city inmates to 4,363 reflect data through April 6, the sheet says.
Those sprung in the last 21 days include 329 “violent felony detainees” and 207 “non-violent felony detainees,” the report says.
But the bulk of those released were jailed on less serious offenses, including 130 people charged with misdemeanors and 354 with parole violations. Another 401 inmates were serving city sentences of less than one year.
Some had paid bail or left after their sentence was over but many were released by judges in response to the COVID-19 outbreak.
Defense lawyers have filed dozens of petitions arguing that the continued incarceration of their clients endangers their lives and violates their constitutional rights.
At the request of the Legal Aid Society, Justice Mark Dwyer freed 18 Rikers Island inmates, including accused murderer Pedro Vinent-Barcia, who allegedly stabbed his girlfriend to death.
Many of the released detainees suffer from serious underlying illnesses, including heart disease, cancer and uncontrolled HIV.
Dwyer wrote in his decision that city jails aren’t equipped to handle this unprecedented health crisis. “Prisoners with dangerous conditions are dramatically at risk,” he said. “For some of them, only release can offer protection.”
Manhattan District Attorney Cyrus Vance Jr. has taken the unusual step of consenting to the release of 294 detainees who, he says, don’t pose a threat to public safety. Other city DA’s have followed suit.
Not only are more inmates walking out of jails, far fewer are entering the facilities.
The fact sheet says that 500 people were admitted, compared to 2,100 over the same time last year due to “a number of public health measures designed to reduce the spread of COVID-19.”
The virus is spreading through city jails at a rapid clip.
As of April 10, 518 jail staffers and 304 inmates have tested positive for COVID-19, according to the city’s Department of Corrections. One inmate died last week and seven staffers have passed away from the virus, the DOC said. Family members reported the staff deaths.
On Thursday, a group of jail employees filed a petition accusing the DOC of putting their health at risk by failing to implement an appropriate coronavirus protocol.
They have alleged that the department is flouting social distancing guidelines and failing to properly quarantine sick inmates.
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