‘Never been this bad’
Suozzi says crime, homeless at Penn leave many ‘scared’
BY DEAN MOSES
Congressman Thomas
Suozzi decried the various
safety and qualityof
life problems that have
stemmed from Penn Station
throughout 2021.
The Queens/Long Island
Congressman and gubernatorial
hopeful pulled very few
punches at a press conference
inside the mass transportation
hub on Dec. 29. Standing
near the LIRR tracks 13 and
14 alongside station advocates
Thursday, the elected fumed
over the issues of homelessness
and violence in and around the
intercity terminal. Suozzi leveled
resolute blame at both the
MTA and the city as a whole for
what he feels is the sorry state of
the station.
“I’ve been coming in and
out of the city my entire life.
It’s never been this bad. I came
here the other day. I personally
was scared. I know people
that say they will not come
into the city for dinner or for
a show because they’re scared
to come,” Suozzi said. “It’s not
an easy solution to do. But the
fi rst thing you have to do is recognize
there’s a problem here.
There’s a very big problem that
exists at Penn Station. It manifests
itself not just by walking
around and seeing what’s going
on here. But it’s manifested
in the customer survey where
LOCAL NEWS
Offi cers hand a mask to a homeless individual in Penn Station.
21,800 people said the biggest
problem we face right now is
crime and homelessness.”
Citing aggressive panhandlers,
blatant, daylight drug use,
unconscious homeless individuals,
and mental health issues as
prime factors for the increased
levels of violent crime, Suozzi
declared that the city does not
have to choose between compassion
for the unhoused and a
safe Penn Station. In his mind
both are attainable.
“It’s a false choice between
trying to help the homeless
and provide for public safety.
You can do both,” Suozzi said,
sharing that he is also calling
upon Mayor-elect Eric Adams
and Gov. Kathy Hochul to sit
down and address the situation
while also asking for a social
services plan that works in
conjunction with law enforcement.
Gerard Bringmann, LIRR
Commuter Council President
PHOTO BY DEAN MOSES
and member of the MTA
board, agreed with Suozzi that
Penn Station has become a
sleeping ground for many unhoused
individuals, which he
believes is due to defi ciencies
in contracted homeless services
who are not for fulfi lling
their commitments.
“We’ve spoken to the people
at the MTA that handle this
situation, they explained to us
all the obstacles that they face.
One of the obstacles is that the
contractor that’s supposed to
handle the homeless services
has not been up to par doing
what they what they’re supposed
to be doing,” Bringmann
said, adding that the Inspector
General for the MTA has been
investigating the matter.
In addition to the human
element, Suozzi also criticized
the aging architecture and
design, which he says forces
commuters dangerously close
to the tracks during crowded
times like rush hour. This,
he hopes, will be rectifi ed
upon the implementation of
funds from the Bipartisan
Infrastructure Framework.
After the press conference
amNewYork Metro observed
several unmasked unhoused
individuals passed out within
the expansive halls of Penn
Station, including some who
were undergoing wellness
checks from NYPD offi cers.
In response to remarks
made by Suozzi and Penn Station
advocates, MTA Chief of
External Relations John Mc-
Carthy applauds their efforts
to bring awareness to the situation,
even if it comes months
after several violent stabbings.
“Though it may come a little
late, the MTA is glad that Congressman
Suozzi supports fi xing
Penn Station and has now
joined the MTA’s repeated
calls for the City of New York
to give more attention to policing
the area around Penn and
to assign more mental health
and homeless services professionals
to the station,” McCarthy
said.
amNewYork Metro also
reached out to DSS-DHS for
comment and is awaiting a response.
Manhattan South sees huge crime increase at 2021’s end
BY ROBERT POZARYCKI
New York City’s on track
to end 2021 with a more
than 5% increase in
major crimes for the year, according
to the latest NYPD
statistics.
Through Dec. 21, the
NYPD’s CompStat 2.0 program
reported, more than
98,580 major crimes (murder,
rape, robbery, felony assault,
burglary, grand larceny
and auto theft) had been tallied
year-to-date, up from the
93,231 recorded at the same
point in 2020.
Of the eight commands
overseeing the NYPD’s 77 precincts,
Patrol Borough Manhattan
South leads them all, so
far, in major crime increases,
at 12.7%, followed closely behind
by Parol Borough Queens
North at 11.9% and Patrol Borough
Bronx at 11.2%.
The biggest increases in
Manhattan South (1st, 5th,
6th, 7th, 9th, 10th, 13th, 17th,
Midtown North and Midtown
South Precincts) were seen in
robberies (up 36% from 2020,
with 1,628 incidents) and felony
assaults (up 30.8%, with
1,847 incidents).The city’s on
pace to fi nish 2021 just shy of
500 murders; as of Dec. 21,
464 homicides were recorded
this year, up from the 452 cases
tallied at the same point a year
ago. And despite the NYPD’s
best efforts to stop gun violence
— including making thousands
of gun arrests this year —
shooting incidents are up about
2.4%.
Burglary was the lone major
index crime declining this year
— down 18.9% from 2020,
with a total of 12,221 breakins
reported this year. Other
property crimes, however, are
helping to drive the numbers
higher; grand larcenies are up
12.5%, with 38,996 such offenses
tallied, and auto thefts
rose 14.3%, with more than
10,000 such incidents occurring
this year.
In an interview with NBC
New York, outgoing Police
Commissioner Dermot Shea
— as he has for months — suggested
the continued rise in
crime was the result of weakened
bail reform laws and
prosecutors failing to pursue
certain criminal cases.
“We are in a place right now
which, by any defi nition, is insanity,”
Shea told NBC New
York. “When you make public
statements, ‘I’m not prosecuting
x,’ I think you’re sending
a real strong message to the
criminal element. Stolen cars
were essentially solved in this
city, but you’ve taken any penalty
away for stealing a car. So
it’s become a game in the city.”
Another disturbing statistic:
the proliferation of hate crimes
in New York City, which are
up 93% citywide year-to-date.
The city’s on pace to fi nish
2021 with more than 500 bias
crimes, a shameful fi gure given
the incredible diversity of the
Five Boroughs.
Schneps Media December 30, 2021 3