NEW YORK — The busy Midtown South precinct, home to Times Square and packed with hordes of tourists, shoppers and commuters on any given day in New York City, has seen substantial jumps in grand larceny, burglaries and robberies in the first 10 months of 2022.
The spike has alarmed locals, who fear a return to a scary world of rising crime and diminishing quality of life.
“We’re repeating the ‘80s,” said Eddie Hassan, a local deli worker who lives just south of the Port Authority Bus Terminal. “We could talk about it for days, but it’s the homeless and the drug dealers. ... After the pandemic, it definitely got worse. People are wilding out here.”
