UES Grand Larceny Outpacing Last Year's Historic Highs: NYPD Data

UPPER EAST SIDE, NY — Grand larceny on the Upper East Side is already outpacing a historic high seen in the neighborhood in 2022, NYPD data show.

The 19th Precinct this year has seen 24 percent more grand larcenies — thefts valued over $1,000 —in comparison to the same time period last year, according to CompStat data released Monday.

The precinct, which spans from East 59th Street to East 96th Street, tallied the number of 2022 grand larcenies at 1,724, the highest number recorded since 2006.

Yet data show 2023 is already jumping ahead. By this time last year, the Upper East Side had reported 66 grand larcenies by Jan. 22. This year, the number is 82.

The previously highest recent year was in 2019, which reported 1,658 grand larcenies. But these numbers don't come close to grand larceny reports from the early 1990s when the 19th Precinct saw more than 5,400 in a single year.

And this increase in crime is not repeated in any other of the seven major crime categories monitored by the NYPD.

The Upper East Side has seen a decline in robbery (down 28 percent), felony assault (-20 percent), burglary (-44 percent), and grand larceny auto (-33 percent), the data show.

The numbers of reported murders rape held steady at zero and one, respectively.

Yet this overall decrease in crime did not prevent 19th Precinct captain Anthony Lavino from warning the East 72nd Neighborhood Association Tuesday night of a particular kind of mail theft.

Lavino said clever thieves are stealing checks from mailboxes and changing the payable party's name in a crime known as "check washing."

Last October, NBC New York reported that the Upper East Side saw more than 100 mail thefts so far that year.

In September, 19th Precinct representatives said they arrested a pair of mail thieves fishing for mail in a post box who had over $84,000 in stolen checks in their car.

Hook, line, & sinker: duo of thieves, fishing mail from @USPS mailboxes—caught!

After catching them stealing mail, following a foot chase & an attempted car getaway, our Public Safety Cops reeled in the two known criminals—discovering over $84,000 in stolen checks in their car. pic.twitter.com/1Ezpu8tHu0
— NYPD 19th Precinct (@NYPD19Pct) September 16, 2022

Lavino also told the East 72nd Street association that arrests for larcenies in the 19th Precinct increased by 53 percent in 2022.