Washington Heights corner becomes focal point of NYC's battle against subway crime
NEW YORK -- A citywide crackdown on subway crime is now focusing on one corner in Washington Heights. After recent violent attacks at Broadway and West 168th Street, some believe scaffolding is partially to blame.
The scaffolding has been up since before the pandemic. The dark atmosphere it has created is sparking fear among neighbors.
"A young man was stabbed," emphasized Julio Batista, director of New York Presbyterian community affairs. "This was compounded by the recent attack of one of our frontline staffers at New York Presbyterian who was trying to get home after his shift."
Batista was speaking at a recent Washington Heights community board meeting, where the hot topic was how a bustling transit hub near a hospital has taken a turn for the worse.
"There's one high school, three junior high schools, and several elementary schools that use this train station, and teachers have talked to me worried about walking back and forth," 33rd precinct representative Dave Crenshaw said at the virtual meeting.
A group of newly elected state and local leaders took a trip to the 168th Street subway station to see for themselves.
"The fact that we're all here today shows that, you know, we want to do the best we can," said state Assembly member Manny de los Santos during his first week in office.
The group visibly struggled to find security in order to tour the station. Easily visible, however, was evidence of the concerns they have heard.
"Open sale of narcotics, open consumption of narcotics, and unhoused New Yorkers who are sometimes taking refuge here," listed Manhattan Borough President Mark Levine. "We need to do much better."
This is just the latest subway tour for City Councilmember Carmen de la Rosa, who wants to see a wide-ranging response beyond police presence.
"Just right down the street, we have a shelter with the homeless shelter that specializes in severe mental illness, and so we know that these folks also need services," de la Rosa pointed out.
These community leaders wrote a joint letter to the NYC Department of Buildings seeking clarity and removal of the metal mess. The building department informed me, however, that the danger actually lies above the boards.
The edifice in question belongs to the NYC Department of Mental Health and Hygiene, which must fix the façade before the scaffolding can come down.
"It's a reminder that we have laws that incentivize people to leave scaffolding up forever, sometimes years," Levine said. "And then we have a bureaucracy that's not efficient enough to solve this problem."
The mental health and hygiene department has not yet given me a timeline for repair, but these leaders are prepared to apply pressure.
"We're taking a look at everything with fresh eyes," Levine said.
The new group of leaders believes if they continue working together, they can make real change.
