By Leslie Albrecht
DNAinfo Reporter/Producer
UPPER WEST SIDE — Next time you're sipping a latte, sweating on the treadmill or watching a movie on the Upper West Side, you'd better keep an eye on your valuables — Starbucks, the gym and the AMC Loews movie theater at Lincoln Square are prime targets for property theft, police said.
The problem isn't nearly as bad as it used to be, with a 7 percent drop in property thefts in the area last year and an 8 percent drop in overall crime, police said.
Still, last year saw three dozen property thefts reported at Starbucks and area gyms throughout the 20th Precinct, and an additional 25 thefts at the AMC Loews movie theater on Broadway at West 68th Street, police said.
"We tell people, at Loews, watch more than the movie," said Officer Ross Dichter, the 20th Precinct's crime analyst.
Dichter said a typical theft happens when someone puts their bag on the seat next them at the movies. In the darkened theater with a distracted owner, it's easy for thieves to reach over and snatch their valuables, he said.
At Starbucks, people leave laptops unattended when they get up to go to the bathroom, only to return and find them missing, Dichter said.
"People think that Starbucks is their living room," Dichter said.
At the gym, exercisers who think they're safe leaving items like expensive watches and jewelry inside their padlocked lockers are disappointed to find that thieves can easily break in, Dichter said. In 2009, there was a rash of high-end watch thefts at the Reebok Sports Club on Columbus Avenue near West 67th Street, he said.
The 20th Precinct starting tracking property thefts at Starbucks, the gym and AMC Loews a few years ago when police noticed an uptick of property thefts at those locations.
Police started monitoring the locations, assigning undercover officers to pose as gym rats, coffee drinkers and movie watchers to catch thieves in the act, Dichter said.
That strategy has paid off. Police arrested the watch thief who targeted Reebok, and property thefts at gyms, Starbucks and movie theaters are down.
Starbucks incidents dropped from 27 thefts in 2009 to 15 in 2010. Gyms saw 21 property thefts last year, down 53 from 2009. AMC Loews had 25 thefts in 2010, compared with 30 in 2009.
Most property thefts are easily avoidable, Dichter said.
"Pay attention," Dichter said. "Watch your property. Don't bring valuables to the gym. Leave non-essentials at home."
Property theft is the number one crime on the Upper West Side, accounting for 70 percent of crimes reported in the 20th Precinct last year.
