LOWER EAST SIDE — Crime and harrassment at a library branch where a young girl was sexually assaulted last year has declined following the installation of surveillance cameras, officials said.
Cameras were introduced at the Seward Park Library on East Broadway late last year after a nine-year-old girl was attacked in the children's section by an unidentified man who groped her and forced her to touch him.
The May 6, 2010, incident sparked outrage in the community, resulting in the city allocating funds for the installation of 21 cameras at the branch, an NYPL spokeswoman said.
As a result, statistics show that there have been no incidents of harassment at the location — defined as a patron harassing staff or other library visitors — nor any incidents of drug use or possession for the year to date, according to the NYPL.
Since the cameras arrived on Oct. 31, 2010, there have been 22 total incidents at the branch, which officials described as a low number. There have been no assaults, burglaries, robberies or patrons barred during that time, and one larceny compared to three over the same period last year.
Instances of disorderly conduct and criminal mischief — defined as property damage or graffiti — have increased at the library, but the NYPL attributed the rise to the effectiveness of cameras in catching the incidents on tape.
NYPL investigators work closely with police regarding criminal activity, and have shared surveillance footage with the NYPD in certain cases.
“We were able to see things we never saw before,” said NYPL public relations director Angela Montefinise, who noted cameras have been installed at 27 branches throughout the city. “So it's not that crime is up — people are getting caught.”
The new surveillance measures will help prevent future incidents in a community still reeling from the attack, residents said.
“Whatever you can do to protect kids who are by themselves — which often happens in our library — is always going to be a good thing,” said Susan Avery, a third-generation Lower East Sider who closely followed the sexual assault incident.
“A library is a place that parents generally trust that kids are protected. We couldn’t believe that this happened.”
