By Nicole Bode
DNAinfo Associate Editor
MANHATTAN — Crime is down this year in every neighborhood in the borough except the East Village, according to NYPD statistics.
There have been 24,790 reports of major crimes in Manhattan since the start of 2009 — down from 27,706 last year, according to CompStat, the department's weekly online crime statistics report.
It's a trend that bucks the stereotype that crime goes up when the economy goes down, according to the New York Times.
"The idea that everyone has ingrained into them — that as the economy goes south, crime has to get worse — is wrong," David Kennedy, a professor at John Jay College of Criminal Justice, told the paper. "It was never right to begin with."
The East Village's 9th Precinct is one of the few neighborhoods to deviate from the citywide trend. The area has seen an uptick in rape, burglary and assault. The murder rate has stayed the same as 2008 — at three so far this year.
There were 12 rapes in the area so far this year, up from seven last year. Incidents of burglary nearly doubled, from 183 to 260. And felony assault cases jumped from 137 to 141.
Other places where there have been slight climb in major crimes include the 6th Precinct in Greenwich Village, where the number of rapes rose to eight in 2009, from five last year. The number of assaults also rose, from 87 to 100.
The 23rd Precinct in East Harlem saw the number of murders jump from three to eight victims, while the number of rapes rose from 15 to 20 and the number of assaults jumped up slightly. The rest of the major crimes fell in the area.
