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Burglars Strike 7th St. Twice in One Day Amid Spike in Park Slope Break-ins

PARK SLOPE — The end of the long winter has brought welcome warmer temperatures, but it's also meant a spike in burglaries in the 78th Precinct, police said.

With residents leaving windows open to let in sunshine and dusting off bikes for the first rides of spring, burglars have been busy — there were 14 burglaries between mid-April and mid-May, compared with five break-ins during the same period last year, according to NYPD statistics.

Two of the incidents took place within a block of one another on Seventh Street on May 12, police said.

A resident of Seventh Street between Sixth and Seventh avenues was out of the house that day from 9:45 a.m. to 6 p.m. and came home to find his Apple MacBook, a Canon camera, an iPad and $225 in cash missing and his front door open, police said.

On that same day, a burglar snuck into an apartment just a block away — between Fifth and Sixth avenues — and stole an Apple MacBook, police said. The thief entered through a bedroom window near a fire escape.

"With the warm weather, we get a lot of people who leave their windows open or when they put in their air conditioner, they don’t secure it enough and the thief can push it in," said Capt. Frank DiGiacomo, commanding officer of the 78th Precinct.

DiGiacomo also cautioned cyclists not to leave bikes unlocked in plain view in the front hallway of an apartment building, because there's been a rash of bike thefts where crooks spot bikes through a glass front door, then break into the vestibule.

"They should bring their bikes into their apartment or even secure them in the hallway," DiGiacomo advised.

So far this year there have been 51 burglaries compared to 41 last year, NYPD data shows.

The 78th Precinct — which includes Park Slope, Prospect Park, the Barclays Center and parts of Gowanus and Prospect Heights — recently tweeted a video of burglary prevention tips.