EAST HARLEM — Motorcycle thieves are targeting bikes between 110th and 108th Streets along Park Avenue.
There have been eight thefts in the last 28 days compared to just two during the same period last year, according to the 23rd Precinct's Community Affairs Officer Peter Gibbons.
“It happens very quickly,” Gibbons said during a public meeting Tuesday night. “They roll up, two of them pick up the bike, put it in their minivan and they are gone.”
Police believe the bike robbers are attracted to the location because there aren't many street cameras, he said.
Despite the increase in vehicle thefts and high-profile crimes like the fatal shooting of Officer Randolph Holder, crime is down in the 23rd Precinct, NYPD data shows.
In the last 28 days major crimes — murder, rape, robbery, assault, burglary and grand larceny — are down by 15.5 percent compared to the same time period last year.
Overall major crimes are down 1.5 percent in 2015 compared to last year.
“Overall the numbers are modest but the last 28 days — and it’s been trending since sort of the end of the summer — we are down on those numbers,” Gibbons said.
