People Leaving

Why did this area get more dangerous? Lack of policing?

The corridor the Angels are referring to is 20th and 21st street near 8th Avenue. There is a police precinct station right next door on 20th street between 8th and 7th. It was like Fort Apache Chelsea for months during and after the BLM demos. The cops stood guard on each end of their block and hardly came out for anything. So.. 300.. yes, lack of policing is part of it.

Regarding people leaving.. Using my very inexact method of looking at window lights at night, it appears to me me that renters have left and owners have come back. (Chelsea, West Village, Village)

What is causing the lack of policing now? I know first hand that for the first couple of days of rioting, police were largely told to stand back unless life was in danger (property damage somehow was acceptable). But it improved significantly from what I saw after a few days - call it max 5 days after the start of rioting.

8pm curfew was another major turning point.

Police presence in my area has SLOWLY increased but still way below last year at this time. I won't speculate as to why. Maybe ask Pat Lynch?

I guess Grenwich Village / Union Square is more fortunate. I do not see any issues here with policing and increase in number of bad elements. The non-peaceful protesters right after elections were firmly dealt with. I am sure you saw a video of a woman spitting on a cop.

A violent attack took place two days ago, virtually across the street from the rear entrance to The Sierra. In front of the Salvation Army building on 14th Street, between 6th and 7th Avenues, a 38 year old was viciously attacked, knocked to the ground, and had his watch stolen. This took place at 315pm on Friday, April 30, 2021. In my opinion, the area is far from safe and people who consider moving to this location should make themselves aware of the facts.
https://nypost.com/2021/05/01/man-sucker-punched-and-robbed-of-watch-in-greenwich-village/

Can anyone tell me if the Flatbush area of Brooklyn is considered more dangerous than the rest of Brooklyn?

dave, yes but there are worse parts of Brooklyn than Flatbush.

Thanks stache. When I first moved here, I heard Brooklyn was "the new New York." They even called it that in Sex and the City a few times. The DUMBO area is absolutely fabulous, and I've seen some really beautiful prewar buildings with prices much lower than here in Manhattan.

@davenzia if you want to see an interesting neighborhood in Brooklyn, check out Ditmas Park. You basically turn off Flatbush avenue and will run into large Victorian homes with separate garages etc and wide tree-lined streets. It's a bit unexpected.

And if you continue further down Flatbush avenue to Marine Park, you will find a beautiful link style Robert Trent Jones Sr golf course. Brooklyn is full of surprises! I used to play there as a teenager, one day I rolled up and the course was closed, somebody had dumped a body at the entrance to the clubhouse.

https://www.golfmarinepark.com/

Another article on the area of this thread/Greenwich Village.
https://www.nbcnewyork.com/news/local/crime-and-courts/2-men-wanted-for-slashing-victim-with-knife-scissors-in-nyc-attack/3018485/

I guess real estate pros don't like to talk about it, but violent crime is skyrocketing and people are leaving:
https://nypost.com/2021/04/24/de-blasio-still-wont-get-serious-about-nycs-crime-crisis/