BY SAM SPOKONY | The NYPD’s recently launched interactive crime map — available online at maps.nyc.gov/crime — shows that the majority of the Sixth Precinct’s 2013 grand larcenies were localized to four areas: around the New York University campus, just below Washington Square Park; around the Sheridan Square intersection, near the No. 1 subway train entrance and around Christopher Street and Seventh Avenue South; and nightclubs in the Meatpacking District.
Perhaps the most memorable Meatpacking assault took place last November, when famed jewelry designer James de Givenchy was arrested following his alleged attack on a police officer on West 13th Street. Cops were towing de Givenchy’s Mercedes-Benz when he reportedly went out of control and punched an officer in the face — after a taser had no effect on the jeweler — forcing other officers to mace de Givenchy several times in order to subdue him.
In a January 3 interview, the commanding officer of the Police Department’s Sixth Precinct said that she believes the Village could see a decrease in thefts this year, even after they rose by more than 10 percent in 2013.
Inspector Elisa Cokkinos — who headed Chelsea’s 10th Precinct from 2010 through spring of 2013 — explained that efforts to work more closely with bar and nightclub owners, especially in the Meatpacking District, could bring those numbers down.
Trendy Meatpacking clubs were hot spots for both thefts and assaults throughout 2013, though those crimes also rose in bars along Christopher St. and around New York University’s South Village campus.
Cokkinos responded in June by putting together a new team to deal specifically with nightlife establishments. That unit, including a sergeant and six police officers, communicates directly with the clubs regarding inspections and crime prevention. The special unit also supplements the general work of officers already assigned to the midnight shift.
Sixth Precinct Community Affairs officers also held sessions with bar and club staff members last year, instructing them on ways to cut down on crime inside the venues.
“We went over some key issues with them in terms of what to look out for, and how to make their interactions better, and I think it was very successful,” said Cokkinos.
Cokkinos stressed that, aside from keeping her new nightlife unit in place for the coming year and continuing to do community outreach, there would be no strategy changes in terms of dealing with thefts in the area.
