Crime in Bed-Stuy: The Pink Elephant in the Room

Bed-Stuy is on the move.

New businesses are opening every week, real estate development has quickened, street-cleaning efforts are working, schools are improving, community gardens are flourishing, and more block associations are forming.

But with all of the positive changes taking place in Bed-Stuy, still, there’s an elephant in the room-- a pachyderm so fluorescent hot-pink, it still bears the color of its 80s heyday: crime.

Crime is that “thing” in Bed-Stuy about which everyone worries, but most ignore.

According to the NYPD CompStat report, week ending March 4, 2012, crime is up 20 percent in Bed-Stuy’s 81st Precinct, compared to last year at this same time. In Bed-Stuy’s 79th Precinct, crime is up so far this year 32 percent.

A flailing economy, unemployment, fewer police, newer residents who fail to properly safeguard themselves and warmer weather this year compared to last are some of the reasons given for the steady uptick in crime. Yet, from the community, there is no real outcry. Why?

Have residents chosen not to focus on the negative, believing eventually, gentrification will drive crime away? Or is it because residents feel helpless to do anything about it?

Or maybe it’s because until they become a victim, they do not feel it concerns them. Or perhaps, it’s because they’re getting mixed signals from the city’s administration constantly touting how crime in New York City is at an all-time low.

According to New York City Police Commissioner Raymond Kelly, over the past 10 years, there have been 5,430 murders in the city, compared with 11,058 in the decade before the current administration took office. That’s a 50 percent reduction, or 5,628 lives saved. In Brooklyn last year, Kelly adds, murders fell below 200 for the first time since President John F. Kennedy was assassinated in 1963.

So which is it? Do you feel that crime really is trending downward in Bedford-Stuyvesant, or is it on the rise? More importantly, should residents be concerned and become greater involved, or should they not worry and allow NYPD to continue doing its job?

Take our poll, and tell us what you think in the comments.