NEW YORK (1010 WINS) — The number of carjackings across New York City has surged during the coronavirus pandemic as more people rely on cars to get around.
There were 324 reported car thefts reported through Sept, 19 of this year, compared to 179 in the same 2020 timeframe — an 81% increase, according to a report in the New York Post.
Those numbers far exceed the carjackings at that point 2019, when there were just 86 reported thefts, according to the outlet.
The data flouts national trends of declining car thefts across the United States, according to a City Limits report last year. Experts cautioned at that time that the data was too new to analyze.
The NYPD and Attorney General Letitia James last week announced the bust of a highly advanced carjacking team linked to the theft of 225 vehicles over the last two years.
James and NYPD Commissioner Dermot Shea said in their joint press release that investigators noticed a sharp uptick in the group's activity during the pandemic, when people traveled less and left their cars parked in the same spots for longer.
At the same time, car ownership has soared during the pandemic. Traffic on MTA bridges and tunnels has surpassed pre-pandemic levels, while local transit ridership has been halved, according to the Regional Plan Association.
“During the pandemic, they moved this operation into high gear, taking advantage of New Yorkers’ staying at home to allegedly stealing more than 45 cars in six months,” James said at the time.
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