Crime, Still A Big Deal

Once nicknamed “Crack City” for the amount of the drug peddled on the streets of this neighborhood, it seemed that Washington Heights had come a long way. Two recent events have shocked local residents and police and questioned how far the area has really come. In late March 2007 on the corner of 161st Street and Broadway a late night shooting left one man dead and another seriously injured. The Drug Enforcement Agency, with the help of local police, also seized over 700 marijuana plants in the raid of an apartment on 154th Street and Amsterdam. “We have come very far as a community, but still have a long way to go,” said 157th Street resident Martha Hernandez. “This neighborhood is still home to some nasty people, though some might think otherwise,” said City College student Junior Garcia . Related issues are sure to arise at the 33rd and 34th Precinct Council meetings on the 25th of April, where the precincts discuss their crime rate statistics for the month.