Upper West Side Residents Say Overnight Car Break-Ins Have Become All Too Frequent
NEW YORK (CBSNewYork) -- Police have stepped up patrols on the Upper West Side near Riverside Park after vandals targeted cars over the weekend.
As CBS2's Jessica Layton reported, they even took a driver's side air bag.
Shattered glass littered the curb of Riverside Drive between 99th and 100th Streets on the Upper West Side -- again.
"I've been broken into at least four times," Gavin Citron said.
Citron doesn't want it to be five times, so when he heard a car alarm going off overnight Saturday, he jumped out of bed, threw on his shorts, and ran outside.
It was 5:15 in the morning.
"The car across the street was smashed," he said.
Neighbors said in some cases vandals even slammed city garbage cans into cars for sport.
Police said there were 10 reports of windshields and side mirrors destroyed.
Jon Dash wasn't surprised. His family car has been broken into three times.
"You park down here, you're taking a risk," he said.
Neighbors said the cars are easy targets because of their location. It's easy for the thieves to get away, they can race up the stairs or dash into the park and be gone.
"I know a lot of my friends have problems, so looks like cops have to probably pay more attention," Mario Jablonski said.
Police said they are paying attention, and residents will see them more often. That's good enough for Gavin, who will continue to park there, for now.
"There just isn't enough room, unless I pay for parking," he said.
The risk of a break in and cost of repair, he said sadly -- is probably less. All part of the cost of living and parking on the block.
