MANHATTAN – Just three days after Mayor Eric Adams stood on the sidewalk along Lexington Avenue on the Upper East Side to announce and celebrate the 92nd Street Y’s new name and look, investigators say NYPD officers subdued and arrested a homeless man for an attempted knifepoint robbery outside the cultural institution last Friday.
Upper East Site was on the scene, just after 2:00pm on May 13th, as NYPD officers held down the suspect— later identified by police as 52-year-old Gary Harris, a homeless man with more than thirty prior arrests, including those for robbery, forgery and grand larceny— a block south of the 92nd Street Y.
ALSO READ | Good Samaritans Help Cops Catch UES Cafe Tip Jar Theft Suspect
Detectives say it was ten minutes earlier, around 1:50 pm, when police received a report of an armed suspect, who witnesses said walked up to a 37-year-old man outside the 92NY, flashed his knife and demanded money, becoming aggressive and putting the attempted robbery victim, as well a 42-year-old woman and her 9-year-old daughter in fear for their safety.
It’s not clear what injuries he may have suffered, but the suspect was heard complaining about leg pain while being restrained by NYPD officers, before being loaded into an ambulance and taken away.
It is important to note, Upper East Site’s photographer did not witness any NYPD officers putting their body weight on the suspect— instead, half a dozen officers gingerly use their hands and arms to restrain the suspect.
After police made the arrest for attempted robbery, officers could be seen interviewing witnesses and speaking with security at the 92nd Street Y, New York, who appeared to be assisting the NYPD officers on the scene.
Mayor Eric Adams was on hand for the ribbon-cutting celebration for the 92nd Street Y’s new name and $200 million redevelopment plan for its Carnegie Hill campus last Tuesday, as New Yorkers continue to lose faith in his ability to get rising crime under control in New York City.
Earlier this month, a Quinnipiac University poll found just thirty-seven percent of New Yorkers approve of the Mayor Adams’ handling of crime— a sharp drop from the nearly half of city residents that gave the former transit cop a thumbs up on fighting crime last February.
ALSO READ | Mayor Eric Adams Believes Gracie Mansion is Haunted by Ghosts, Yes Really
According to NYPD CompStat data, robberies on the Upper East Side have increased a staggering fifty-eight percent this year compared to the same period last lear.
Upper East Site reached out to the 92nd Street Y, New York for comment on this article but did not hear back by time of publication.
For updates around the clock, follow us on Instagram, Twitter and Facebook
