As the home of the 5th and the 7th precincts, the Lower East Side/Chinatown has a population of about 110,000 people. What was once a battleground for Chinese gangs, Chinatown’s gun incidents have fallen 96% since 1993 and gang related incidents are down 46%. Historically, the Lower East Side was settled by the Jewish community and has now transformed into a thriving young neighborhood with a bustling nightlife.
The two neighborhoods have seen total major crimes decline by 70% or more from 1993 to 2010, led by a combined 91% plunge in car thefts and 86% drop in robberies. All other major crimes have declined during this period as well. Murders remain low, with two registered in 2010 compared with three in 2009. Rapes spiked in Chinatown by 67% in 2010, from 6 to 10, but remained level in the Lower East Side, at 11.
In the Lower East Side and Chinatown, robberies were down 17% in 2010, from 283 to 236. Overall felony assaults declined by 11% in 2010, to 254, but the Lower East Side registered a 39% upswing for the category from 2008 to 2010, to 126.
While drug gangs plagued the areas during the 1980s, narcotic arrests were down 71% in the 17 years to 2010, from nearly 2,500 in 1993 to 712 last year. Drug gang activity, however, rose 24% in 2010 in the Lower East Side.
