The new breed of subway thief avoids picking pockets on platforms, preferring instead to boldly snatch goods off straphangers aboard trains during peak hours, the NYPD said yesterday.
The change in modus operandi of one of New York’s oldest professions has forced cops to switch their tactics in pursuit of the increasingly brazen thieves, who tend to strike between noon and 8 p.m., said NYPD Assistant Transit Chief Owen Monaghan.
“We are moving away from platforms, where crime is not occurring,” said Monaghan. “We are focusing on trains.”
Seventy percent of all subway grand larcenies — which have skyrocketed this year by 24 percent — occurred on board trains, said Monaghan.
Those thefts were mostly of pricey electronics, like iPads and smartphones, he said.
Forty percent of grand larcenies occurred in Manhattan, 33 percent in Brooklyn, 14 percent in Queens and 13 percent in The Bronx.
Pickpocketing has practically gone the way of the token, largely replaced with brazen goods grabs, according to just-released NYPD stats.
Half of the system’s grand larcenies this year have involved such snatches, said Monaghan.
Just 20 percent were committed by pickpockets.
Another 17 percent were pulled off by crooks who cut holes in passengers’ clothes to remove items.
That uniquely New York method of underground filching — which is often done to intoxicated passengers who are passed out — is called “lush work.”
Overall subway crime is up by 16 percent from the beginning of the year through October.
The grim news from the NYPD left some MTA board members fearing the worst.
“That’s not good. We’re on our way back to the bad old days,” said MTA board member Charles Moerdler.
“We need more cops in the subway. The people have an absolute right to safety.”
Bronx straphanger Marrisa Gonzalez has experienced the spike in crime firsthand.
Her cellphone was snatched almost a year ago while she rode the No. 2 train in Manhattan.
“I’m more cautious nowadays,” said Gonzalez, 45.
Her 65-year-old mother was robbed by a thug who beat her before taking her necklace.
Both crimes happened on board a train.
“You can’t even wear nice jewelry, they’ll snatch it off of you,” said a disgusted Gonzalez.
“They steal it from you to sell it for pennies when you work so hard to get it.”
Michael Braxton of The Bronx said he, too, was worried about the skyrocketing crime. He keeps his stuff in his pocket to avoid becoming a target.
“It’s scary. I’m definitely more aware of it now than I’ve been before,” he said outside of the 2/5 train station in the East Tremont section of The Bronx.
“I even hold on to my phone to make sure pickpockets won’t grab it.”
The NYPD said its Transit Division will soon get a flood of new officers to work the subways as decoys, posing as unsuspecting passengers to try to catch thieves.
Additional reporting by Erin Calabrese