New York City has seven days of murder and mayhem as crimes soar

The sun is out. The tourists are back. There are fewer masked faces. Yet, while New York City should be leading the nation in the economic recovery from Covid, the City That Never Sleeps is facing its own epidemic.

Shootings, rape, stabbings and general mayhem are running rampant throughout the Five Boroughs with authorities seemingly unable to do anything to stop it.

Latest official figures show murders citywide are up 12 percent from 189 at this time last year to 212 so far in 2021.

Rapes are up from 650 to 684 in the year to June 27. Felony assaults are up from 9,399 to 10,045.

The most dramatic crease is in gun violence, with incidents up 43 percent from 503 to 718 and those injured or killed up 36 percent from 606 to 826. 

In just one week – from Wednesday, June 23 through Tuesday, June 29 – all five boroughs of New York City were plagued by chilling  murders, drive-by shootings, nightly wildings in Washington Square Park and smaller random acts of violence. 

Here DailyMail.com examines that week of murder and mayhem in the rotting Big Apple.

Felony assaults and murders in New York City have gone up this year compared to the same period in 2020, according to NYPD data 

Crime has intensified in New York City as shootings, stabbings and rapes run rampant in the City That Never Sleeps

WEDNESDAY JUNE 23

• 9 am: On-duty MTA bus driver Ernesto Hernandez, 52, gets into a fight with Alejandro Noboa, 50, on the Grand Concourse in the Bronx. Both men are arrested and Hernandez is suspended from his job.
• 2pm: A man dismounts a dirt bike and opens fire at an Acura SUV in the Wakefield section of the Bronx. A bullet passes through the open driver’s-side window but the 25-year-old in the car is not hit.
• 8:15 pm: Psalms Ajayi, 31, is shot dead on Fulton Avenue in the Bronx. Neighbor Timmy Johnson, 30, is arrested for his murder. No reason is given for the shooting.

On Wednesday, June 23 a man dismounted a dirt bike and opened fire at an Acura SUV in the Wakefield section of the Bronx. A bullet passes through the open driver’s-side window but the 25-year-old in the car is not hit

On June 24, a pair of elderly diners outside of Think Coffee on Bleeker Street in Lower Manhattan (file photo) were allegedly attacked by a homeless man who claimed they were being ‘disrespectful for not giving him money’

NYPD released video of the wild shootout in the Bronx after a graduation party on June 25 

On June 25,  the New York Police Department investigated the scene after five people, including three teens, were injured after a shooting at a graduation party in the Bronx. The shooting happened after three males were denied entry to the graduation party

On June 25, Angel Caraballo, 19, is shot and killed in an apartment building in the beachside community of Rockaway in Queens on June 25. Security cameras catch Caraballo running down the stairs clutching his side before collapsing outside. He is taken to the hospital where he dies

THURSDAY JUNE 24

• Noon: A 47-year-old homeless man assaults an elderly woman and her companion after telling them they were being ‘disrespectful’ for not giving him money as they sat outside Think Coffee on Bleecker Street in Lower Manhattan. The 75-year-old woman and 61-year-old man are not seriously hurt.
• 1:15 pm: An innocent bystander is caught in crossfire as she stands at the rear of a housing project in the Claremont Village section of the Bronx. The 27-year-old woman is taken to the hospital in stable condition.

FRIDAY JUNE 25

• 1 am: Five people, including three teenagers, are wounded by gunfire in a drive-by shooting at a graduation party in the Bronx. The shooter was allegedly thrown out of the party in the Unionport section of the borough, by private security hired by parents to keep things safe. He returns and fires from the sunroof of a dark-colored sedan.
• 1 pm: Angel Caraballo, 19, is shot and killed in an apartment building in the beachside community of Rockaway in Queens. Security cameras catch Caraballo running down the stairs clutching his side before collapsing outside. He is taken to the hospital where he dies.
• 4 pm: A 50-year-old man is robbed in broad daylight in the Bronx. The suspect grabbed the man’s necklace and ran off. As the victim ran after him the assailant takes out a gun and fires a single shot but misses.
• 9:10 pm: A man opens fire aiming several bullets into a crowd of people in the Fordham area of the Bronx. Two men are hit, one in the ankle and one in the thigh.
• 11 pm: Tayvon Turner, 28, from Brooklyn is arrested for threatening two Park Department employees with a wine bottle and a brick as revelry continued in Washington Square Park.

On Friday, June 25, a 50-year-old man was robbed in broad daylight in the Bronx. The suspect grabbed the man’s necklace and ran off. As the victim ran after him the assailant took out a gun and fired a single shot but missed

On Saturday, June 26, a  knife-wielding middle-aged man slashed another man in McCaffrey Park in the Hell’s Kitchen section of Manhattan. The attacker then fled eastward down 43rd Street

In Times Square on Sunday a 21-year-old U.S. Marine visiting the city from Upstate Northville, New York, with his family, was hit by a ricocheting bullet as a dispute between two CD sellers in Times Square allegedly erupted

SATURDAY JUNE 26

• 1: 40 pm: A knife-wielding middle-aged man slashes another man in McCaffrey Park in the Hell’s Kitchen section of Manhattan. The attacker then flees eastward down 43rd Street.
• 5:20 pm: A 67-year-old woman walking up Lexington Avenue in Manhattan gets punched in the face and knocked to the ground for no reason by a man wearing a doo rag, sunglasses and a black shirt with a picture of a penguin on it.

Samuel Poulin is the Marine who was shot in the back in Times Square Sunday and is  the newlywed son of former Pentagon official Col. Jack Jensen

SUNDAY JUNE 27

• 5:30 am: A 36-year-old man is stabbed seven times as two others try to steal the gold chain he is wearing. The assailants jump in a Honda Odyssey and drive off. The victim of the attack in the Corona area of Queens is taken to the hospital in critical condition.
• 5:15 pm: Marine Samuel Poulin is rushed to the hospital after being hit by a ricocheting bullet on 45 Street near Times Square. Two rival gangs of CD sellers are believed to have got into an argument and one man opened fire.
• 6:50 pm: Keyshawn Cureton, 21, is shot multiple times after getting into an argument on Malcolm X Boulevard in Harlem. Despite being right outside Harlem Hospital, he cannot be saved. One man is arrested, a second is being sought.
• 7:15 pm: Police use pepper spray to disperse Pride Day participants who had taken over Washington Square Park. Later in the evening, food vendor Nader Hassaneen, 66, allegedly uses a gay slur after two women try to nickel and dime him on the price of a hot dog. He is attacked by revelers who throw hot sauce in his eyes and leave him bloodied. Eight people are arrested, including one woman accused of biting an NYPD lieutenant.
• 8:45pm: Eric Shields, 47, allegedly stabs Dylan Spinosa, 20, at the Staten Island Ferry. Spinosa is returning home from Pride Day festivities when he tells Shields to stop harassing women, saying ‘Go home, you’re drunk.’ The two get into a fight. Shields, who has a long rap sheet, is charged with assault, weapons possession, menacing and harassment.

On June 27, Dylan Spinosa was stabbed at the Staten Island Ferry after after he told a man to stop harassing women because he was drunk. His right arm is in a sling, and his upper back is bandaged

On Sunday, June 27, Keyshawn Cureton, 21, was shot multiple times and killed after getting into an argument on Malcolm X Boulevard in Harlem. One man is arrested, a second is being sought. Both suspects are pictured

Nader Hassaneen, an Egyptian immigrant and retired street vendor, was attacked in Washington Square Park on Sunday night, receiving a smashed lip and bloody nose. He was seen bleeding from his head after being punched in the face several times by a woman

People could be seen tending to Hassaneen in the street following the beating late on Sunday night

MONDAY JUNE 28

• 1:20 am An argument about their respective places in a food cart line breaks out into violence in midtown Manhattan. After a group of tourists from San Jose, California, get their food and sit down to eat it, the man who had argued with them puts on a black sweatshirt and ski mask and strikes a 21-year-old man in the head with a baton. The tourist is treated in the hospital and released.
• 3:30 am A man returning home from Pride festivities on an Uptown subway is stabbed in the chest by a man who had been hurling homophobic slurs at him, because he had his legs crossed. As the train pulls into the W. 34th Street station, the men get out and continue fighting on the platform.
• 8:15 am: A man gets into a fight with an employee at Moon Deli on Atlantic Avenue in Brooklyn. The customer kicks off his shoes and attacks the employee. As the two brawl, he gets out a knife and slashes the 23-year-old deli worker about the back and neck, before running off.
• 6 pm: A 57-year-old postal worker delivering mail in Brooklyn is assaulted by two men who ride up to him from behind on dirt bikes. They punch him several times breaking bones in his face.
• 7 pm: Devin Campbell, 32, is ambushed outside his Harlem housing development. He was just getting out of his Mercedes-Benz when a gunman waiting for him under scaffolding opens fire, hitting him with a barrage of bullets. At least 10 shell casings were found at the scene.
• 7:20 pm: A cop is shot with a BB gun in the St. George area of Staten Island. He is hit in the shoulder as he gets out of his patrol car, but the pellet did not penetrate his uniform.
• 8:10 pm: A man wearing camouflage pants is caught on security camera attacking and groping a 35-year-old woman in Williamsburg, Brooklyn. He pushes her to the ground and reaches inside her shorts to grab her buttocks. The footage shows the slightly built man trailing the woman down Morgan Avenue. The woman then realizes she is being followed and turns on to Stagg Street where the attack occurs. 
• 9 pm: A 19-year-old is shot as he plays basketball in an annual tournament in the Amsterdam Houses in west midtown, Manhattan. Jaylin Anderson tells police he was in the game and suddenly felt pain and realized he had been hit. Police do not believe he was the intended target.

On Monday, a man wearing camouflage pants was caught on security camera attacking and groping a 35-year-old woman in Williamsburg, Brooklyn

The man pushed the woman to the ground and reached inside her shorts to grab her buttocks. The footage shows the slightly built man trailing the woman down Morgan Avenue. The woman then realizes she is being followed and turns on to Stagg Street where the attack occurs

Map shows locations of shootings in New York City on Monday night, June 29 

While the crime rate soared, downtown residents around Washington Square Park have been harassed almost nightly by wild parties that have dragged on into the early hours

By Monday the thin blue line was stretched even further when officers were deployed en masse to Washington Square Park to enforce a midnight curfew

On Monday June 29, Steve Hunt, 46,  (pictured) allegedly pulled an axe from his backpack as an argument with another man took a nasty turn on a crowded downtown subway. Fellow travelers rushed from the No. 2 train at Penn Station to find police who ordered Hunt to drop the axe. He was arrested and charged with harassment, weapons possession, menacing and disorderly conduct

Police said 32-year-old Devin Campbell was fatally shot outside the Grant Houses housing project in Harlem at around 7:30 p.m. local time on Monday June 28

On Monday, June 28 a 19-year-old was shot as he played basketball in an annual tournament in the Amsterdam Houses in west midtown, Manhattan. Jaylin Anderson tells police he was in the game and suddenly felt pain and realized he had been hit. Police do not believe he was the intended target

TUESDAY JUNE 29

• 12:15 pm: A 39-year-old man sitting in a folding chair on Broadway and 33rd Street is attacked by three assailants, One of the men strikes him with a baseball bat, the second smashes him with a chair and the third stabs him in the back. All four men involved were said to be homeless.
• 4:25 pm: Steve Hunt, 46, allegedly pulls an axe from this backpack as an argument with another man takes a nasty turn on a crowded downtown subway. Fellow travelers rush from the No. 2 train at Penn Station to find police who order Hunt to drop the axe. He is arrested and charged with harassment, weapons possession, menacing and disorderly conduct.

Members of the New York Police Department push back people after a food vendor was attacked on Sunday

Crime is at his highest as events – like Sunday’s Gay Pride Parade – has the streets packed with tourists and city-dwellers out and celebrating 

Police clashed with revelers during Gay Pride festivities after trying to clear a street on the edge of Washington Square Park

Police dragged away a woman during a skirmish with police on Sunday afternoon at Washington Square Park. Sunday’s shootings happened as New York City was packed with thousands of tourists, stragglers from the day’s Pride festivities and locals

At least three people were arrested as officers and Pride participants were battling against one another

Critics blame Mayor Bill de Blasio and anti-police sentiment for rise in crime 

Critics put the blame for the ever-rising tide of crime on the shoulders of Mayor Bill de Blasio and politicians in Albany for leading anti-police sentiment. ‘It’s a direct result of far-left policy being put into action,’ the city’s sole Republican in Congress told DailyMail.com in an exclusive interview.

Critics put the blame for the rising crime on the shoulders of Mayor Bill de Blasio and politicians in Albany for leading anti-police sentiment. De Blasio pictured with his wife Chirlane McCray

‘The bail reform law has been a disaster,’ said Rep Nicole Malliotosis. ‘People with extensive criminal histories are arrested for major crimes and then released and are back out on the streets.’

And Ed Mullins, president of the NYPD’s Sergeant Benevolent Association added: ‘Nobody is talking about why this is happening. You have to address the real problems, enforce laws, have District Attorneys prosecute crimes and have bail that actually works.

‘The cops aren’t allowed to do anything,’ added Mullins. ‘This administration doesn’t want confrontation. They’re afraid of any backlash, any protests.

‘The police department is trying to appease the people who are violating the law, but we’re learning that appeasement doesn’t work.’ 

Nothing stirred New Yorkers’ consciences more than seeing security camera footage of two little kids — five-year-old Christian and his sister Mia, 13 — caught in crossfire as Michael Lopez allegedly opened fire in the Bronx.

‘The images of a 13-year-old girl shielding her 5-year-old brother from bullets fired by a gunman in broad daylight on a Thursday afternoon, that heart-wrenching video was seen around the world,’ said Bronx District Attorney Darcel Clark.

The children had gone to buy bread for their parents when they were nearly killed as Lopez, 27 — an alleged member of the Make It Happen Boyz gang — opened fire as he chased another man.

Lopez was out on parole for attempted murder, NYPD Chief of Detectives James Essig revealed after his arrest — his fifth.

But that was only the start of the crimewave, so violent that President Joe Biden directed COVID funds to be deployed in New York and other major cities to combat it.

The world was shocked when video went viral of two children — five-year-old Christian and his sister Mia, 13 — caught in crossfire as Michael Lopez allegedly opened fire in the Bronx 

Michael Lopez, 27, is walked out of the 44th Precinct after police charge him with attempted murder in the June 17 shooting incident where he fired on a person with 2 children present

Police are now flooding Times Square — the busiest tourist area in the country —with dozens of extra cops as the shooting of a Marine was the second there in two months. A 4-year-old girl and two women were hit by stray bullets at noon on May 8

There was 21-year-old U.S. Marine 2nd Lt. Samuel Poulin, visiting the city from Upstate Northville, New York, with his family, who was hit by a ricocheting bullet as a dispute between two CD sellers in Times Square allegedly erupted.

That happened on Sunday afternoon as the so-called Center of the Universe was packed with thousands of tourists, stragglers from the day’s Pride festivities and locals.

Democratic Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, whose district covers the eastern part of the Bronx and northern Queens said there is media ‘hysteria’ over the increases

‘I heard a loud pop, I thought it was a firecracker,’ Sydney Santana, a visitor from New Orleans told DailyMail.com. ‘Then I saw all the detectives come in and I realized it was something more serious.’

Security camera footage shows a man appear to fire twice as he ran down 45th Street near the famed Marriott Marquis Hotel.

Police are now flooding Times Square — the busiest tourist area in the country —with dozens of extra cops as Poulin’s shooting was the second there in two months. A 4-year-old girl and two women were hit by stray bullets at noon on May 8.

But that means taking cops from other areas. Rep. Malliotosis said her district, which includes Staten Island where many cops live, is being punished by having fewer patrols.

‘And I bet the city council member who represents Times Square voted to defund the police,’ she said. That politician, City Council Speaker Corey Johnson, did not return DailyMail.com’s request for comment. He voted to slash the NYPD budget by $1 billion year.

Not everyone thinks there is a crisis. Democratic Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, whose district covers the eastern part of the Bronx and northern Queens said there is media ‘hysteria’ over the increases.

‘Any amount of harm is unacceptable and too much. But I also want to make sure that it doesn’t drive a hysteria and that we look at these numbers in context so that we can make responsible decisions about what to allocate in that context,’ she said during a Zoom chat with fellow progressive congress member Jamaal Bowman. 

‘The bail reform law has been a disaster,’ said Rep Nicole Malliotosis. ‘People with extensive criminal histories are arrested for major crimes and then released and are back out on the streets’

By Friday last week there were semi-organized boxing matches complete with referees and timekeepers at Washington Square Park 

People crowded around and cheered as unofficial boxing matches were held in Washington Square Park 

While the crime rate soared, downtown residents around Washington Square Park were being harassed almost nightly by wild parties that have dragged on into the early hours.

By Friday last week there were semi-organized boxing matches complete with referees and timekeepers. On Sunday, at the end of the Pride parade, topless women were frolicking in the fountains, but it all turned sour when a vendor was assaulted, allegedly for using an anti-gay slur and eight people were arrested.

By Monday the thin blue line was stretched even further when officers were deployed en masse to the park to enforce a midnight curfew.

By Friday last week there were semi-organized boxing matches complete with referees and timekeepers. On Sunday, at the end of the Pride parade, topless women were frolicking in the fountains, but it all turned sour when a vendor was assaulted, allegedly for using an anti-gay slur and eight people were arrested.

By Monday the thin blue line was stretched even further when officers were deployed en masse to the park to enforce a midnight curfew.