Washington Heights, Manhattan - 1980s Crime Epidemic

1980s Crime Epidemic

Although Washington Heights presently has among the lowest reported crime rate within neighborhoods in Manhattan, it was once very different.

In the 1980s, the area was severely affected by the crack cocaine epidemic. This was due, in part, to the neighborhood crack gang, known as the Wild Cowboys or the Red Top Gang, who were associated with Santiago Luis Polanco Rodríguez. The Wild Cowboys were responsible for the higher number of crimes, especially murders, during the late 80s and early 90s. Robert Jackall wrote a book, Wild Cowboys: Urban Marauders and the Forces of Order, describing the events that took place during that period of lawlessness. Homelessness was rampant. Washington Heights had become the largest drug distribution center in the Northeastern United States during that time. A housing project in the neighborhood was nicknamed “Crack City,” an epithet commonly bestowed upon rough areas at the time.

On October 18, 1988, 24-year-old Police Officer Michael Buczek was murdered by Dominican drug dealers in Washington Heights. The killers fled to the Dominican Republic where one later died in police custody and a second was apprehended by U.S. Marshals in 2000. The third suspect was apprehended in the Dominican Republic in May 2002. Fifteen years after the shooting, Pablo Almonte, 51, and Jose Fernandez, 52, received the maximum sentence, 25 years to life, for their roles in the murder of Officer Buczek. Daniel Mirambeaux, the alleged shooter, died in June 1989, plunging to his death under mysterious circumstances after he was ordered turned over to the United States.

In the ensuing years, the Buczek family founded the Michael John Buczek Foundation. There is a street, an elementary school, and a little league baseball field named in honor of Michael John Buczek. The Michael Buczek Little League hosts 30 teams with over 350 boys and girls, and is coached by officers from the 34th precinct.

Crime fell in the subsequent years. Police presence increased, building landlords allowed police to patrol in apartment buildings, which led to the arrests of thousands of drug dealers a year in Washington Heights. The arrest of police officers involved in drug dealing changed the neighborhood dramatically. People were also being stopped for quality of life crimes. A new police precinct was also added in the area. Today, its crime rate, along with that of neighboring Harlem, is much lower It was not just police that helped. When rogue police officers who aided drug dealers refused to make arrests, many residents near J. Hood Wright Park brought their dogs down to the park and let the dogs make noise until the drug dealers got annoyed and left. The park has been a safe haven since. Even though crime complaints were down 5.88% in 2007 over 2001 (and down 65.47% from 1993), there were five murders in lower Washington Heights (that is, below W. 178th St.) in 2007. By comparison, in the upper portion of Washington Heights, where the 34th Precinct includes Fort George, Hudson Heights and Sherman Creek (as well as Inwood), there was only one murder in 2007; likewise, above W. 179th Street, crime complaints were down 21.05% in 2007 over 2001 (and down 83.15% from 1993).

That puts lower Washington Heights on par with Harlem, where the 30th Precinct also recorded five murders in 2007. By comparison, the 13th Precinct (Flatiron District, Stuyvesant Town and Union Square) recorded three murders in 2007 and the 20th Precinct (the Upper West Side) recorded none.

In 2011, Washington Heights was the fourth-safest neighborhood in Manhattan, according to an analysis of police records by dnainfo.com. Its "Crime and Safety Report," which ranks every neighborhood in the five boroughs, found that the drop in crime in Upper Manhattan led the neighborhood nearly to the top; Inwood ranked third. By comparison, Greenwich Village ranked 68th.