A 30-year-old man was found shot multiple times early this morning in Sunset Park, Brooklyn, WABC reported. Police say the body was discovered on 53rd street just before 4 a.m. He was taken to Lutheran Medical Center, where he was pronounced dead. No arrests have been made yet, according to WABC.

Crime rose last week in comparison with one year ago. Robbery and burglary in particular are up–500 and 300 percent, respectively. The 28 day statistics also show more robberies, assaults, grand larcenies and particularly burglaries have increased. The  overall crime rate, however, is still nearly 50 percent lower than nine years ago.  So, what do things feel like on the streets? Do you feel safer, or less safe? Leave a comment or drop a line to sunsetparkchron@gmail.com.

Want to keep up with CompStat or see how the 72nd precinct compares to areas around the city? You can look at all precinct statistics here on nyc.gov.

Good morning. It’s Thursday. The weekend looms. Let’s start with the prettiest in news:

*Lush trees, boggy wetlands and birds…in New York City? That’s precisely what Joel Meyerowitz portrays in large-scale photographs of 50 city parks on show at the Museum of the City of New York. Commissioned by the parks department, the exhibit is the largest documentary of the city’s 29,000 acres of parkland since they were photographed as part of Franklin D. Roosevelt’s WPA project of the 1930s. Sunset Park made the cut, City Limits Online reports, offering a little bit of urban to the pastoral scenes of the lesser known green in our nation’s great metropolis. Legacy: The Preservation of Wilderness in New York City Parks, at the Museum of the City of New York, Tuesday through Sunday 10 a.m. – 5 p.m., adults $10, through March 21.

*Governor David Paterson led the way in welcoming Councilwoman Sara M. González at the new Sunset Park High School into her second term on the council, YourNabe reported. The comment section (ever enlightening) offers a range of reactions to the news.

*Last weekend, nearly every paper ran stories on the tragic fire that killed five in Bensonhurst, including the mother of two young children.The New York Times offered some history, and the story about how the blaze affected families of the dead in Guatemala. The Post reported while the alleged arsonist said “demons” drove him to torch a baby carriage that drove the blaze, it may have had more to do with revenge. A Daily News story portrayed 2-year-old Josias’ confusion at his mothers death. Their home destroyed, the family has taken up residence in Sunset Park.

*A string of holdups in local warehouses, including at least one in the 72nd precinct, continued this week. From YourNabe.com: On January 11, two black males armed with handguns entered a warehouse on Centre Street between Smith and Court Streets and robbed a 43-year-old man inside. Police said that cops have connected the thieves to four similar robberies in the nearby 78th Precinct in Park Slope and the 72nd Precinct in Sunset Park.

*In other crime news, a police arrested a man believed to be a thief with a thing for mailboxes. Officials alleged 49-year-old John Sturiale was one of two men who in December stole metal and plastic post office containers worth upward of $2500 (who knew?) from the post office on 58th Street, YourNabe.com reported. First email, then missing containers. Times are tough for USPS.

The NYPD Comp Stat numbers for the 72nd Precinct released today show overall crime on par with 2009’s low numbers, though the categories have shifted.

The Precinct counted 23 crimes between January 18th and 24th, including one rape and six burglaries. Rape numbers have been creeping up in the neighborhood–two have been recorded in the first 27 days of 2010, and that’s two more than this time last year.

Inspector Jesus Raul Pintos said at a Community Council meeting last year that rape victims who have come to the precinct have by and large have known their assailants.

Burglaries have risen as well, up to 19 thus far, a 90 percent increase from twelve months ago. Grant larceny and car thefts, however, have dropped. Overall, the Precinct has 67 crimes on the books this year, the exact number recorded in January 2009.

Check out the stats for yourself here.

Mapped here are the eight murders that took place in the 72nd precinct during 2009. Click on the figures to see details the circumstances of each death

New York last year celebrated the lowest murder rate since the city began to keep statistics in the 1960s, but Brooklyn’s 72nd precinct bucked the citywide trend with eight murders, one more death than in 2008.

The precinct, which patrols Windsor Terrace, Greenwood Heights and Sunset Park, in 2009 saw a 14.3 percent jump in murders since last year, and 33.3 percent since 2001. Homicides have however dropped 55.6 percent since 1993–the city saw an annual average of 2000 murders during the early nineties.

The victims and those arrested for the murders in the 72nd have for the large part been young men. Of the eight people killed (one of which was a woman) not one had celebrated a thirtieth birthday. Of the three men accused of murder, not one had reached 25. The murders were concentrated in the second half of the year–seven of the eight took place since August.

Overall crime in the 72nd dropped ten percent in the twelve month period, and nearly 40 percent since 2001. While felony assault and burglary showed only modest reductions, the year marked a 22 percent reduction in both robberies and car thefts. Rapes, however, rose 57 percent, from seven in 2008 to 11 last year.

View 2009 Murder in Sunset Park, Brooklyn in a larger map

The city will pay $35,000 to Sunset Park resident Monica Gonzalez, falsely arrested for prostitution in 2007, the Daily News reported.

Officer Sean Spencer apprehended the 41-year-old as she walked on Third Ave toward Lutheran Medical Center to seek help for an asthma attack at 2:30 am on the night of November 8th.

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Many of you have shown interest in the story of Daniel Vargas, whose body was discovered Christmas Eve morning wrapped in plastic and dumped by the Gowanus Expressway. According to Inspector Jesus Raul Pintos of the 72nd Precinct, there is nothing new to report on that case to date.

The plastic-wrapped body of a Brooklyn teen found Christmas Eve morning was dumped on 27th Street from the back of a truck, then hidden under a car four hours later, according to an article in El Diario de la Prensa. Continue Reading

A driver found the body of a teenager wrapped in plastic under a car in Greenwood Heights, Brooklyn early Christmas Eve morning, 1010 WINS reported. Continue Reading

Aerial view of Fourth Avenue and 79th Street in Bay Ridge, Brooklyn

I followed up on JH’s tip. There was indeed another Fourth Avenue hit-and-run:

A 58-year-old Bay Ridge dentist was struck by two cars and killed while crossing Fourth Avenue in Bay Ridge, Brooklyn, NY1 reported.

Harry Lewner of Cedarhurst was crossing the busy road around 9:15pm Thursday night when he was apparently struck by a Kia sedan traveling northbound, which then fled the scene. His body bounced from the impact, and was then struck by the 57-year-old driver behind the wheel of a 2001 Honda sedan, according to WPIX.

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