Gang of Five Stabs Teen in Broad Daylight; Burglary in East Harlem

However one might wish it otherwise, crime reporters expect bad things to happen in the crepuscular and nighttime hours. This past week, we encountered a vicious gang stabbing and a heartless robbery, both executed in “broad daylight.”

Such is the case with the recent broad daylight assault of a teenager within the confines of the 26th Precinct in Harlem. Though cops have released pictures of the suspects, they are asking the public’s help in identifying them. Details are as follows:

On Jan. 12, at approximately 2:30 p.m., in the 26th Precinct Harlem in front of 285 Saint Nicholas Avenue, a 16-year-old male victim was approached by five unidentified individuals in front of 285 Nicholas Ave. when one of the individuals stabbed the victim about the body several times.

EMS responded and transported the victim to Mount Sinai Morningside in stable condition. The unidentified individuals fled on foot to parts unknown.

The suspects are described as Black and Hispanic males, likely in their mid-to-late teens or early twenties. Though their dress varies, they are all wearing black winter coats, and two of them have on distinctive red backpacks.

Burglar Bags iPhone and Handbag

Cops are also asking for help identifying the individual wanted in connection with a residential burglary that occurred within the confines of the 25 Precinct.

On Monday, December 15, 2025, at approximately 1500 hours, in the vicinity of East 135th Street and Park Avenue, an unidentified individual unlawfully entered through the front door. Once inside, the thief removed an Apple iPhone and handbag, and then fled to parts unknown. There were no injuries reported as a result of this incident.

The suspect is described as being of indeterminate gender, likely Hispanic, and wearing a blue and white Nike ballcap.

The address is the northeast quadrant of the NYCHA Lincoln Houses projects, where Park Avenue runs adjacent the Harlem River Drive.

Across 135th Street, however, sits the southeast corner of the Riverton Square apartment complex whose campus extends to East 138th Street from the Harlem River to 5th Avenue. Though Riverton, which opened in 1947, resembles public housing, it was actually a project of the Metropolitan Life Insurance Company, builders of Stuyvesant Town and Peter Cooper Village further south on the East River.

Riverton was set up to house black veterans from World War II that the then discriminatory chairman of Met Life, Frederick H. Ecker refused to allow into Stuy Town and Peter Cooper Village on the East River. After several court battles in the 1950s and 60s, blacks were finally allowed to move into STPCV.

Riverton has gone through myriad changes and both have been previously owned by CWCapital Asset Management. Today Riverton’s 1,229 apartments are the property of A&E Real Estate Holdings and Ares Management, with the NYC Housing Partnership as the nonprofit partner. Two executives from A&E were recently named to the top of the 100 worst landlords in the city, though the violations that earned them the ignoble distinction did not include the Riverton complex.

Anyone with information regarding this incident is asked to call the NYPD’s Crime Stoppers Hotline at 1-800-577-TIPS (8477) or for Spanish, 1-888-57-PISTA (74782).