Council member Julie Won has called on residents to walk in groups and avoid walking alone at night following two muggings Tuesday morning, Feb. 21 — one in Sunnyside and the other in Woodside.
Feb. 22, 2023 By Michael Dorgan
City Councilwoman Julie Won is calling for residents to walk in groups and to try to avoid walking alone at night following a spate of gunpoint robberies in her western Queens district over the last 10 days.
Won took to social media late Tuesday to ask residents to be more vigilant following two muggings occurring at gunpoint Tuesday morning, Feb. 21, with one incident occurring in Sunnyside and the other in Woodside.
The first incident took place on 44th Street at 11:15 a.m., where a 33-year-old man was set upon, while the second occurred around 15 minutes later on 49th Street in Woodside with the victim being a 59-year-old man, according to police. It is understood that the same two suspects carried out both robberies.
The muggings come after three similar incidents in the neighborhood last week.
“Our community’s safety is our top priority,” wrote Won, who represents the 26th Council district that covers Sunnyside, Woodside, Long Island City and a portion of Astoria.
“Please be vigilant — walk in groups when possible and avoid walking alone late at night unless absolutely necessary.”
The lawmaker said that in light of the crimes, the 108th Precinct has increased its patrol of the area with extra marked and unmarked vehicles, as well as boots on the ground.
Won is also calling for residents to report all emergencies to 911 and wrote that the 108th Precinct holds its monthly community meeting every fourth Tuesday at Sunnyside Community Services, located at 43-31 39th St.
Our office was informed about two robberies this morning on 44th St and 49th St in Sunnyside. The armed suspects had firearms and were seen driving a white Volvo suburban and took cell phones, wallets, and cash from the two victims. (1/5)
— Council Member Julie Won (@CMJulieWon) February 21, 2023
In the first incident on Feb. 21, the 33-year-old victim was walking along 44th Street, between Skillman Avenue and Barnett Avenue, when he was approached by two suspects who asked him for the time.
The two suspects, described by police as Black males, then pulled out a gun and asked the man to “hand over everything,” according to authorities.
The victim gave the alleged perpetrators his cell phone and a wallet that contained $130 cash, police said.
Around 15 minutes later, the same suspects allegedly robbed the 59-year-old victim who was washing his car on 49th St. in Woodside, between 47th Avenue and 48th Avenue near Calvary Cemetery, according to police.
The perpetrators approached the victim, displayed a gun and then demanded he hand over all his money, cops said.
They then pushed and pulled the man, causing his pants to rip, the NYPD said.
They stole his wallet before fleeing the scene in a white colored Volvo SUV, with a registration plate of KSD4303. The man’s wallet contained $30 cash and several credit cards, police said.
Neither victim was injured, police said.
The second gunpoint robbery took place at 47-39 49th St. on Tuesday, Feb. 21. (Photo: Google Maps)
Tuesday’s robberies come days after a 41-year-old man was attacked by four suspects dressed in black ski masks and hoodies on the corner of Barnett Avenue and 43rd Street in Sunnyside.
It followed the mugging of a 40-year-old victim on Bliss Street, between Skillman Avenue and 39th Avenue on Feb. 15.
The recent crime spree started with the attack on a longtime Sunnyside resident in the early hours of Feb. 12. The victim was beaten and robbed by three suspects while walking home from work early along 44th Street between Skillman and Barnett Ave. It is the same stretch of road where the first of yesterday’s muggings took place.
The news that police will be increasing patrols in the neighborhood comes after Won recently signed a “Statement of Values” pledge issued by the City Council’s Progressive Caucus which included a commitment to “do everything we can to reduce the size and scope” of the NYPD and City Correction Department (DOC).
The Queens/Sunnyside Post asked Won if she still maintains this position in light of the recent muggings in her district.
Won said that the current policing system is not enough to keep communities safe and called for an investment in holistic public safety solutions to prevent crime before it happens.
“As a Sunnyside resident and mom, our community’s safety is my top priority,” Won said in a statement.
“We need to invest in addressing poverty head-on, provide wrap-around services, affordable housing, mental health care, and cure violence programs, like Community Capacity Development, that all have a proven track record of preventing crime.
“We will continue working closely both with the local precincts, local cure violence organizations, and human service providers to address public safety comprehensively long-term.”
Meanwhile, a local boxing gym has announced that it will be hosting free weekly self-defense classes to help residents better protect themselves following the recent muggings.
Supreme Team Boxing, will run the classes at its 34-09 Queens Blvd. location every Wednesday at 6 p.m., according to a post put out by coach Nelson Maldonado, who owns the 4,000-square-foot establishment.
View this post on Instagram
Featured Events
24 Comments
It is time to for a Sunnyside and Woodside petition to ask for Julie Won to resign her position, similar to the voters for George Santos did, with 78% having no confidence in his leadership and request his resignation. At this point, Julie Won again restating this week that she is pro-defunding the police at the same time she is asking for the 108 Pct. She does not represent her voters and has her own personal agenda and alliance to her non-residential criminals. I am not sure the safety of ourselves and our neighbors can wait until an upcoming democratic primary in June to replace her. Someone is going to get seriously hurt or worse in the next few weeks or months. The voters and residents of Sunnyside and Woodside need to make their message clear. She just doesn’t listen or capable of really get the severity of her position against the residents she was elected to represent, not her own personal vision.
Far-left progressive and socialist candidates continue to gain significant traction at both the federal and state levels of government. It should not be all that surprising that more socialist candidates continue to win elected office considering that today’s powerful institutions )(namely the media, academia, Hollywood, social media, and many more) are pushing the narrative that socialism is superior to free-market capitalism, and that collectivism should trump individual freedom. This is our future!!
Any contender for the Democratic Primary in June 2023 will be able to convince voters not to give Julie Won a second term if they just bring up all her statements and signature to defund the police, and still stands behind this as her voters are being mugged and in threat of losing their lives on a daily basis! It is all factual! Candidates, the door is open for you to win if you are for bringing law and order back into Sunnyside/Woodside with a change of NYC Council Representation. Julie Won possibly being reelected is very dangerous to the physical well being of her voters.
I grew up poor and had a brother with mental illness but we never went round shoving a gun in peoples faces. We accepted the hand that was dealt to us and were thought by our parents to respect ourselves and others. Here is Won yet again making excuses when she should be taking the side of the victims . The democratic socialist leave noting but desperation behind and have yet, not succeeded in fixing one social issue only blaming the system
Exactly
5he wanted to defund the NYPD. Now walk in packs? How about supporting the NYPD and let them do their job. She’s so out of touch for a young woman.
This is at least a tepid acknowledgment of a very serious safety and quality of life issue that is plaguing Sunnyside and NYC in general.
Speaking of Values, we should all support and have the courage to:
1) Act respectfully to each other.
2) Obey existing laws and that includes traffic regulations for ALL vehicles – this includes “alt-transportation”. As mundane as this seems disregard for basics erodes civil behaviour. Walking in groups is fine, but how about actually calling for responsible behaviour from everyone? We should all be able to walk our streets at anytime, alone or in groups.
3) Support ALL of your Constituents – not just a wing of your constituents.
4) Yes, poverty, mental health and affordable housing need to be addressed but let’s not obfuscate the issue of behaving civilly with these issues – it feels as if we are making excuses.
5) Support the NYPD. Calling for blanket defunding is wrong. Every institution requires proper stewardship and attention – INCLUDING POLITICIANS with an agenda. When the police are engaged in inappropriate conduct ADDRESS IT; don’t condemn it with carte blanche, that is hubris and superiority – I’m sure that is not what “progressives” want to do, is it?
Let’s work together and lets stop trying to score points with voting bases.
Will the Republican banner waver who repeatedly posts “we voted for this”, post here in this comment stream, yet again? I have a few questions for this one hit wonder. Did the people murdered in Orlando, Florida vote for the murder of a TV journalist, little girl and a woman, yesterday? Why are the crime rates in Republican strongholds like Florida, Texas, Oklahoma, Arkansas, Mississippi and Alabama much higher than the the crime rates of “Blue States” like New York, Massachusetts, New Jersey and Washington State? The rural crime in Republican controlled states is higher than the urban crime just checkout Alaska and Tennessee.
The usual Mac misdirection.I don’t live in Alabama or Florida I live here in Sunnyside so yes the muggings and the political representatives and their defund the NYPD is what I am concerned about.
As usual, you avoided directly answering Macs questions. I can understand why someone like you who believes proven failed policies will miraculously work here and who believes myths fed to them by right wing media like “defunding the police”, would dance around simple questions about your position. The NYPD has not been defined. Fact! https://www.cityandstateny.com/policy/2022/06/was-nypd-budget-increased-year-yes-its-complicated/368239/
I think it’s fair to raise the Councilmember’s position on funding the NYPD, but I don’t think it’s reasonable to do so without including the information that the NYPD’s budget rose from 5.3 billion in 2021 to 5.4 billion in 2022 (against which they actually spent 5.8 billion) to a projection of 5.5 billion 2023 (against which they can be expected to spend more).
At a certain point it’s tempting to ask how much more money we’ll need to divert from schools and sanitation in order for the NYPD to fail to catch a group who have been spending an entire week committing robberies in the exact same area, at the exact same times (including day time!), with the exact same people, in the exact same way, using the exact same vehicle.
Kudos to Supreme Team Boxing, at any rate, for actually doing anything at all about any of this.
Affordable Housing & other poverty pimp dog and pony shows to bleed the tax payer. Won failed to mention it will be for any one but.
but white people & US veterans.
Wake up Julie, your crap is destroying Sunnyside.
And no, we don’t all love your campaign donors the Korean supermarket
H Mart.
Happy that people are being attacked?
Why no rallies against anti- White racism?
Where did you find info on H Mart donating to her campaign?
All this as a woman just got mugged on 44th street between Greenpoint Ave and Queens Blvd just now.
Oh now she wants the police to help? I hope she means it. She voted to defund!!! The progressives need a dose of reality. It’s that people have to suffer because of their naïveté.
She’s part of the clan who actually wants to ABOLISH the police!! Please stop giving your votes to these woke idiots who could care less about law-abiding tax paying citizens. Their eyes are on only helping active criminals, ex-cons and
illegal migrants.
Does Julie Won have a clue how many of her neighbors live alone and don’t have a group or family members to walk around with them in the neighborhood? I’m glad to see more police presence in the Gardens.
Julie Won, you can’t have it both ways. Your public stance against the high majority of voters in your district who are for tougher penalties for criminals is to be blame for this area to be a public safe haven for criminals to prey on your voters, since you are one of the council members, along with Caban, have already reported a few times in this paper, for your lack of backing stronger penalties for crimes. As a life long resident who actually voted for you, please self-consider being only a one-term council person or I ask the voters to seriously consider someone else for the Democratic Primary to elect to represent the Democrats going into the election if she decides to run for a second term for our own safety, our neighbors’ safety and our City’s safety is important. As long as she continues to publicly support lack of consequences for criminals, I guess her leadership decision is that we will have to walk in groups throughout Sunnyside and Woodside for the rest of her public paycheck so that her non-voting criminals are free to continue their ways in our neighborhood. Can you as our Councilperson and the members of your office volunteer, without pay, to walk all the elderly and single people throughout the area seven days a week, 24 hours a day the single people are in a group?
Shall we carry selfiesticks and hello kitty purses too?
Ridiculous. Just keep your witte about you.
Walk in groups…that’s all Won can do??? Really bring back stop and risk
So, we should live in fear, because the progressive politicians and the people who voted for them are not willing to admit that their policies have created the problem.
What a weak feeble minded liberal democrat.
Bring in the Guardian Angels!
Wanna make a bet these creeps were already arrested for other crimes and let loose without bail?
Poverty is not the issue. Both sides of my family were dirt poor back in the day including the Great Depression and never robbed anyone at gunpoint or even so much as shoplifted. Stop turning an inexcuseable violent crime spree into socialist talking points.
This is ridiculous won was a supporter of the defund the movement. This falls at her feet and the blood of these victims is on her hands. All the social programs and violence disruptors can’t fight crime. There will always be thugs that will want to expose a crack in the system for their gain even if they don’t need to. Won now wants us to travel in herds and not go out at night. Society has gone back to how it was when I was a kid in the 80s Messed up.