Two men on black mopeds swarmed a 37-year-old man in front of 1130 Park Avenue on Halloween morning, punching him repeatedly before ripping a gold chain and bracelet off his body and speeding away toward Central Park. The attack unfolded at about 9:50 a.m. near East 91st Street on the Upper East Side, according to police.
The men approached the victim on the sidewalk and struck him multiple times with closed fists before taking the jewelry, according to Patch. Police said the suspects were dressed in all-black clothing with black face masks, and investigators have since released surveillance photos in hopes someone recognizes them. NYPD Crime Stoppers also shared a wanted post on X
seeking tips in the case.
Suspects Vanished Toward the Park
After grabbing the jewelry, the pair fled west on East 91st Street in the direction of Central Park, according to the same Patch report. No arrests had been reported as of the station's account of the incident. Anyone with information is asked to call the NYPD's Crime Stoppers Hotline at 1-800-577-TIPS (8477) or, for Spanish speakers, 1-888-57-PISTA (74782), or to submit a tip through the Crime Stoppers website or on X at @NYPDTips.
Part of a Wider Citywide Pattern
The Park Avenue robbery adds to what has become a persistent problem across the five boroughs this fall. More than 20 moped- or e-bike-related necklace robberies have been reported citywide since September, at least 10 of them violent, according to a VINnews report citing the New York Post. The same report noted that an NYPD spokesperson said necklace thefts had declined in the Bronx since the attack on Detective Jose Mercedes.
Separately, the NYPD has linked three suspects to 26 chain-snatching robberies across the Bronx and Manhattan between late June and late August, according to ABC7 New York. Investigators in that series said suspects rode up to victims on a motorized scooter, snatched jewelry — primarily chains — and fled the scene, a method strikingly similar to what happened on Park Avenue.
No Confirmed Link Between Cases
Hoodline has previously reported on at least eight separate moped robberies across Manhattan, Brooklyn and Queens that have targeted people's jewelry, as well as a separate Bronx case involving two men on e-bikes wanted in connection with eight robberies and attempted robberies since September. The evidence does not establish any connection between those cases and the Halloween morning attack near 1130 Park Avenue, and investigators have not said the incidents are related.
Another pattern Hoodline detailed involved 29 pedestrians targeted in Brooklyn and Queens between June 15 and July 10, with arrests made in seven of those incidents while 22 remained unsolved, per ABC7 New York's reporting at the time. Citywide, NYPD CompStat data show 8,863 robbery complaints were reported from January 1 through August 30 of this year, a 12% drop from the 10,068 robberies logged over the same stretch in 2025. Even with that overall decline, a 2024 statement from the city noted that crime patterns involving street robberies and grand larcenies using illegal scooters and mopeds have steadily increased since 2022 — a trend this week's Upper East Side attack appears to fit.
