Armed Robbers Steal Valuables From Bar Hoppers on Greenpoint’s Manhattan Avenue

Another armed robbery took place in the Greenpoint/Williamsburg area last night, the NYPD confirmed to Greenpointers.

A man in his late twenties and a woman in her early thirties left Twins Lounge (732 Manhattan Ave.) and headed to Ponyboy (632 Manhattan Ave.) around 11:29 p.m. when unknown perpetrators approached them on a black moped, one of whom displayed a firearm and demanded the man’s watch and the woman’s purse. The perpetrators fled on the moped, and the police were called to the scene. The investigation remains ongoing.

The incident echoes a similar incident that took place a week ago, where armed perpetrators stole valuables, including a watch, from a group of diners at Birds of a Feather (191 Grand St.)

“Actually, because I saw the story [about Birds of a Feather] on Greenpointers, as we were crossing the street and about to get on the sidewalk, as soon as I saw him on the sidewalk wearing the ski mask, I knew what was gonna happen,” one of the victims told Greenpointers.

The woman, who asked to remain anonymous, is a longtime resident of the area who has always felt extremely safe living here. She and her friend were part of a large group of friends headed from one bar to the next, though they were walking a few feet behind everyone.

“We weren’t the only people who called the police, people were around and saw it happen,” she said of the incident. Twins Lounge and Ponyboy are popular clubs near each other on Manhattan Avenue, and large groups can generally be seen milling around late into the night. 

The woman, a Venezuela native, says she recognized the perpetrators’ accents as Venezuelan when they exchanged words with each other. The NYPD could not confirm the perpetrators’ ethnicity. She also described the robber as small and skinny, similar to the description of the perpetrators in the Birds of a Feather incident, though the NYPD could not confirm that the same perpetrators have been responsible in all instances, including another similar robbery at Marlow and Sons (81 Broadway).

While the crime has put her on alert, she doesn’t feel overly panicked about the situation, but she urges people to think twice about brandishing their valuables in public. 

The incidents might have shaken up the neighborhood, but according to data from the 90th and 94th precincts, rates of violent crime have decreased since the early 1990s and remain low, although incidents of grand larceny have risen slightly in the past couple of decades. It’s also important to keep in mind that while much has been made about the recent increase in migrant arrivals in New York City, the New York Times reports that “police data indicate[s] that there has been no surge in crime since April 2022, when Gov. Greg Abbott of Texas started sending buses of migrants to New York to protest the federal government’s border policy.”