Midday News: Second Arrest in Alleged Soho Kidnapping, Rainy Week Ahead, and Increase in Times Square Complaints

Janae Pierre: Welcome to NYC Now, your source for local news in and around New York City, from WNYC. It's Tuesday, May 27th. Here's the midday news from Michael Hill.

Michael Hill: New York police say they now have a second man in custody in the alleged kidnapping and torture of a 28-year-old man in SoHo. They arrested 37-year-old John Woeltz Friday at the Prince Street townhouse, where officials say the kidnapping took place for more than two weeks. NYPD Commissioner Jessica Tisch has told Fox 5 the second person surrendered about 7:45 this morning.

Commissioner Jessica Tisch: He is going to be charged with Mr. Woeltz with kidnapping and false imprisonment of an associate in SoHo.

Michael Hill: Police say the victim escaped Friday and asked an NYPD traffic agent on the street for help. He told investigators the two men had taken his electronics and passport and demanded he give them the password to his Bitcoin wallet. An attorney for Woeltz has declined to comment.

It might be a good idea to grab those rain jackets. The end of May is looking to be wet and dreary in this region. Matthew Wunsch of the National Weather Service says there's consistent potential for rain starting early tomorrow and lasting through Saturday. He says the spring has so far been rainier than previous springs due to low-pressure systems repeatedly hitting the area.

Matthew Wunsch: At least anecdotally, yes, we have actually been pretty rainy, which is also why it's been kind of on the cooler side as well. We haven't really had good warm-up so far this year.

Michael Hill: Skies are expected to clear over the weekend, leading to some sunshine on Sunday. 72 and partly sunny right now. Partly sunny today and mid-70s with a calm wind. Then, as we mentioned, tomorrow, a chance of afternoon showers, cooler, mid-60s.

Janae Pierre: Stay tuned for more after the break.

David Furst: On WNYC, I'm David Furst. Have you been to Times Square recently, and did it feel different to you? According to many New Yorkers, it does. Complaints to 311 about the ZIP code 10036, which includes Times Square, have surged compared to pre-pandemic levels, but according to recent data, violent crime in Times Square is the lowest it's been in a decade. Reporter Kenneal Patterson has been covering crime and quality-of-life issues in Times Square, and she joins us now to talk about her reporting.

I want to make sure I'm getting this right. According to data from the NYPD and the Times Square Alliance, violent crime, which includes rape, robbery and assaults, and homicides are down in Times Square, but you interviewed more than a dozen people who work there who say they feel increasingly uneasy. Can you talk about that? What may seem like a disconnect when we're just looking at the numbers?

Kenneal Patterson: Yes, David. So many people in the Times Square area feel unsafe. They feel uneasy. Criminologists are calling this "disorder." It's this idea that when certain behaviors are more visible, people feel unsafe. In Times Square, people are seeing more drug use, for instance. They're seeing hypodermic needles on the ground. They're also hearing stories of pickpocketing.

Collectively, it all just makes people feel like something's off. One worker there told me that there's a feeling that anything can happen in Times Square, and he has to watch his back.

David Furst: Does that mean that it's unsafe?

Kenneal Patterson: No, not necessarily. As we mentioned earlier, a lot of violent crime has gone down, but people feel unsafe. There's this perception that something bad is going to happen. No one I talked to had been assaulted, but they all described things that made them feel uneasy, whether that was seeing pickpockets take place, seeing public drinking, seeing public drug use.

I was interviewing one man at I LOVE NY store, and someone walked in and threw a pair of sunglasses to the ground that was on this shelf, and then he just walked out. Obviously, that's not violence per se, but it's unsettling. Then, other people I saw described seeing people on the street grappling with mental illness and feeling unsafe around that. Some people say there's more trash on the streets and feel uncomfortable walking over mounds of garbage.

Then on top of that, you have these really rare but headline-grabbing crimes like the man who was doused with gasoline and set on fire or the teenage brawl earlier this month that went viral.

David Furst: We hear lots of things about Times Square. President Trump has said that migrants have taken over Times Square.

Kenneal Patterson: Absolutely. You can't talk about Times Square in 2025 without talking about Donald Trump.

David Furst: Well, taken over can mean several things. What has the response been to some of his claims?

Kenneal Patterson: Well, it's inaccurate to blame migrants on a rise in crime. More than 200,000 migrants have come to New York City in the past few years, but there hasn't been an uptick in crime in the city since they arrived. Every single criminologist I spoke with said that it's inaccurate to blame crime on migrants, but Times Square demographics have changed. There are fewer foreign tourists. Fewer white-collar professionals returned to the office jobs after COVID and due to the popularity of remote work, and there are more migrants.

Several historians I spoke with told me that it's a common theme where working-class immigrants and homeless people and people that are struggling with mental health issues have historically been blamed for perceived dips in the economy or in safety.

David Furst: People who work in the area say they are uneasy, and there have been more complaints to 311, right? Why are we seeing these additional complaints?

Kenneal Patterson: Well, it could be a number of things. There's no one answer. Some blame it on something psychological. After emerging from COVID, and people were isolated for so long, they came back to a society they didn't recognize. There were all these frayed social bonds that people are still trying to repair. Some say it's the influence of national politics and a culture of animosity against migrants and the unhoused.

Then, on the other hand, some say it's not a psychological problem at all. Some say it's mismanagement with funding or underfunding. Some say it's concrete changing policies like legalized drug use, open container laws, jaywalking, all creating this general "disorder." Regardless of reason, people do feel uneasy, and that's something we can't ignore.

David Furst: What about solutions for crime or disorder, as you're calling it, or perceptions of crime?

Kenneal Patterson: That's the question. People disagree here. Some say we need more policing for lower-level offenses, but others say that the answer is simple, and it's social services. One criminologist that I spoke to from John Jay College of Criminal Justice has been studying these issues for decades now, and he says the solution is simple. We need more social services, but right now, it seems unlikely in this current climate, where so many government programs are being cut.

David Furst: Kenneal Patterson, thank you for joining us.

Kenneal Patterson: Thank you, David.

David Furst: For more, check out Kenneal's article on Times Square that's up on our news site, Gothamist, now.

Janae Pierre: Thanks for listening. This is NYC Now from WNYC. Check us out for updates every weekday, three times a day, for the latest news headlines and occasional deep dives, and subscribe wherever you get your podcasts.

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