Once-idyllic section of Queens sees murders rise 62% in just a year

Source: New York Post

A once-sleepy section of Queens considered one of the city’s safest has seen a staggering 62% surge in murders this year — the only NYPD command in the five boroughs to see an increase in killings, new police data show. Twenty-one people have been killed in Queens North — a command that encompasses eight precincts in Forest Hills, Flushing, Astoria and Elmhurst — up from 13 in the same time span last year. Equally troubling, the area experienced a 60% rise in shooting victims so far this year — with 31, up from 20.