Elderly Man Mugged in Charlotte Gardens Bronx

Community was Symbol for Urban Decay and Renewal

Police are searching for this man and an alleged accomplice in an attack on an elderly man in Charlotte Gardens. -Photo by NYPD

By Dan Gesslein 

Bronx Voice
March 3, 2023 

BRONX - An elderly man was mugged walking down the street in the Charlotte Gardens section of the Bronx.

At around 10:30 am on February 6, a 74-year-old man was in front of a storage facility at 1816 Boston Road. Two men ran up behind the senior and pushed him to the ground. 

As he lay helpless on the floor, the muggers rifled through his pockets removing his cell phone and a wallet containing credit cards. 

Police released surveillance video of one of the suspects. He is described as a male with a dark complexion who was last seen wearing a green jacket, blue jeans, a brown hat and gray sneakers. 

Charlotte Gardens has long been a bellwether of the crime and community health of the city. 

In 1977, President Jimmy Carter toured the burned down tenement buildings and vacant lots during the “Bronx is burning” years. He dubbed it the “worst neighborhood in the United States.” 

Years later the community became a symbol of urban renewal when ranch houses were built on the remains of the vacant lots where the buildings burned down. Home owners of color filled the neighborhood as the area came back. 

Recently the news has covered several reports of violent crime in the area as developers plan to build more high-rise affordable housing units in the area.

Anyone with information in regard to this incident is asked to call the NYPD's Crime Stoppers Hotline at 1-800-577-TIPS (8477) or for Spanish, 1-888-57-PISTA (74782). The public can also submit their tips by logging onto the CrimeStoppers website at https://crimestoppers.nypdonline.org/ or on Twitter @NYPDTips. 

All calls are strictly confidential.