New C.O.s Takes Reins at 17th Pct. on East Side and Mid-town North in Hell’s Kitchen

The new commanding officer of the 17th Pct. is Captain Allen Kirmss, a 16 year veteran of the NYPD who was most recently the commanding officer of the Special Victims unit. He’s taking over from deputy inspector Maggie Clamp who is promoted to commanding officer of Midtown North.

After just under three years as the C.O. of the 17th, Clamp is leaving behind a relatively low crime precinct that covers the east side from the East River to roughly Fifth Ave. and from East 30th St. to East 59th St. The precint includes the United Nations which becomes a mad house daring the general assembly which requires protecting world leaders as well as the protests and counter protests that always accompany the meeting.

In November 2024, 51-year-old homeless man, Ramon Rivera broke into a hardware store in Stuyvesant Town and went on an hours long killing spree that began with a deadly stabbing in Chelsea and a fatal attack on a man fishing on the East River and ended after he stabbed a woman near the United Nations before he was finally captured.

Things were a lot calmer in the past year. In 2025 there were no murders in the 17th pct. Crime in the seven major categories dropped 9.2 percent compared to 2024. The number of reported rapes dropped to 13, from 16 a year earlier. The only one of the seven major crimes to report a jump was felony assaults which rose seven percent to 198 incidents from 185 a year earlier.

Grand larceny auto dropped 25 percent to 84, down from 112 in full year 2024.

Clamp replaces deputy inspector John L. Connell, a third generation cop. Midtown North, the Hell’s Kitchen pct based at 306 W. 54th St. is generally deemed a higher crime zone than mid-town. It covers the area of Midtown, just south of Central Park which includes the Diamond District, St. Patrick’s Cathedral, the Theatre District, Restaurant Row, Radio City Music Hall, Rockefeller Plaza as well as older residential neighborhoods stretching west to the Hudson River from W. 43rd St. to W. 57th St. The digital news site W42nd St. in August reported that there was an alarming 300 percent increase in the number of reported rapes in the district.

Crimegrade.org says midtown Manhattan has a C- grade which indicates that the rate of crime is slightly higher than that of the average US neighborhood. Midtown ranks in the 33rd percentile for safety, meaning it is safer than 33 percent of neighborhoods but less safe than 67 percent.