New NYPD Mobile Command Center coming to busy Manhattan street

NEW YORK – A new New York City Police Department Mobile Command Center is coming to East 14th Street in Manhattan.

The block between First and Second avenues is in the heart of one of the busiest areas of the borough, and after a string of recent crimes, Mayor Eric Adams said the city has a solution to make the area safer.

Addressing NYPD "no man's land"

In an announcement Thursday, the mayor said a fatal stabbing in June played a part in getting this moving.

"We've allowed the problem to keep getting overlayed. And once you allow one person to set up an illegal vendor or to sleep on the street, then someone else says, hey, this is normalized," he said.

So how could 14th Street, one of the busiest corridors in Downtown Manhattan, get so out of control? The mayor said one of the reasons is that the block borders two police precincts from the Ninth to the 13th.

"It's almost like a no man's land," Adams said.

The mayor said this will not consist only of police making arrests; homeless services and the departments of health and sanitation are also involved.

New Yorkers split on new safety measures

Some locals who have lived in the area for decades seemed split on whether Thursday's announced measures were necessary.

"I don't find it dangerous," one man said.

"I was attacked on this street for no reason," one woman said.

"I've been here 40 years, and I've never felt afraid," another person said. "It's the new ones that are scared because they're told to be scared."

"People that are in need of mental help. I've definitely seen some of that," one New Yorker said.

"Think they're homeless or whatever. Selling goods on the street," another New Yorker said.

As for business owners, one told CBS News New York since police have stepped up their presence in recent months, it's been a more comfortable place to work.