At any given moment, the streets of New York City are like a veritable sea, teeming with fish (people) tempting thieves with their pockets full of shiny, new electronic gadgets. And that preponderance of highly-coveted technology, including Apple’s popular iPhones and iPads, is why the city’s major crime rate has risen this year, says NYC’s Mayor Michael Bloomberg.

Thieves have been going after your gotta-have-it products, resulting in a wee boost to NYC’s annual crime index. That stat also covers felonies, grand larceny and robbery. Bloomberg said on his weekly radio show today (via the New York Times’ City Blog) that there were 3,484 more major crimes this year than last year, with an increase of 3,890 Apple product thefts.

The city maintains that if you take Apple out of the equation, major crime would be down instead of up by 3.3%. The police department logged 108,432 major crimes for the year, up from 104,948 in 2011.

“If you just took away the jump in Apple, we’d be down for the year,” said Marc La Vorgna, the mayor’s press secretary. He added that this is unprecedented, because so many people are lugging around so much expensive equipment, a phenomenon that hasn’t happened in earlier years.

Bloomberg says he isn’t even including theft of other devices like the Samsung Galaxy in his totals, that’s how prevalent the targeting of Apple products is. So how can people cut down on such thefts? It’s all in the clothes, says the mayor. None of that baggy stuff, okay?

“Put it in a pocket in sort of a more body-fitting, tighter clothes, that you can feel if it was — if somebody put their hand in your pocket, not just an outside coat pocket,” the mayor said.

It’s not just about fashion sense, but common sense, as well, says the city. Subway riders should also be attentive to their surroundings when pulling out their devices to pass the time on the train. You never know who’s watching and waiting to get their own hands on your gadgets.

Crime Is Up and Bloomberg Blames iPhone Thieves [New York Times]

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