Did "undercover NYPD" officers "arrest two young people for sleeping on the concrete blocks a short distance from Times Square"? No, that's not true: the persons in question were not trying to sleep in a noisy, well-lit area on top of concrete blocks. A spokesperson for the Office of the Deputy Commissioner, Public Information at the New York City Police Department (NYPD) says the suspects were arrested on various theft charges.
The claim appeared in a post and video on Instagram (archived here) published by dashcam_newyork on September 17, 2023. The post's caption says:
Undercover NYPD swarm and arrest two young people for sleeping on the concrete blocks a few blocks from Times Square. The NYPD has a track record of criminalizing homelessness and violently arresting the unhoused, especially in tourist hot spots.
This is what the post looked like on Instagram at the time of writing:
(Source: Instagram screenshot taken on Wed Sep 20:16:05:59 2023 UTC)
The arrests shown in the video took place on September 14, 2023, at 10:58 p.m. EDT in front of the Target store at 237 West 42nd St., near Times Square, according to police. An NYPD spokesperson told Lead Stories in a September 20, 2023, email that the people arrested included one adult and one juvenile:
The suspects entered the above location and removed a victim's bag containing foreign currency, credit cards, personal documents and personal items without permission or authority to do so. The suspects were apprehended without incident and charged with Grand Larceny, Criminal Possession of Stolen Property and Petit Larceny.
