The NYPD unveiled a new Special Victims Unit facility in the Bronx Monday in an effort to improve sexual assault investigations and offer safe spaces for victims as rapes increase across NYC, officials said.
At the $5.8 million facility located at 188 West 230 St. in Kingsbridge, an array of different agencies will work together, including the Bronx District Attorney’s Office, Safe Horizon, Bronx Adult Special Victims Squad, and the Special Victims Major Case. The facility aimed to welcome survivors into the building and bring together law enforcement and victims in the same space to better coordinate efforts.
Resources such as advocacy counseling and trauma-informed interview rooms, a conference room, child-friendly area were also amenities included in the facility.
“It is a place designed to give survivors privacy and to bring everyone involved in these cases together in one setting,” NYPD first deputy commissioner Tania Kinsella said at a press conference Monday.
The SVU unit investigated around 1,300 cases of sexual violence involving victims ages 13 and older, Kinsella said.
Rape incidents in the Bronx were up in 2025 seeing a 32% increase, with 448 reported incidents to date compared to 339 in 2024, according to NYPD crime statistics. Citywide, in 2025, rape incidents have seen a 18% increase with a total of 1,626 to date compared to in 2024, were there was 1,371 incidents.
“It is so important that survivors and victims of sexual assault made comfortable as possible when they are interviewed by detectives trying to find out what happened under that terrible incident. This facility is a symbol of compassion,” Bronx DA Darcel Clark said.
