The NYPD has ramped up patrols inside and around Central Park amid an increase in robberies and grand larcenies in the area, officials said Tuesday.

Eighteen robberies have been reported in the park so far this year, up from four during the same period last year, NYPD Chief of Department Jeffrey Maddrey said at a news briefing.

Police have also logged 12 grand larcenies there since the beginning of the year, up from eight year over year, Maddrey said.

“We have an uptick in crime in Central Park,” he said. “We’re seeing a lot of evening robberies, and it looks like the primary targets of these robberies are electronic devices, iPhones, the [AirPods Max] headphones, expensive headphones, electronics.”

All of the grand larcenies involved a thief or thieves swiping unattended belongings or snatching items from parkgoers’ hands, he added.

Police said one of the robberies happened near West Drive and West 97th Street around 7:20 p.m. on April 25.

“In this incident, [a man] approached [a 28-year-old woman], grabbed her by the arm and said, essentially, ‘I’m going to take sex, I’m going to take money, and I’m going to take your phone,’” NYPD Assistant Chief Jason Savino said.

When the woman refused, the man punched her in the face and fled with her phone and wallet, the NYPD said.

Savino said a 35-year-old Bronx resident was arrested in connection with the robbery Tuesday morning. The man has been charged with robbery, assault and harassment, police said.

The NYPD said another robbery happened near East Drive and East 69th Street just after 6 p.m. on April 26, when three people with a gun approached a 41-year-old man who was taking photos in the park and demanded his belongings.

One of the three people punched the man in the head after he refused, then fled the scene on scooters with his phones and wallet, police said.

The man was taken to a nearby hospital in stable condition, the NYPD said. No one had been arrested in connection with the incident as of Tuesday afternoon.

Hours later, police said a 25-year-old man was walking near East Drive and East 109th Street when two people approached him and tried to grab his phone. The pair fled when the man charged at them, the NYPD said.

On Saturday afternoon, meanwhile, two suspects swiped a 46-year-old man’s bag of camera equipment near East Drive and East 74th Street, police said. Neither suspect had been arrested as of Tuesday.

And on Monday, a tourist was walking near Central Park’s Swan Lake when someone grabbed her phone from her hand and threw it in the water, according to police. Police took the person into custody after a passerby called 911, the NYPD said.

At Tuesday’s briefing, NYPD Assistant Chief Ruel Stephenson, the commanding officer of Patrol Borough Manhattan North, said the department had “significantly” increased the number of police officers assigned inside and out of the park in light of the incidents.

The NYPD also increased the number of cameras surveilling the park, Stephenson said.

“So again, rest assured, all the parkgoers, potential parkgoers should feel safe utilizing the park,” he said. “We have over 800 [acres] of beautiful park for people to enjoy.”