The 108th Precinct in Queens. View Full Caption DNAinfo/Jeanmarie Evelly

SUNNYSIDE — Police have beefed up patrols in a section of Sunnyside after more than a dozen recent home burglaries, according to the 108th Precinct.

Capt. Brian Hennessy said 14 burglaries took place between Thanksgiving and New Year's Day, all at multi-family apartment buildings located between 40th and 53rd streets north of Queens Boulevard.

The suspect or suspects entered the apartments through rear fire escapes, gaining access through an unlocked window in many of the cases, Hennessy said. In a few instances, more than one apartment in the same building was burglarized at a time.

No residents were home during any of the burglaries, which took place during the daytime, he said.

The precinct started sending extra patrol cars and uniformed officers to the area around Jan. 1, Hennessy said, adding that there has not been a burglary since then.

No suspects have been identified so far, he said.

For the 28-day period ending on Dec. 29 there were 34 burglaries in the precinct's area, compared to 20 in the same period the year before. That's a 70 percent increase.

For 2013, there were 241, down sightly from the 246 the year before.