NEW YORK - December 31, 2008 - New York's police chief warned Wednesday that banks need to beef up security as thieves respond to the recession with a wave of heists.

"We have seen an up tick in bank robberies," Commissioner Raymond Kelly told CNN.

Five banks were robbed in New York on Monday, capping a surge in heists that saw 431 banks targeted in the city this year, compared to 280 last year.

Kelly plans to meet with bank executives in January to discuss the surge, The Daily News reported.

"To a certain extent we think the banks are responsible for some of that because they haven't really paid attention to doing some of the things we think will protect them," said Kelly.

He complained that bank's open-office plans, meant to make them more customer friendly, made a "bank look like a living room," according to The Daily News.

The New York Times noted that, "robberies may have been fueled in part by the financial desperation that sets in during a recession and the added pressures of the holiday season."