A few dozen career criminals known to the cops are responsible for a lion’s share of the thefts across the Upper East Side, according to police.

The 41 repeat offenders are responsible for a staggering 147 thefts across the upscale neighborhood, according to 19th Precinct commander Melissa Eger.

“This is really driven by shoplift related larcenies and robberies,” she told the precinct’s community council recently.

The recidivists include Michelle Mckelley, 42, a shoplifter with a whopping 96 prior arrests who was recently caught stealing from a Target on Third Avenue; and serial thief Jamel Pringle, 39, who had a jaw-dropping 167 arrests under his belt when he was nabbed swiping from a Rite Ade on Second Avenue, cops said.

“I’m broke, I’m homeless and I steal for a living,” Pringle told The Post in February.

Major crimes in the 19th, which stretches from East 59th Street to East 96th, are up 37 percent from last year, NYPD data shows. In 2022, the precinct has recorded:

• 402 grand larcenies — up 42 percent
• 950 petit larcenies — up 52 percent
• 57 robberies — up 46 percent
• 35 car thefts — up 52 percent

An employee at a CVS on East 86th Street told The Post they deal with shoplifters everyday, and have been targeted by at least four repeat offenders they recognize.

“They steal a lot of cough and cold products and makeup,” said the employee. “The minute we see it happening, we tell them to leave and then call the cops, who take forever. Sometimes people get mad, throw stuff and destroy products.”

A shoplifter became belligerent at the pharmacy recently, tossing groceries and smashing open bottles of NyQuil and DayQuil, employees said.

A representative from Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg’s office made excuses for the troubling catch and release trend, claiming to residents at the precinct community council meeting that strict discovery laws make it easy for criminals to avoid consequences and steal again.

“There’s a very short time window we have to turn over a lot of information to the defense attorney and their client, and if it’s not done in ‘X’ amount of time, that case can be dismissed,” said Kevin JeanBaptiste, Bragg’s supervisor of community engagement.

But residents said repeat offenders are tearing the neighborhood apart.

“I’m born and raised in Yorkville, and I’ve never had any fear walking the streets, but now I’m beginning to reconsider that,” Kathryn Jolowics, 82, who keeps her keys at the ready to fight off would-be muggers, told The Post. “I’m nervous coming home late in the evening. Some of the blocks are just totally dark where people can just come up and attack innocent bystanders or steal from them.”

Shopkeepers said state bail reform laws passed in 2019 drive thefts, and only inconvenience victims.

“It’s discouraging to go through the trouble, report to the police department, fill out paperwork, answer questions, cooperate as much as possible, only to hear from the officers that there’s a very good chance, if the perp is ever caught, they’ll be back out on the streets in a very short time,” said Dave Goodside, who owns Beach Cafe on 2nd Avenue.

He doesn’t even waste time calling the cops on dine-and-dashers, he said.

Goodside said he’s noticed regular shoplifting at stores like Target, Walgreens and CVS –brand name monoliths that make for easy marks.

“Corporations have done the math. It’s far less expensive to just stay out of the way and let the perp leave,” he said. “If a confrontation turns physical and an employee or customer gets hurt, the corporation has a whole other host of legal issues and medical bills to contend with.”

Community Board 8 chairman Russel Squire lamented, “If people see others committing these crimes and getting away with it, it makes a real sense of lawlessness for the community. We need to give judges more discretion.”