Gristede’s owner John Catsimatidis says a gang of thieves is swiping ice cream from Gristede’s locations throughout New York, including on the Upper West Side.
“A Bonnie-and-Clyde duo coolly hit up Catsimatidis’ Gristedes store in Chelsea on Tuesday, stuffing 80 cartons of Häagen-Dazs and Ben & Jerry’s ice cream into four bags before making for the door,” the Post reported.
Catsimatidis says the thieves are selling the ice cream from Gristede’s and other outlets like CVS to bodegas, which then resell it. Gothamist notes that some gross things can happen while the ice cream is in transit to its new home.
The problem for the average bodega ice cream buyer—ya know, aside from the ice cream being “hot”—is that the pints can be left to melt and grow bacteria before eventually being refrozen by the bad bodegas. “[It] looks like it’s been out in the sun for an hour and refrozen,” one such potential victim observed.
They are just making a safe space for the ice cream
Rodger: What the heck do you mean by that???
Ice Cram Ring.
Who took these pictures? A spectator?
America has been oppressing ice cream for too long. It is about time someone came along to liberate these precious pints of pleasure. #ICPM
O.M.G. !!!
Hope they didn’t take ALL of the Ben & Jerry’s ‘Chunky Monkey’ or ‘Cherry Garcia’ !!
To paraphrase that oldie about a thief stealing Viagara*, “the police are now looking for very overweight suspects”.
*look up that punchline; this is a family publication.
…just look for a guy with a “spoon” sticking out?
John Catsimatidis is probably positioning himself as the ‘law-and order’ candidate for elected office.
Sort of like what Donald Trump did with that Birther thing.
JC has run for mayor how many times already? It just doesn’t work out well for him.
John Catsimatidis worrying about ice cream melting outside of his stores is like a guy who runs a leaky dam worrying about flooding on another continent.
Poor John Catsimatidis, the guy just cannot seem to catch a break.
His Gristedes chain of supermarkets like the other old school places such as DAG aren’t doing well. The man has lashed out at NYC for allowing street fruit vendors (he claims they are hurting his business), now this; the great summer ice cream caper.
First of all it is retail 101… if you see someone scooping up shelves/cases full of items, you might want to perk up.
Once saw someone clear out several shelves of cold medicines at Duane Reade. Guy just put everything into one of those wire baskets and walked out. Found out later the main ingredient in such things are used to make meth. Guess pretty soon if this keeps up ice cream will be kept behind locked and or alarmed cases.
You thinkin’ what I’m thinkin?
…An illegal Ice Cream Cake factory on the UWS!!!
i’m raiding!
Is it just me or are we hearing about more and more of these multiple “petty” thefts?
You hear about people stealing fifty to over one hundred bottles of Essie nail polish at once from stores. Clearly this stuff must be going somewhere, I mean if there wasn’t a ready market people wouldn’t steal so much and so often .
Gristedes’ prices are so high that whenever I shop there, I come away feeling as if I had been robbed.
Catsimatidis doth protest too much!
He’s throwing suspicion onto somebody else, anybody else.
Well that gives new meaning to the expression that Ice Cream is great when it’s hot!!
One need not feel any love toward Mr. Catsimatidis or his chain of overpriced, less-than-inspiring grocery stores to find the comments here troubling. How many of those who have posted here would be so cavalier if /they/ were to find themselves the victims of such theft?
(In this vein, I regret posting my previous comment in this thread, even though I stand-by the sentiment I expressed in it.)
This one?
“Gristedes’ prices are so high that whenever I shop there, I come away feeling as if I had been robbed.” – Independent
accusation of crime IS serious.
What is the basis for the claim that the ice cream is headed to bodegas? Sounds like he is trying to knock down any competitors in the feverish summer ice cream market.
That’s his cover story and alibi.
If it turns out to be an Inside Job, do I get the “Gristedes 5000 Dollars Reward”? I did break the case first.