By Gus Saltonstall
A family-run market on the Upper West Side was broken into Tuesday morning after getting its door shattered, according to police and the owner of the store.
A man broke into Han’s Family Market at 2501 Broadway, at the corner of West 93rd Street, sometime between midnight and 7 a.m., before removing the cash register and fleeing the scene, police said.
“When I got here and saw the broken door this morning, it felt like my heart skipped a beat,” Joe Han, the owner of the longtime local store, told West Side Rag. “I have CCTV footage of the whole incident and it was kind of comical watching the thief struggle with the register cord, it took him a few minutes to rip it out.”
The NYPD spokesperson did not immediately have a description of the suspect, but given that Han had a camera inside the store, authorities should have details on the burglar’s appearance soon.
“Everyone is very sympathetic to the situation, saying that they feel sorry and wondering if I was going to open later today,” Han added.
He was able to get the store reopened by 10 a.m. Tuesday morning.
Han has worked and operated the store since 1998, when he took over from his mother.
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Oh no! I was just in last week. Han’s just recently took-down some metal “armor” they put on the front of the store around 2020. I thought “finally!” but maybe it was premature.
They have always tried to have an eclectic mix. One of the few places to get fresh tofu in the 1990s.
As I recall, Han’s didn’t even have a front door on the place for years because they were always there and open, 24/7.
I hope nothing was left in the register; and that they find the perp(s); and that the perp must repay the damages and head off to a nice long stay at Rikers.
They have a better chance for a nice long stay on the moon than Rikers.
There’s always “something” in cash registers at least for small retail. That’s why criminals constantly break in and take the things.
Large retail much like banks all registers are counted and closed out with “drawers” or their contents taken to a “bank” or safe. Next day drawers are “counted in” when register is opened.
Small retail needs to have certain amount of cash on hand when store opens to complete early transactions. Only alterative is to count out register and remove money to a safe.
Thieves must take entire register because often they cannot unlock the thing. And or don’t want to invest time remaining at scene of crime trying to get cash drawer out.
There is not always something in a small retail store’s cash register when the owner can simply take the money home or hide it for whomever is opening the next morning. Han’s market is not Whole Foods with formal protocols.
Take home cash? Really? Then you will blame the store owner for carrying cash when he is robbed. It’s wrong to break in anywhere and steal. That should be the end note.
Here’s hoping. For what it’s worth, I went there today around 11am and they were open again. I hope they’ll rebound soon.
Stealing, theft, and destruction of property is terrible. I hope the perp is caught and is duly punished. At this point, I really don’t care about the perp’s tough life, sad childhood, and economic struggles. Community is a 2 way street. Be a good neighbor. My heart goes out to Han’s who may miss out on business which his family needs to pay their bills. A minority owned business as well.
Community is a 2 way street, but you don’t care about the perp’s tough life, sad childhood and economic struggles? 🙂
I had a tough life, sad childhood and economic struggles. Lived in the largest housing project west of the Rockies. Cops did not want to patrol there. Saw people knifed, pushed to their death off a balcony, blood all over the elevator lobby after an altercation, domestic violence. Stepping through urine puddles in the dingy stairwells when the elevator was (often) broken. Graffiti and trash and dank smells and screams everyday. Guess what? None of us kids went to jail or broke into and stole our neighbors’ property, no matter how desperate things got. There is something called ethics and personal responsibility. I do not feel at all sorry for these horrid criminals who degrade our lives. I feel sorry for the owner. I hope he rebounds!
I had a tough life, sad childhood and economic struggles, We grew up POOR so poor I did not know I was poor. So poor just before Thanksgiving , the school did a food drive, I brought in a couple cans of food, Got home and found a box of food on the front porch from the school including the cans I brought in. There were 3 of us and not one ever spent a night in jail, and never took something that did not belong to us, so sing your sad song to someone else.
That reminded me of Monty Python “4 Yorkshiremen” sketch.
I don’t know if they will print this, as they already decided not to with a previous reply to Sheila and RCP. (No abuse, so not sure why)
If you had cans to take, and a roof over your head, then you were not in the poor level that some people are.
I am obviously not advocating theft, but in a country which is seen as a world leader, it is strange that there is so many people living in cardboard boxes.
Seriously unfaithful servant?! Please don’t conflate things. Yes, people do care about the life situations of people like this perpetrator BUT that in no way makes criminal activity such as this OK. This is inexcusable.
NO. No excuse for criminal behavior of any sort.
25 years since you took over the store. Congratulations!
Hope this crook is locked up soon and long enough to produce change IN CHARACTER or at least, REGRET. Glad YOU ARE OKAY!
All these laments and well-wishes are meaningless if you voted for Brewer.
If any blame should be assigned to member of city council start with Ritchie Torres. It was he who spearheaded ban on cashless retail in NYC.
https://nypost.com/2021/12/04/nyc-businesses-told-to-pay-up-after-not-accepting-cash/
Remove promise of finding cash at a retail establishment (or so little of it not worth bothering versus potential legal consequences) and theft becomes less attractive option.
Not accept cash is both discrimination against the unbanked and a way of big brother tracking your ever purchase.
Want Google knowing that you bought ice cream 3 times in a week and also picked up 2 bottles of bourbon.
Thieves will still steal. With no cash in sight, do you think the person involved would have shrugged and strolled off in to the night?
Again these thefts are not exactly random.
As the old joke goes about when queried why a robber held up a bank….
Places that manage to abide by NYC’s cash laws have signs posted everywhere that there is no money in said location.
Statistically, people of color have less access to cheap and available credit, that is the reason for the ban on cashless retail, it’s discriminatory, not everyone has a credit card. You should consider that when complaining about a ban on cashless retail.
Why, does Brewer control either the NYPD or the thieves?
You act like no one broke into a store on Broadway prior to 2020, when ironically Brewer was MBP, and before that Council Member for Dist. 6.
I blame the thieves, BUT the owner knows well not to leave cash in the register.
Exactly. She and the rest of the politicians at City Hall and in Albany don’t care.
Oh my gosh, I live 13 blocks from that place.
We’ve known this store for decades as we’ve lived on the block since the 1960s. In the pandemic they agreed to deliver out of their normal area in order to bring food to an elderly friend living alone. I am sorry this has happened. Devastating news.
So sorry to hear this about Han’s!
Leave cash drawer open and empty. Or just pocket change.
Nothing to take and no stolen cash register.
Heaven forbid we are just safe in our possessions. You don’t see this in Singapore.