By Gus Saltonstall
A gun was flashed during an Upper West Side grocery store candle robbery on Wednesday, a police spokesperson told West Side Rag.
Two men and one woman walked into the Brooklyn Fare at 75 West End Avenue, near West 63rd Street, about 4 p.m., and grabbed an assortment of candles out of a display, police said.
An employee confronted them, at which point one of the men displayed a gun on the waistband of his pants and threatened the worker, police said.
A member of the trio also snatched a cell phone out of the employees hand, before all three fled the store, police said.
It is not the first incident in recent weeks to take place at the West End Avenue gourmet grocer. On November 27, Brooklyn Fare was broken into overnight and burglarized, police said.
NYPD did not have descriptions of the suspects wanted in connection to the robbery on Wednesday.
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I guess Mayor Adams and DA Bragg were waiting in the getaway car.
Trump and Giuliani are the fence front for the stolen merchandise
If there is no serious punishment then what is the downside to trying exactly what this criminal did?
Let us know!
Displaying a weapon while taking something by force makes it second-degree robbery, a class C felony, which is a bail-eligible offense. Sentence upon conviction is 3.5-15 years. Just saying.
I would like to respond to this after working 15 hours to make it here.
Your local store owners work so hard that you will never know how much we sacrifice. The fact that the store staff had to face a gun flashed at them and know that whoever they are when they are caught could be out in 1-2 years, if they are even convicted, makes us wonder if it is all worth it to be in NYC with no real support. Think we feel safe? We receive support from our police, it’s the rest of the NYC and NY state legislators that let us down, every day.
That is TRUTH; people need to hear it.
just wondering;: assuming the person is found guilty, what would you think is an appropriate sentence? 3.5 -15 seems reasonable to me, and at the high end that seems harsh.
if the person is a repeat offender for armed robbery, sure, give them a longer sentence. But a first time offender? 3.5 with a year or so off for good behavior seems right. Don’t we want to rehabilitate people?
Any less than that seems to be trial run, opportunity to practice criminal skills.
Underage gets lots of practice runs.
It’s really getting worse and worse for businesses. Everyone knows that.
Within two weeks.: two separate robberies at the Brooklyn Fare behind NYCHA, then one shooting (of 15 year old) in front of the same complex yesterday near Lincoln Center. It’s likely that drug and/or gang activity is occurring in the complex. Not news. I hope police are investigating before it further escalates. Needed news. I wrote to Gale hoping she’s in touch with police about the situation . To communicating concerns!
Maybe they’re the same people who shot a 15yo right nearby:
https://www.nydailynews.com/2023/12/21/teen-shot-outside-upper-west-side-nycha-building-steps-from-lincoln-center/
4 PM in the middle of a busy neighborhood?????? Is this not enough to get magnetometers set up in the entries to every store (and theater and school) in Manhattan? What tragedies are we waiting for?
What is that going to do? Ring a buzzer that detects metal? So what? The City has no manpower. All City Council does is cater to criminals and pass anti-police legislation. There is tons of it. They raised the age of culpability, ended bail, so it’s catch and release, and passed laws like “Diaphragm Compression” which means a cop cannot touch someone’s diaphragm (wherever that is) during a violent arrest. The police have retired in record numbers over the past three years. The City is a mess.
How do such criminals suppose they won’t be caught on camera?
The strings that had to be pulled to get another supermarket to move in to support this neighborhood AND that prices need to be affordable to local residents. Due to the lack of options for residents. And you wonder why they don’t want to stay. Like sand through an hourglass. Days of our lives.
But..but.. the statistics?! The 80s?
Statistically even 2003 was more dangerous than 2023. Happy Holidays.
No, no, no; according to Adams, the biggest problem we have is the rats. That’s why people are leaving the city. No other reason, according to him.
Kashmira: Rats and parking spaces. Too many of both. A Rat Czar and Smarter Curbs to the rescue.
Holdups? Meh.
These kids face zero consequences and they know it.
I know some of these kids come from broken homes and they have no parental guidance which is very unfortunate but that still doesn’t make it okay for them to rob people and leave them traumatized.
About a year ago Gale Brewer was a guest speaker on the audio app “Clubhouse” and she was asked about rising crime by a person in the audience. Another person in the audience was so offended by the question that he blew a fit at the questioner and told them to “check their privilege.” It was really an extraordinary moment that you are no longer allowed to ask about crime without getting yelled at that you’re somehow privileged and a horrible person to ask such a question.
Think Gale Brewer came to the questioners defense? Nope. She simply called the kids who are robbing people ” knuckleheads” and went on to the next question on an unrelated topic.
That’s where we are now as a society.
Everyone should have booed the screamer loudly and forcefully and that would have been the end of that. Also, someone should have pointed out that the Supreme Court shot down the Sullivan Law which means that privilege is now the right to carry, so they can scream all the way to the morgue.
Rather than yelling at the questioner, I wish these screamers would turn their attention to their own “knuckleheads” and tell them to quit embarrassing themselves and their community. Ever person is responsible for their own actions, and the deflection, blaming and “how-dare-yous” need to stop. BTW, no one has privilege if all folks are facing being beat or robbed when they step outside of their door or when showing up to work.
Candles??? Was their Advent wreath empty?