By Gus Saltonstall
A man attempted to rob an Upper West Side establishment at gunpoint last week, police said over the weekend.
Around 1:30 a.m. on July 24, a man walked into a smoke shop called Broadway Tobacco House at 2802 Broadway, near West 108th Street, flashed a gun, and demanded money from the 56-year-old man working the register, police said.
The would-be robber was not able to get any money, though, and he fled east on West 108th Street, police said.
The man is also wanted for a gunpoint robbery on July 21 that occurred on Hoyt Avenue in Brooklyn, police added.
NYPD released a photo Sunday of the suspect.
Anyone with information in regard to this incident is asked to call the NYPD’s Crime Stoppers Hotline at 1-800-577-TIPS (8477) or, for Spanish, 1-888-57-PISTA (74782).
Smoke shops bring nothing but crime.
It does not sell marijuana if that is what you are implying.
I’m not sure characterizing this as a smoke shop is entirely fair. This is not your typical Covid-era weed store. It’s been around for a while. They sell cigarettes and they have a small humidor, but otherwise it’s a bodega. They’re very nice as well.
I hope people don’t rush to blame the smoke shop.
The only person responsible for this is the criminal himself. Full stop.
Smoke shops don’t bring crime. Criminals do. We stop bank robberies by arresting bank robbers, not by blaming banks.
A “smoke shop” open at 1:30am is inviting robbery! Usually the person robbed is under 25 years old. Couldn’t that 56 year old have found a better choice of employment??