By Gus Saltonstall
A 19-year-old man was shot and robbed inside of an Upper West Side store on Sunday night, a police spokesperson confirmed to West Side Rag.
Two men, both holding guns, approached the victim within Joe’s Organic Market at 2812 Broadway, between West 108th and 109th streets, around 10:30 p.m. on Sunday, police said.
The attackers then pistol whipped the 19-year-old, shot him once in the ribs, and grabbed a chain off the victim’s neck, police said.
The duo then fled the store, NYPD added.
The 19-year-old was rushed to Mount Sinai West in stable condition, police said.
There have been no arrests and the investigation remains ongoing, NYPD reported.
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Crime is down except if you’re the victim.
That’s an old photo. It’s a grab n go now. Basically an illegal dispensary.
That was a prominent illegal weed bodega and I believe there’s still some strange stuff going on to the right behind where the window is blocked. They use to advertise their illegal weed prices on a sandwich board on the sidewalk.
That is an illegal weed shop. These weed stores bring nothing but shady people and crime. Also, there is never a cop to be found in the West 100’s. Crime is very high that is why there are so many empty storefronts.
Correct. The neighborhood gets noticeably worse once you go north of 86th.
Hopefully now NYPD will close this illegal store down.
Dare to dream
This shouldn’t happen. Guns are illegal to own. We need more gun laws. Oh, wait a minute, there are plenty of those. Go figure.
Over 90% of NYC crime guns are from out of state. The majority of those come up the I95 corridor (known as The Iron Pipeline) from 5 southern states with loose gun laws. Same for the crime guns in Philly, Boston, Providence, and every other major city east of Ohio. A $150 dollar handgun, bought legally in a gun store by a straw buyer down south is worth more than $2000 by the time it reaches NYC. The serial numbers on the guns are obliterated with a Dremel and some expertise before making it here. The increase in street value up here is because of the difficulty of obtaining firearms and the relative scarcity of them in the northeast.
Our gun laws do have an effect. Compare our murder and crime rates to cities all over the nation. Or to Chicago where nearly 100% of the crime guns come from 2 gun stores just across the Indiana border, 15 minutes from the city. According to Every Town For Gun Safety, NYC is 40th in the nation in gun homicides for larger cities. In 2024, among the 9 cities in the U.S. with populations over 1 million, we are second to last with a gun homicide rate of 2 per 100,000. The next highest one is Los Angeles with 4.7 per 100,000 or more than double our rate. Next are Phoenix and San Antonio at 7.7. Houston at 11.7. Philly at 14.2. Dallas, 14.4. And finally, Chicago at 14.9. The national average is about 8 per 100,000. So NYC is at ¼ the national average and 1/7 the rate of Philly, Dallas, or Chicago.
Every crime is terrible. Every death a horrible loss. There is no accounting for how safe you feel (or don’t feel) vs how safe you actually are. And statistics are cold comfort to any gun crime victim, but at least they give us real data to work with and an understanding that loose gun laws in one place radically affect cities with stricter ones.
well said & very apt.. We should all understand this better.
We have fewer gun deaths than big cities with tons of legal guns. Do you want to be a crime pit like Houston or Jacksonville?
Guns are illegal to own?
Everyone in the neighborhood (and in the comments) is well aware that this is an illegal weed shop that sells snacks as a cover but I am sure the NYPD will claim they had no idea.
If an illegal weed store , predators are likely to target customers who they know have cash with them. Need to keep this place closed.
Where are the elected local representatives for this location??? They should know what this store is and get it closed immediately.
Contact Shaun Abreu, he’s our city council rep.
The hopscotch outline on the sidewalk directly in front of this illegal weed shop fills me with rage. Is it meant to appeal to the middle school on West 109th, or the elementary school?