Article: Retail Theft Rises, and N.Y.C. Small Business Owners Are Paying the Price

New York problems have drastic effects on us, one of the most recent problems as of March of 2022 is shoplifting and stealing. Abdul Alhirsh is an owner of a smoothie store and was robbed at gunpoint and lost $500 after that he was shortly robbed again ” Earlier this month, he ran out of the store to stop someone who had stolen a bottle of coconut water. The person’s accomplice shoved him to the sidewalk…and no one was around to help. Mr. Alhirsh stood up in a daze, hands bleeding, and walked back into the store.”(Hong) Mr. Alhirsh got fed up and tired of people robbing him of his money so he took matters into his own hands but when the thief’s friend attacks Alhirsh then Alhirsh realized that he should not have to risk himself for his item. It is an unfortunate thing. The police can not do anything to stop this because they have to deal with other crime and usually see it as less prioritizing.  These people should not risk their lives for trying to get their own stuff back even though it is justifiable. Some of them are dangerous and could hurt you. Every month the NYPD reveals the citywide crime statistics for the month and for February 2022. “grand larceny increased by 79.2% (3,762 v. 2.099), and grand larceny auto increased by 104.7% (1,083 v. 529).”(NYPD) Grand larceny is robbery above $1000. If grand larceny has a 79% increase imagine pettier crimes like under $1000 thief. What’s the point in staying in new york if you keep getting robbed that leads to you making less money then after that having to pay the rent that is too high overall causing you to lose your profits. If I were them and I had the money I would relocate somewhere.