Caption Mayor Adams

Is it time for panic buttons at bodegas?

From PIX11:

Several bodega owners rallied in the Bronx on Tuesday, calling for panic buttons to help them reach police during emergencies.

The rally was held outside Wascar Guerrero’s deli on Shakespeare Avenue. Two weeks ago he chased away a group of teenagers with a metal pipe. Guerrero believes they were trying to rob his store.

“I have to protect me and my customers too," he said.

Guerrero says it took police more than half an hour to respond.

Synthetic pot is really bad news

From WPIX:

K2 is just one brand name among many types of synthetic marijuana flooding the marketplace in recent years — on the Internet, in gas stations, and at local delis. It’s packaged as potpourri or incense with warnings that it’s not for human consumption, but teenagers and poor addicts have been abusing it; sometimes, with deadly results.

Fifteen people have died in the United States this year from a bad reaction to synthetic pot with more than 4,300 calls made to poison control centers as of July 6. The reactions can be severe, with some users having psychotic episodes and exhibiting severely violent behavior.

Last year, federal agents raided stores in 29 states that were selling the phony pot, which is actually dried plant material sprayed with cannabinoids. The chemicals used to create the high are usually produced in China.

The feds were especially concerned about something else they found at a store in Birmingham, Ala. In Birmingham, the agents discovered $38 million worth of wire transfers to Yemen.

Yemen is known as a major base for terror training and plotting.

Why was all that money going to Yemen? Is the sale of synthetic marijuana a way to poison American youth—and finance terrorism at the same time?

Bodega owners busted in WIC fraud scheme

From NBC:

Homeland Security Investigations agents and police arrested more than two dozen store owners across the city Wednesday in welfare benefit fraud schemes totaling millions of dollars, authorities said.

Law enforcement officials say that instead of providing food and necessities, store owners allegedly cashed in Woman, Infant and Children (WIC) benefits and split the money with benefit recipients.

Some store owners allegedly cashed up to 20,000 vouchers per month, taking 20 cents on the dollar, law enforcement officials said. Officials said one store on Broadway in Elmhurst, Queens, processed more than 25,000 coupons in one month.

An average store usually collects about 200 coupons a month, authorities say.

Slobby streetwalkers in Woodhaven

From the Forum West:

Local residents say that “working girls,” a.k.a, prostitutes, have been prowling the streets of Woodhaven for at least 40 years.

...on a recent Friday night, several women could be seen loitering and talking with stopped motorists in the vicinity of Rockaway Blvd. and Atlantic Ave.

A clerk at Prime Convenience store on the corner of Rockaway Blvd. and Atlantic Ave. said the girls can usually be seen “walking back and forth” on the street in front of his store. “I don’t bother with them,” the clerk said, declining to give his name. “They don’t know what they’re doing. They have no morals.”

The clerk said that he had not made any complaints to police because he “didn’t want to make trouble” with the girls. “They come in here often to buy gum and drinks. I don’t want any problems.”

But Jim, an employee who works at a nearby used car dealer on Atlantic Ave., did not mince words.

“Cockroaches don’t die and the hookers will be here with them,” he said. “Sometimes, ambulances come and take them away when they overdose but then they’re back within the next day or two.” He added that the typical routine is they get locked up for a short time, maybe go into rehab and then they’re back in a few days.

“They [the girls] walk from the newsstand on the corner of 80th Street and go all the way down into Brooklyn by the car wash at Grant Ave.” He added that the girls
generally don’t bother him because he doesn’t let them on his property and he has no communication.

But, he said some of the girls were becoming nuisances by contributing to litter along the street with bottles, food wrappers, etc. He also said that he’s seen some of the girls throw litter near the church, the Overcoming Love Ministry, at 78-14 Atlantic Ave. Calls to the ministry were not returned as of press time.

Has problem bodega reformed?

From the Queens Courier:

A city investigation pinned a previously problematic deli grocery store in Briarwood with only one violation after multiple residents complained the store was selling “loosie” cigarettes and packs of smokes to minors.

Community Board 8 filed a complaint against the 84th Deli Grocery to the city’s Department of Consumer Affairs (DCA) this April, according to District Manager Marie Adam-Ovide. The store, located at 84th Drive and Manton Street, was formerly Stop & Go before new owners took over in late 2008.

According to a spokesperson for the DCA, the city agency issued one violation for selling loosie cigarettes to an adult during inspections this May, but the store was not found to be selling tobacco to minors.

However, numerous violations for selling alcohol to minors — accumulated since 2006 under previous owners — did cause the New York State Liquor Authority to revoke the deli’s liquor license in November 2009, records showed.

The store — which no longer sells alcohol — has stayed out of trouble for the most part since then, said manager Mohammed Ahmed.

Ahmed, who worked for a couple of months under the former owners, said he makes sure his employees always ask for proper identification to avoid repeating problems of the past.

Cheats and frauds

From Fox 5/AP:

The U.S. Department of Agriculture is upgrading technology used to combat a swindle of the nation's $64.7 billion food stamp program that diverts as much as $330 million annually.

The goal is to decrease food stamp trafficking, where retailers trade customers lesser amounts of cash for stamps. Authorities say the stamps are then redeemed as usual by merchants at face value, netting them huge profits.

The practice is a federal criminal offense. Authorities say the crime has brought 597 convictions nationwide and recovery of $197.4 million since 2008.

From the NY Post:

As the state looks to root out Medicaid abuse, the office charged with investigating fraud in the program has shrunk to just four people.

The state Office of the Welfare Inspector General is half the size it was in 2007 and about a third its size of a decade ago.

There are just two special investigators left on staff — down from six in October 2007.

OWIG handled 217 investigations in 2007 but merely 109 last year.

From the NY Post:

The State Liquor Authority is cracking down on tax-dodging city bodegas that smuggle cases of beer in from New Jersey.

A growing number of local shop owners load up their vans and trucks with beer from Jersey discounters to save nearly $6 a case in fees and taxes.

From Metro:

The city announced yesterday that it is suing a Manhattan smoke shop that allows patrons to roll their own cigarettes, only days after a Queens man was arrested for allegedly selling thousands of counterfeit, untaxed cigarettes.

New York has filed suit against Island Smokes, a Chinatown-based shop that city officials say evades cigarette taxes by providing customers with tobacco, rolling papers and access to machinery that rolls their cigarettes for them.

“They are trying to get around the law by claiming they’re not in the business of selling cigarettes when they clearly are,” said Mayor Michael Bloomberg.

Island Smokes argues that they don’t sell manufactured cigarettes and therefore cannot be taxed.

The suit comes after the Queens district attorney office filed charges against Abdus Shahed, 31, on Friday and confiscated 5,000 cartons of cigarette from his home in Woodside, Queens. Officials also found $96,000 in cash there. Nearly 2,000 of those cartons were counterfeit, officials said.

Not the city's fault there's blackouts?

From NY1:

Grocery stores and gas stations could soon be shelling out sacks of cash on electrical upgrades.

The Daily News reports state legislators are mulling over a bill requested by Mayor Michael Bloomberg that would require stores to be blackout ready.

It could cost store owners up to $20,000 to rewire buildings to make them able to quickly switch to alternative power sources.

They would not be required to install backup generators.

The city says the legislation would ensure residents have food and fuel in an emergency, and that stores would benefit because they could continue making money.

The bill affects grocery stores with 60 or more employees or 20,000 square feet of space and gas stations with 25,000 gallons of fuel capacity.

The legislation is based on task force findings after the city's 2003 blackout.

Sure thing, why upgrade the power grid? Make the small business schmucks pay for it!

Should we ban alcopop?

From the Daily News:

They banned smoking in parks and flavored tobacco. Now city officials are coming after your Mike's Hard Lemonade.

The city Health Department wants state lawmakers to make it illegal for bodegas to sell "alcopop" - premixed, carbonated, flavored malt drinks with alcohol content as high as 12%.

"We are very concerned about these," Health Commissioner Thomas Farley testified at a Council hearing yesterday.

Bronx State Sen. Jeff Klein has already introduced a bill to ban kid-friendly booze beverages like Four Loko and Tilt - but the city says it doesn't go far enough.

A new bill, which must be approved by Albany lawmakers, would outlaw Mike's Hard Lemonade and almost all other types of mixed alcoholic drinks sold in 8,700 bodegas, delis and mini-marts.

Studies have shown that two out of five adolescents who begin drinking before the age of 15 will eventually become dependent on alcohol.

Bodega owners packing heat

From the Daily News:

A crusader for city bodegas wants to turn deli owners into Dirty Harrys - by urging them to pack heat behind the counter.

Luis Ducasse, head of the Bodega Association of the United States, has been targeting cornershops and delis in crime-ridden neighborhoods, handing out gun-license applications to owners.

"Deli owners make for easy victims," he said. "A person can come in wearing a ski mask and carrying a gun, and the person behind the counter has no place to go, or way to fight back."

The pistol push began after at least 12 deli owners from the Bronx and Queens told Ducasse they were victims of an armed robbery in the last few weeks, he said. At least three deli workers were killed in robberies this winter, he said.

Bodega killer caught

From the NY Post:

Cops have nabbed the man suspected of killing a Queens bodega owner last week, sources told The Post.

Shawn Forde, 30, was charged early this morning with murdering Juan Torres last Saturday inside Torres’ store, Lucky Grocery & Deli on Merrick Boulevard, authorities said.

Torres, 54, died during the botched-robbery after he ran to save his brother, Felix, who was being held by the gunman.

Forde, a regular customer at the bodega, was picked out of a lineup by Felix, sources said.

Midnight craziness on Roosevelt Ave

From the NY Post:

A wild brawl at a Woodside bodega saw combatants pelt each other with beer bottles, produce and floral bouquets, cops said.

Marcos Juela and Segundo Lopez, both 29, along with friends Cesar Juela, 21, and Oscar Montalbo, 29, allegedly threw the wares at a man after getting into a midnight argument Sunday outside Brothers Grocery on Roosevelt Avenue.

The elder Juela and Lopez lobbed beer bottles that shattered and cut a victim's face and body, police said.

Then the quartet allegedly fired off various fresh fruits, vegetables and flowers at the man.

Big problems at supermarkets citywide

From NY1:

The city's Department of Consumer Affairs says one out of two food stores it inspected in the city was overcharging its customers.

According to the DCA Commissioner Jonathan Mintz, the agency checked out 983 supermarkets across the five boroughs over the past year to see if mistakes were made at the cash register.

"The results of our inspection were very troubling," Mintz said. "We're very unhappy with what we're seeing out there."

Inspectors checked whether items were priced correctly, weighed correctly and taxed correctly.

The DCA issued 516 violations as a result of the study. The supermarkets could face more than $380,000 in fines to the city.

Mintz said because of the results of the sweep, inspectors will do double the number of inspections in the coming year.

DCA officials says the most common violation was for a lack of item pricing.

It's a Queens crime wave!

From Eyewitness News:

Police are asking for help finding a gunman who held up a bodega in Queens.

It happened on Jamaica Avenue at 2:20 Friday afternoon.

The man walked into the store and went through the aisles, then left and came back with a gun drawn.

He got all the cash he could before running away.

Police say he is 35 to 40 years old, about 6-foot tall and 170 pounds.

He wore a Yankees cap and a T-shirt that said "loyalty" on the back.

From the NY Post:

Cops had the last laugh when they busted a Bonnie and Clyde duo, for a Queens bank robbery spree, in which the bandits taunted them in a strangely pleasant demand note.

The two suspects, a woman and her male accomplice, began their spree yesterday when they slipped a note to a teller at the Citibank on 71st Avenue near Austin Street in Forrest Hills, around 10 a.m.

"This is a stick-up. I will shoot someone now," the note threatened, police said. "Give me all your money and no dye packs." The note continued. "Now have a pleasant day and tell the 110 Pct. I said hey."

The same pair struck again moments later, and four blocks away, when they slipped a note to a teller at the HSBC bank on Queens Boulevard near Yellowstone Boulevard, police said.

They struck a third time, shortly before 11 a.m. and about a mile from the two other crime scene, when they raided the Cross County Federal Savings bank on Metropolitan Avenue near 71st Road, police said.

It is not clear how much loot the pair escaped with.

The same duo struck again around 10 a.m. today police said, however the details of that heist are unclear.

The pair had used a stolen black Chrysler Town and Country, with South Carolina license plates, to make their getaway in at least one of the heist, said cops. An alert was issued for that vehicle and a patrol cop spotted the car parked on Jamaica Avenue near 139th Street, in Jamaica this morning.

Investigators found the pair were cowering in a nearby motel, cops said.


From NBC:

Hopefully this chilling video of a gunpoint mugging will help police catch these brazen bandits.

The armed robbery took place near the 72nd street and Roosevelt Ave subway station in Queens, police said Wednesday.

On Sunday, July 7th at around 3 a.m., three men were caught on surveillance video at 35-38 75th Street after they followed a 20-year-old male from the train station to an apartment building.

The suspects allegedly pointed a black handgun at the victim and physically removed a cell phone and cash from him.

One suspect is described as a 5’10”, 140 pound black male. The second suspect is described as a 135 pound black male. The third is described only as a black male.

The suspects ran off in an unknown direction.

Astoria bodega worker grabs perp's gun

From the NY Post:

A bodega worker turned the tables on two thugs in Queens, wrestling a gun from one during a stickup, then holding the creep until cops arrived, police said yesterday.

"I'm not going to fight to fail. I fight to win," Danny Caba, 32, told The Post yesterday, proudly sporting the seven stitches he received after one of the robbers bashed him in the head with a bottle.

A gun-toting José Cruz and a cohort slipped in the back entrance to the Lantigua deli on 14th Street in Astoria at 7:15 a.m. Saturday and tried to rob Caba and manager Louis Colon, police said.

Caba said he made a grab for the gun, and the pair struggled. Colon jumped in to help, and Cruz's accomplice bashed Caba over the head with a bottle and fled, cops said.

Jamaica bodega owners fear robbery crew

From the Daily News:

Cops are looking for a group of armed bandits responsible for eight robberies in Jamaica recently - all pulled off in the evening before the 10 o'clock news.

The robbers struck in groups of two to five over about three weeks, police said.

They hit seven bodegas - one store twice - and left with cash and cigarettes. They also brutally pummeled a customer in one of the stores.

"They're probably just a bunch of neighborhood kids who strike at the right time," said John Malone, a Queens robbery detective. "They're very haphazard."

Police have made one arrest after five men stole $1,200 from the cash register and $3,600 from an employee at Deli Express, 109-18 Sutphin Blvd., on Jan. 18, according to the criminal complaint.

Bye, bye bodegas

From NY1:

The economic crisis could claim neighborhood bodegas as its next victim.

Some owners of the corner grocery stores say they are having a hard time making ends meet.

Ramon Murphy, the president of the U.S. Bodega Association, says rising rents, higher energy costs and more expensive products are pushing bodega owners out of business.

"The only way we are surviving right now is going everyday and turn-over, because we don't have the money to buy for the whole week like we used to do," said Murphy.

The U.S. Bodega Association reports about four shops close each month. At that rate, they say there could be half as many bodegas in the city within two years.