NYPD Guidance Following Violent Crime Uptick Leaves Business Owners Conflicted

By: YS Gold 

A recent brutal robbery in Flushing made headlines in the city—and the guidance the NYPD has issued in its wake has left business owners at odds with some customers. 

Two masked robbers forced their way into a jewelry store, making off with more than $1 million—after they brutally assaulted the 79-year-old saleswoman. But police are having a hard time locating the suspects—despite the presence of surveillance cameras—because they were wearing masks, normalized by the Covid-19 epidemic. 

This causes store owners and employees to let their guard down, and allow even masked people into the store. This led a high-ranking NYPD officer to make the following recommendation. 

"We are asking the businesses to make this a condition of entry, that people when they come in, they show their face, they should identify themselves," NYPD Chief of Department Jeffrey Maddrey said.

But for some Covid hawks, even a momentary removal of the mask makes them feel “unsafe.” "I would say I'd be kind of offended because it's my own way of feeling safe and I got really used to it through the pandemic," shopper Emmanuel Celestrino told ABC7. 

Others are calling for the NYPD to do a better job policing the city in response to a drastic uptick in violent robbery, helping to stop crime before it happens.