Worries in regards to the security of bodega staff throughout New York Metropolis has prompted a name to put in panic buttons contained in the shops, the transfer coming after two lethal incidents at two delis within the Bronx and Manhattan.
“You have two young men that died in the past 48 hours inside two bodegas,” Fernando Mateo, spokesperson for United Bodegas of America, stated Friday. “That’s unacceptable.”
Mateo spoke alongside others from the advocacy group to resume their requires panic buttons inside metropolis delis with real-time monitoring from the NYPD.
“This isn’t a luxury this is a life-saving tool,” Mateo pleaded.
New surveillance video reveals the violent combat inside an Inwood bodega on Wednesday night, finally resulting in an all-out brawl and a knife draw, in accordance with police. In the long run, a 24-year-old man was killed.
The subsequent morning in Williamsbridge, one other act of violence inside a bodega. A 20-year-old was shot and killed, leaving members of the Bronx neighborhood rattled.
The push for panic buttons took off after the dying of 15-year-old Junior Guzman, who was stabbed in a brutal gang assault at a Bronx deli in 2018 after being mistaken for a rival gang member.
Since then, advocates have known as for wider utilization of panic buttons to be put in behind the counter. With one click on, a deli employee might attain police instantly.
Mateo stated about 50 panic buttons have been put in in bodegas throughout town, however that is not sufficient, he says.
“This is a city that has 25-30,000 bodegas. Fifty is a drop in the bucket,” he stated.
Funding has lengthy been a problem for wider use. Gov. Kathy Hochul included $5 million price of tax breaks within the final finances for small companies to put money into safety measures.
Mateo stated extra is required.
“We don’t need tax breaks, we need cash.”
