93% of NYC grocers have been hit by shoplifters this year: survey

Grocery store owner Frank Pimentel said his shops are targeted by thieves despite beefed up security measures. Helayne Seidman

Almost all of the Big Apple’s supermarkets have been hit by shoplifters in the past year, with a majority crying they’re being targeted daily, a new survey found.

Sticky-fingered customers have swiped detergent, coffee, and other sundries from 93% of supermarkets in the five boroughs this year, members of the National Supermarkets Association reported in a September survey, whose results were shared with The Post. In all, 60% said their stores are burglarized seven days a week.

“It’s like they feel they’re licensed to shoplift now,” Carlos Collado, who owns two Fine Fare stores in the Bronx and Harlem, told The Post. He bemoaned the state’s 2019 criminal justice reforms that made thefts less than $1,000 ineligible for bail.

“They feel there’s no consequences, and they’re making it a profession,” the 56-year-old added, explaining many crooks are stealing big-ticket items like Haagen Dazs ice cream to flip for cash.

According to the NSA survey, 72% of supermarket owners said they’ve beefed up security measures, but Frank Pimentel, who owns a SuperFresh supermarket in Mott Haven and a Food Universe in Melrose, said his stores are still being targeted multiple times a day, even with security guards stationed inside.

Sticky-fingered customers have swiped detergent, coffee, and other sundries from a majority of NYC grocery stores this year.

J.C.Rice

“We’ve implemented a security company, we all have walkie-talkies, but we still get hit with shoplifting, sometimes two, three…seven shoplifters [a day],” bemoaned Pimentel, 57.

In some cases, callous crooks have even accosted store employees, and grocers fretted.

“A cashier at one of my stores had a knife pulled out on her, and the reason why that person pulled out a knife was because she was caught stealing,” fumed Collado.

Carlos Collado, demonstrating how thieves steal salami, said some crooks are getting violent with his grocery stores’ employees.

Helayne Seidman

Nelson Eusebio, head of government relations for NSA, estimates there are about 3,000 supermarkets in the city.

Retail business advocates have begged Albany to revisit bail reform laws and ramp up penalties for shoplifters, such as charging repeat offenders who steal more than $1,000 worth of merchandise cumulatively with grand larceny and making even minor assaults to retail workers a felony.

Gov. Hochul this week vetoed a bipartisan bill that would have created a task force to study the recent surge in retail theft statewide and how it has affected small businesses’ earnings.

Retail business advocates have begged Albany lawmakers to increase penalties for shoplifters.

Helayne Seidman

Mayor Adams, however, established a task force earlier this month to address the shoplifting scourge with the goal of allowing city agencies to easily share information on crimes.

There have been 49,384 shoplifting complaints city-wide through Oct. 30, a decrease of 8% compared to the same period last year, according to NYPD data. Shoplifting incidents, however, have soared compared to pre-pandemic times, with just 37,919 complaints reported for all of 2019.