NYPD probing break-in and robbery pattern on Upper West Side targeting several restaurants and bakeries
NEW YORK -- Businesses on the Upper West Side are on edge after seven restaurants and bakeries were targeted by thieves within the span of a few hours.
Fed-up owners told CBS2 on Tuesday the damage is cutting into their already fragile bottom line.
Surveillance video shows a hooded man chucking chairs at the front window of Blossom on the Upper West Side. He finally gets in and grabs the register from the bar, but what happens next is even more incredulous, according to general Manager Kiley Etling.
"He took the cash register, he took it and he smashed it outside, but he didn't actually take any of the cash out of the drawer, which is very strange. He took three bottles of champagne, which he smashed in the street," Etling said.
Just a few blocks away on Amsterdam Avenue, Gazala Halavi found her restaurant, Ganzala's, ransacked, too. Her register was missing and her computer was broken.
"They don't have a fear. They don't care. They just do whatever they want. You know, they break. Nothing happened so far. Police are limited also," Halavi said.
Detectives say a total of seven businesses in the neighborhood were burglarized Sunday night into Monday morning. They believe five were carried out by the same man, whose loot included cash, alcohol, and even cookies.
Two others belong to a different pattern targeting laptops.
While most of the city has bounced back since the pandemic, restaurants have not.
"We are still in the middle of it. We are still on a skeleton staff because of inflation and the cost of ingredients has gone up so much. It's really like a fine line," Etling said.
Monday's break-in for Halavi felt like déjà vu. Her restaurant just recovered from one last year.
"The time that I could prepare usually is after we close. And sometimes I stay until 5 o'clock, 6 o'clock in the morning here. How could I do that anymore?" Halavi said.
On top of losing revenue, Halavi said her safety is at risk, too.
