Rash of robberies in Park Slope have business owners on edge
NEW YORK -- A smash-and-grab heist in Brooklyn was just the latest in a string of robberies reported along 7th Avenue in Park Slope.
On Sunday, Facets Jewelry became a crime scene.
"It felt like 20 minutes. It was 38 seconds. It felt like a lifetime," owner Irina Sulay said.
Sulay was inside, along with an employee and a customer.
"What's really sad is that I let him in. I wanted to make everybody comfortable and allowed in this shop, and, unfortunately, we were definitely taken advantage of," Sulay said.
She handmade all of the jewelry that was stolen.
Just weeks ago at the AT&T store next door, thieves tried to break in after hours.
"They're perfectly trained because they knew exactly where to hit on the door to get inside," employee Mursalin Rasool said.
But they couldn't open the safe in the backroom. So, they tried to break in again days later.
"What we would like is more cops around the neighborhood surveilling. You know, just walking around because we need to be feeling safe if we want to work here, if we want to live here, you know?" Rasool said.
People in the community say it's not just businesses that are being targeted.
"People just come in, rip all the packages, and then steal some things and leave, so that has happened several times in our building," a Park Slope resident said.
It has become a concern for many who say they've never felt a need to put their guard up.
"I leave my stroller outside and other valuables, obviously, with boxes and things that are available, so it's obviously concerning to hear about it," a person said.
At a nearby Green Olives Deli, robberies are an issue from a young age.
"Anything they want to steal it, they hide it in the blind spot that the camera cannot see it and another one covers so they can steal. It starts from kids like this when they grow up with this mindset or mentality that they can steal whatever they want," owner Abdul Mageed said.
It's not just happening at those stores. Just blocks away, there is another shop that was broken into last year. In both cases, the thieves made off with hundreds of thousands of dollars worth of jewelry, and, in both cases, no arrests have been made.