Fordham Road Business Improvement District hiring private security to tackle rampant shoplifting
NEW YORK - Mayor Eric Adams says the NYPD will do more to crack down on shoplifting, which is at levels we haven't seen in two decades.
In the Bronx, it has forced several retail associations, including the Fordham Road Business Improvement District, to hire private security patrols.
Fordham Road is one of the most vibrant shopping districts in the city, where Pretty Girl and other retailers are dealing with an ugly problem - a huge spike in shoplifting.
"They come in, they take what they want, you can't touch them, you can't do anything. Police come, by the time they reach the store, they're gone," said store manager Sonia Singh.
Just next door, the American Eagle store closed a few months ago. The district councilman says retail theft was a factor.
Now, the Fordham Road Business Improvement District has started a "patrol ambassador program," hiring five licensed security officers to be additional eyes and ears in the retail district, deterring shoplifting.
"We, as business people, have to take a proactive stand addressing this. And that's what the BID is doing, and I don't blame them, honestly," said Lisa Sorin.
Sorin, president of the Bronx Chamber of Commerce, says shoplifting really hurts already struggling mom-and-pop stores - some of them posting pictures to shame shoplifters.
"They feel like giving up. They find there's no real resolution to this issue," Sorin said.
Thursday, in his State of the City address, Adams said he knows shoplifting is a huge issue, and help is on the way.
"The NYPD's Crime Prevention Unit will expand their focus on retail theft," Adams said, promising a big push to reduce shoplifting.
That includes targeting organized crews that steal items, which sometimes are then resold on streets near the stores that were robbed.
"If it's going to help, of course. Anything to help," Singh said.
Shoplifting has always been a problem. The NYPD says it is now at levels not seen in 20 years.
