A pilot program is pumping $1 million into security upgrades for bodegas in some of the Big Apple’s most troubled neighborhoods.
The Small Business Security Initiative will focus on beleaguered bodegas in the South Bronx, Harlem and Washington Heights, where a recent rash of violent crime has made life hell for the small neighborhood grocery stores, state Assemblywoman Amanda Septimo said at a press conference Monday.
“Day in and day out, bodegas help our community as a critical part of our social safety net, often serving as a refuge for community members in need,” Septimo (D-Bronx) said as she announced the program at East 171st Street and the Grand Concourse.
“And now we are stepping up to keep them safe,” she said.
The fund will help bodegas beef up security, including by helping pay for upgrades such as high-resolution cameras, panic buttons to summon police and software systems equipped with emergency communications to alert authorities, Septimo said.
Funding for the program will come from the Bronx Community Foundation, a nonprofit founded in 2017 to invest in businesses and community groups in the city’s northernmost borough.
Interested businesses can begin applying through Septimo’s office on June 1, with the cash — up to $3,000 for each participating store — doled out on a first-come, first-served basis until it runs out, the pol said.
“We’ve been facing a lot of problems with violence,” said Francisco Marte, president of the Bodega and Small Business Group, a local bodega advocacy group. “The violence has raised like never before, and I hope with this pilot program we can show the commitment to our community.
“We need public safety,” Marte added at the press conference. “That’s what we need our officials to understand — to understand the risk that we have and the service we provide to all of our community.”
Bodegas and other neighborhood food stores have been a frequent target of brazen thieves and violent criminals in recent months.
On May 2, an armed robber stormed into a Queens deli and made off with an entire ATM machine, along with an Apple watch and $1,000 in cash, police said.
Last month, an irate customer who flew into a rage over an order of cold cuts sucker-punched and tried to stab a worker at Aden Deli and Grill in Canarsie — then returned and fired two shots into the store.
And in March, cops busted an accused armed robber dubbed the “Hazmat Killer” linked to a string of violent robberies at city bodegas and delis — including the shooting death of a 67-year-old worker at Daona Gourmet Deli at East 81st Street and Third Avenue on the Upper East Side.
Kimond Cyrus, who police said wore full-body Tyrek suits during the alleged crimes, was sought for at least four robberies over a 10-day period before he was arrested on March 9.
Last year, Manhattan bodega worker Jose Alba was forced to grab a knife to fend off a deranged customer who attacked him behind the counter — killing his assailant.
Alba was initially charged with murder but the charges were later dropped by Manhattan prosecutors.
