Progressives’ crusade to go easy on “minor” crimes has proved a bonanza for major criminal enterprises.
Here in New York, a Post investigation has revealed, “mercy” for shoplifters opened to door to a multibillion-dollar black market whose kingpins now order up goods for theft by addicts and other “petty” thieves.
Shoplifting and other retail theft already cost New York businesses an estimated $4.4 billion in 2022; since the Legislature refuses to crack down, the yearly toll is likely over $5 billion now.
The scam is simple: Fagin-like ringleaders use minions to do the dirty work of grabbing items, even giving them a “shopping” list of desirable products, then turn around and sell the ill-gotten goods on Facebook Marketplace, eBay, on the streets, to bodegas or through their own storefronts.
And they have warehouses full to the brim with stolen merchandise.
The thieves at every level pad their pockets; honest businesses get screwed and customers pay the price in the form of higher costs for products and demoralizing shopping experiences.
Meanwhile, lefties like Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez pretend shoplifters are merely the desperate poor just trying to survive.
No matter that the shoplifting boom has resulted in stores to locking up essentials, forcing costumers to wait endlessly to access toothpaste, deodorant or even baby formula.
But businesses have no choice: The alternative is shelves emptied by the crooks.
The Democrats who run the state Senate and Assembly last year refused to pass measures to beef up penalties for repeat offenders and those who assault retail workers; will they this year block Gov. Hochul’s $40 million plan to crackdown on this sprawling underground economy?
To be clear, the gov’s given up (at least for now) on getting the Legislature to fix the rotten bail laws that create the “anything goes” environment these crime rings thrive in.
She’s only out to penalize online platforms that allow the sale of stolen goods and set aside $25 million for a specialized shoplifting State Police unit.
Should the progressives block even that, we’ll start looking to see if the black-marketeers have hired their own Albany lobbyists, and/or bundling campaign donations for the likes of crime-loving state Sen. Mike Gianaris (D-Queens).
If lawmakers don’t start reversing course, soon the business of crime will be the only business that thrives in New York.
