A fatal stabbing inside a bodega in Queens on Saturday night reignited calls from some shop owners for more state and federal assistance with security measures.
Police said a man was fatally stabbed inside a bodega on Jamaica Avenue around 9:40 p.m. on Saturday. Responding officers found the victim unconscious with multiple stab wounds to the neck and shoulder, and EMS pronounced him dead at the scene, the NYPD said.
Officials said the man was fighting with another person outside when he ran into the bodega for safety. The second person followed him in and attacked him with a knife before fleeing the scene, authorities said.
“He was stabbed to death while the Bodega Clerks watched in horror,” United Bodegas of America head Fernando Mateo said in an emailed statement on Sunday morning.
No arrests had been made as of Sunday afternoon, and the investigation remains ongoing, according to police.
In the aftermath of Saturday’s fatal stabbing, the United Bodegas of America issued a statement on Sunday calling on Gov. Kathy Hochul to make good on a budget promise by expediting a plan to dedicate $5 million in tax credits to small business security measures.
“Bodegas are not equipped to save lives and that must change. We need State, City & Federal Funds to install tech equipment, Panic Buttons, secured bullet proof doors, cameras, etc,” Mateo said in the emailed statement. “We must remember Bodegas are community centers to many of these communities. Selling eggs, milk & beer is 65% of what we do the other 35% is helping our community & helping NYPD solve crimes.”
Hochul included shop security as a priority during state budget negotiations in April, pushing roughly $40 million for a law enforcement crackdown on retail theft and a $3,000 tax credit for business owners who make security upgrades. The tax credit, totaling roughly $5 million, would be available to any business with 50 or fewer employees that spends the threshold amount of money on retail theft prevention measures, the governor said in April.
The initiative also increased criminal penalties for anyone who assaults a retail worker by elevating it from a misdemeanor to felony.
But Mateo said his group of shop owners has yet to cash in on that tax credit program. He said the UBA would be reaching out to U.S. Sen. Chuck Schumer to help advocate for the delivery of emergency funding.
“It’s time for Governor Hochul to release the 5 million dollars she promised, it’s time for the Federal Government to get involved,” Mateo said in his statement.
Spokespeople for Schumer and Hochul did not immediately return requests for comment.
This story has been updated with additional information from the NYPD.
