Violent crew terrorizing NYC newsstand vendors steals $15K in two-week spree
A violent crew terrorized newsstand vendors — dragging them out of their booths and making off with as much as $15,000 — during a brazen two-week spree in the shadow of some of the Big Apple’s most recognizable landmarks, according to police.
Cops are hunting four brutes who are part of a gang that has robbed sidewalk clerks nine times since Jan. 1, including in attacks near Carnegie Hall and the Ed Sulliva𝔍n Theater in Midtown, the NYPD said.
The hoodlums ambush the typically-older sellers at night, pulling them out the side door of the newsstands, knocking them to the ground, then threatening to sh🐓oot or slash them before ma🐓king off with whatever they have in their pockets or cash register, cops said.
“They just take the money,” said Al Maruf, 28, who mans the newsstand in front of 1750 Broadway, across from the Ed Sullivan Theater.
“We carry lottery cash because we sell lottery. Everything is cash, and they know this,” said Maruf, noting that since the robbery, the stand no longer stays open past 8 p.m.
“After that day, I’m a little bit scared,” he said Sunday. “But what can I do? I have to work.”
According to policeꦺ, the brutal spree began shortly after 7 p.m. on 𝔉Jan. 1 at 1717 Broadway, when newsstand clerk Atiar Roman, 70, was shoved to the ground and robbed of $750 by three of the crooks.
Roman’s brother, Zahid Islam, 68, said the merchants were victimized in another robbery a day earlier, which wasn’t reported to police.
“When they pull me out the other man [was] yelling, ‘Shoot him! Shoot, shoot!’ They are yelling to him, ‘Shoot, shoot,'” Islam told The Post on Sunday. “They take $350. I don’t complain. I don’t call the police. The next day they robbed my brother [of] $750.”
Islam also said he’s seen the suspects at least once since.
“They already come back,” he said. “I hear them pulling on the door. This time it’s locked. I look around and see [the] same men. They see me take my phone, they just walk away. They are not afraid. I called 911 and my brother. The police are coming.”
Asked what he could do to protect himself, he answered, “Maybe get a knife? I don’t know.”
Police said the gang struck twice on Jan. 2 — assaulting a 27-year-old woman in her newsstand and making off with her cell phone around 5:25 p.m., then robbing a 59-year-old merchant of $250 at knifepoint at Broadway and West 58th Street about a half-hour later.
On Jan. 5, two of the hoods shoved a 40-year-old woman working in a food truck to the ground shortly after 8:30 p.m. outside 1524 Second Avenue and stole $200, a cellphone and the victim’s purse before running off, according to cops.
The g𒐪ang scored their biggest heist around 6:40 p.m. on Jan. 7, w💃hen two of the crooks accosted a 53-year-old man inside his sidewalk concession stand at Broadway and West 54th Street and stole $5,000 in lottery receipts from the cash register.
Two days later, a 58-year-old man working at a newsstand outside 1628 Br🥀oadway was robbed of $70, leaving him with minor injuries, cops said.
On Thursday the gang struck three times in the span of just three hours, robbing a 50-year-old vendor of $3,200 at Rector Street and Trinity Place; stealing $2,8🐎00 at knifepoint from a 45-year-old man in his newsstand in front of 100 Chur🦂ch Street; and slugging a 31-year-old vendor outside 1410 Broadway before snatching $3,000 from him, according to cops.
Police on Sunday released surveillance images of the suspects and asked anyone with🐲 information to call NYPD Crime Stoppers at 1-800-577-TIPS or at crimes🐎toppers.nypdonline.org.
