An armed theft occurred at a New York Metropolis espresso store immediately throughout the road from Councilwoman Tiffany Cabán’s workplace, who’s an advocate for defunding the police.
On Wednesday at 3:15 p.m., two suspects arrived on bikes outdoors the Underneath Strain Espresso Bar situated within the Astoria neighborhood of Queens at 30-92 31 Road, in line with a New York Police Division (NYPD) spokesperson. They demanded victims hand over their private property at gunpoint.
Chains and bracelets had been among the many objects stolen from victims, in line with witnesses through the New York Put up. No sufferer was injured.
After the suspects had been completed the theft, they fled northbound on thirty first avenue towards thirtieth avenue on their bikes. Police haven’t recognized the suspects and are nonetheless investigating.
The espresso store is situated immediately throughout the road from Metropolis Councilwoman Tiffany Cabán’s workplace on 30-83 31 Road.
Cabán has publicly voiced her assist quite a few occasions to defund the NYPD’s price range.
In February 2021, she tweeted:
After we say #DefundThePolice we’re laying out a imaginative and prescient – one thing that’s potential[.] After we say “defund the police,” we’re saying put money into community-led options, holistic assist infrastructure and public well being approaches to public well being issues.
After we say #DefundThePolice we’re laying out a imaginative and prescient – one thing that’s potential.
After we say “defund the police,” we’re saying put money into community-led options, holistic assist infrastructure and public well being approaches to public well being issues.
— Tiffany Cabán (@tiffany_caban) February 3, 2021
The councilwoman criticized the deployment of an NYPD anti-gun unit inside her district whereas additionally taking goal at “stop-and-frisk” policing in a February tweet, the Put up reported.
Our district is already house to a number of the highest stop-and-frisk charges within the metropolis. Now we may even need to take care of the unit that, regardless of containing roughly 5% of the power, dedicated almost 1/3 of all police murders within the 20 years earlier than it was disbanded.
Later in Cabán’s assertion, she known as for the police to desert “failed methods” in reference to stop-and-frisk and the deployment of the anti-gun unit, together with different insurance policies.
Many have characterised stop-and-frisk as one of many profitable insurance policies that led to the Large Apple’s crime fee being drastically decreased beneath former Mayors Rudy Giuliani and Mike Bloomberg. Former President and New York Metropolis resident Donald Trump is amongst those that vocally assist stop-and-frisk to cut back crime charges.
When an worker at Underneath Strain Espresso Bar was knowledgeable of Cabán’s anti-police insurance policies by the Put up, he known as her a “clown.”
“Is she critical? She‘s going to defund the police? Ha! She bought no good cause, bro,” he added.
Crime within the 114th district – the place the theft happened – has risen by 23 p.c from the primary week of August of 2021 to 2022, in line with the NYPD statistics. Theft is up by 19.5 p.c, whereas grand larceny is up by 26.9 p.c.
As crime rises, residents within the Large Apple are expressing concern about their security, as 76 p.c worry they may very well be the sufferer of a violent crime, a latest ballot discovered.
You may comply with Ethan Letkeman on Twitter at @EthanLetkeman.
