SH**HOLE NEWS: Shoplifting in NYC is So Bad Supermarkets are Locking Up, Installing Anti-theft Devices on $6 Ice Cream: ‘This is the age we live in now’; Manhattan Restaurants Hit by Repeat Smash-and-Grab Burglaries as Owners Blame Lack of Cops

Shoplifting in NYC is so bad supermarkets are locking up, installing anti-theft devices on $6 ice cream: ‘This is the age we live in now’:

Freeze, thieves!

Shoplifters are running so wild in the Big Apple that pints of high-end ice cream now have special locked lids to thwart cold-hearted crooks.

The Fairway supermarket on the Upper West Side is guard

ing $6 cartons of Häagen-Dazs with bolted plastic tops — which can only be removed with a device at the register — as other shops padlocked freezers of the treats.

A sign at Fairway gives shoppers the scoop on why there’s now a barrier on the popular summertime sweets.

“To help maintain the lowest possible cost, a protective lock has been placed on some units of ice cream,” it reads.

“This lock will be removed at checkout by a store associate. We apologize for any inconvenience.”

Customers at the store, at Broadway and 74th Street, called the goodie-guarding gadget a sign of the times.

“This is the age we live in now, unfortunately. This is the New York that we know,” said a producer, who was shopping in the freezer section Friday.

“This has nothing to do with anything other than people coming in and ripping off places that are trying to make money.”

A cashier told The Post the ice cream is delivered with the clear locked lids already in place, and that they can be popped off with a round plastic device.

“It’s pretty easy to come off with what we use,” the worker said.

Other Manhattan stores also had ice cream under lock and key, including the Duane Reade at Broadway and 71st Street, which fastened a chain across a freezer door with a padlock. —>READ MORE HERE

Manhattan restaurants hit by repeat smash-and-grab burglaries as owners blame lack of cops:

A thief smashed the glass door of Lower East Side Argentinian restaurant Balvanera around 4 a.m. Sunday morning fleeing with $400 from the cash drawer.

It’s the restaurant’s third break-in since last year, ringing up a tab of thousands of dollars in damages.

“Every time, they break the glass and walk right to the cash register,” Fernando Navas, chef and owner of Balvanera on Stanton St., told The Post.

“I called 911. I told them, ‘I’m letting you know this is the third time [the restaurant was attacked],” Navas said.

He is not alone: Restaurant owners across Manhattan are being hit by an uptick in restaurant smash-and-grab burglaries, they tell The Post.

And some restaurateurs said they’ve suffered repeat attacks and have lost thousands in cash and computer equipment. Owners say a lack of police on patrol in the early hours and repeat offenders who face no repercussions are to blame.

Burglaries on the Lower East Side, where Balvanera is located, have gone up 63.6% this year in the 28-day period ending June 25 compared to 2022, according to the NYPD.

“The break-ins are getting out of control. It was not like this pre-COVID,” Nick Moshkovich, director of operations at nearby Bonberi Mart on West 11th Street, which also experienced an attempted attack on May 14 around 5 a.m., told The Post. His neighbor, 11th Street Cafe, has also been hit with a string of smash-and-grab attacks.

“We’re on a quiet street — they’re [thieves] targeting us because there’s less foot traffic. Police drive by, but there’s no boots on the ground,” Moshkovich said. —>READ MORE HERE

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