{"blocks":[{"id":"u1qqpnvw-pwdqiss7","type":"linkTool","data":{"link":"https://nypost.com/2026/07/04/us-news/nypd-suspends-precinct-boss/","meta":{"title":"NYPD suspends boss who allegedly groped underling: ‘I want to make biracial babies with you’","description":"","image":{"url":"https://nypost.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/07/132964566.jpg?quality=75&strip=all&w=171&h=114&crop=1"}},"variant":"compact"}},{"id":"dl46kck5-3wvfgy4q","type":"linkTool","data":{"link":"https://nypost.com/2026/07/04/us-news/fbi-reveals-305-arrests-24-missing-children-recovered-in-chicago-during-operation-new-dawn/","meta":{"title":"FBI reveals 305 arrests, 24 missing children recovered in Chicago during Operation New Dawn","description":"","image":{"url":"https://nypost.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/07/newspress-collage-uzoy625w4-1783137951759.jpg?quality=75&strip=all&1783123598&w=171&h=114&crop=1"}},"variant":"compact"}},{"id":"c5i7cl96-gdu8fhqf","type":"linkTool","data":{"link":"https://nypost.com/2026/07/03/us-news/monster-arrested-for-animal-cruelty-after-stomach-churning-discovery-at-california-home/","meta":{"title":"Monster arrested for animal cruelty after stomach-churning discovery at California home","description":"","image":{"url":"https://nypost.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/07/133162485.jpg?quality=75&strip=all&w=171&h=114&crop=1"}},"variant":"compact"}},{"type":"paragraph","data":{"text":"Every day, retail workers across New York’s five boroughs wake up in the morning and head to the shops, markets and other places of work."}},{"type":"paragraph","data":{"text":"They go to help their families and to help New Yorkers with the goods and services they need to get by."}},{"type":"paragraph","data":{"text":"This should be fairly routine — get up, go to work, and come home. Yet for too many retail workers, simply being at work has become dangerous."}},{"type":"paragraph","data":{"text":"We saw that again this week when a group of women senselessly assaulted 25-year-old cashier Lisbel Rodriguez Luna in the Bronx."}},{"type":"paragraph","data":{"text":"Time and again, retail workers have been attacked, and stores have been violently robbed."}},{"type":"paragraph","data":{"text":"That’s why it’s time to change our laws to protect these workers and the customers they serve."}},{"type":"paragraph","data":{"text":"New York’s independent supermarkets, bodegas and mom-and-pop retail shops are the backbones of our communities."}},{"type":"paragraph","data":{"text":"From hiring our local residents to providing access to healthy, fresh foods and daily necessities for families, these businesses and their workers keep neighborhoods running 24 hours a day, seven days a week."}},{"type":"image","data":{"file":{"url":"https://nypost.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/03/NYPICHPDPICT000007553705.jpg?w=1024"},"caption":"\n Two individuals entered a smoke shop where they punched a male store employee multiple times in his face and body. DCPI"}},{"type":"paragraph","data":{"text":"Retail employees were essential workers and took their responsibility seriously, from risking their lives at the height of the COVID-19 pandemic to stepping up in the 1970s and ’80’s, ensuring underserved communities were not without access to food and other essentials."}},{"type":"paragraph","data":{"text":"But their jobs are getting more difficult and more dangerous."}},{"type":"paragraph","data":{"text":"As The Post reported, “Burglars and thieves had a field day” last year, propelling the city’s 22% surge in major crime."}},{"type":"paragraph","data":{"text":"This rise in crime has hit independent supermarkets hard. Indeed, some have hired private security. Single robberies have been as high as $72,000."}},{"id":"bpwztdtv-zxk9lub3","type":"linkTool","data":{"link":"https://nypost.com/2023/02/27/bronx-grocery-store-cashier-pummeled-in-shocking-caught-on-video-attack/","meta":{"title":"NYC grocery store cashier pummeled in shocking caught-on-video attack","description":"","image":{"url":"https://nypost.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/02/chrome-capture-2023-1-27-4-1.gif?w=171&h=114&crop=1"}},"variant":"compact"}},{"type":"paragraph","data":{"text":"New Yorkers expect and deserve to feel safe when they shop — but right now, for too many, they simply do not."}},{"type":"paragraph","data":{"text":"The crime rise has many victims: the stores that lose money, the workers who are harmed and consumers who don’t feel safe to shop."}},{"type":"paragraph","data":{"text":"These are not the only shocking statistics."}},{"type":"paragraph","data":{"text":"Just 327 offenders accounted for 30% of New York City’s 22,000 retail theft arrests in 2022. Recidivists were arrested nearly 6,600 times, averaging about 20 times each."}},{"type":"paragraph","data":{"text":"Merchants have made approximately 63,000 complaints — most going unresolved."}},{"type":"paragraph","data":{"text":"As a result, shoplifting is vastly underreported, and shopkeepers are putting themselves in harm’s way to resolve altercations."}},{"type":"paragraph","data":{"text":"The situation is entirely untenable — something must be done to rectify it before more stores close and more workers are harmed."}},{"type":"paragraph","data":{"text":"That’s where the city and state can step in to help."}},{"type":"image","data":{"file":{"url":"https://nypost.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/03/NYPICHPDPICT000007355645.jpg?w=1024"},"caption":"\n A Bronx grocery store cashier was repeatedly pummeled by a deranged woman and her grown daughters.\n "}},{"type":"paragraph","data":{"text":"While district attorneys and other law enforcement, as well as mayors throughout the state, are doing their best to tackle the issue of repeat retail theft, which often involves serious violence, more must be done."}},{"type":"paragraph","data":{"text":"That’s why, at the state level, I am proud to carry legislation making assaulting a retail employee or owner a class-D felony, such as with livery drivers, utility employees and other essential workers."}},{"type":"paragraph","data":{"text":"

"}},{"type":"paragraph","data":{"text":"This common-sense legislation will help deter crimes and hold people who perpetuate them accountable."}},{"type":"paragraph","data":{"text":"What happened in the Bronx to the cashier was simply unacceptable and we need to take steps to stop it."}},{"type":"paragraph","data":{"text":""}},{"type":"paragraph","data":{"text":"What small retailers and their advocates are asking of the city and state are not difficult requests — they’re utterly reasonable."}},{"type":"paragraph","data":{"text":"Let’s come together to support these stores and ensure workers are safe and consumers can shop in peace."}},{"type":"paragraph","data":{"text":"Manny De Los Santos, MSW, is a Democrat representing New York’s 72nd district in the state Assembly."}}]}

Manny De Los Santos

NypMannyDeLosSantos@RoundtableIO

We must protect New York’s essential retail workers from rising violent crime