By David Krayden – The Post Millennial
Newsstand vendor Shah Hussein moved his business to Columbus Ave. and West 81st St. in NYC because he thought it was a safe area but he’s been robbed twice in recent months and was pistol-whipped during one of the ordeals.
The latest attack by thieves occurred on Monday in broad daylight and the pair escaped with $3,000 from the till, the New York Post reported. Hussein believes the robbers were the same people who knocked over his store last spring. “I am watching people from all sides now,” he told the Post on Wednesday.
The vendor is located near the American Museum of Natural History, where he moved because of the high crime in his old district, near One World Trade Center. “I moved here because I think it would be better,” he said. “I think it’s a good area. Everybody says so.”
But not the bandits who got away with $2,900 from Hussein’s store on May 21 this year. Hussein believes the same duo came back on Aug. 26 at 1 p.m., stealing another hundred dollars this time and roughing up the newsstand owner in the process. The money was to be used to restock the food, beverages and magazines in his store.
While one man pistol-whipped Hussein and knocked him to the ground, his partner held a knife over his head. “The one with the gun said, ‘Don’t move,’” Hussein told the Post. “I don’t want to move. The one with the knife took the money and then they ran away.”
After Hussein’s location was hit, thieves struck another newsstand in the city, getting away with over $1,000, exactly 23 minutes later, according to ABC7. The New York Police Department suspect it is the same pair.
NYC continues to deal with violent crime and an illegal immigrant crisis. Like many large urban centers in the US, the city has provided illegals with a variety of taxpayer-provided largesse. NYC is supplying free airline tickets to migrants to fly anywhere in the US. The city turned a high school over to illegal immigrants and has offered prepaid debit cards to illegals as well.