New York Lawmakers Take Aim at Retail Crime

Noting rising public discourse around the escalation of retail theft, New York lawmakers are lining up to take shots at the issue with new policy proposals. But they may be at odds with each other—and the business community—about what to do next.

At a press conference this week, Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) tossed his hat in the ring, positing that acts of organized retail crime in his home state could be investigated and prosecuted under the Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations (RICO) Act.

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Speaking at the Victor Crossing Shopping Plaza in Rochester—where an Ulta store has lost more than $100,000 since last year to marauding mobs—Schumer suggested that the same law used to take down mafia operations could be used to target thieves.

“We’ve all seen the videos—crime rings… many of them national, get together and they then break into stores… and fill up duffel bags,” he said. “RICO will allow our FEDs to come in and pursue things.”

The law, which put away criminals like New York mobster John Gotti, “has a lot of advantages,” Schumer added. “A, it crosses state lines, B, it has tougher penalties and C, it uses the long arm of the federal government to put evidence together in different places that can convict these crime rings.”

Ontario County Sheriff David Cirencione said the area has seen an increase “not just in the frequency of retail theft, but the complexity as well.”

“We’re not talking about single shoplifters going into a store and grabbing an item or two,” he added. “We’re talking about criminal enterprises that have a real hierarchy, that basically have pawns that come out here and do this theft.”

“It’s a clear indicator that we’ve got a problem, and here’s another solution,” Monroe County Sheriff Todd Baxter added. “It’s another tool in the tool box. We’ve clearly shown in our retail theft investigations that this is linked to violence. This is linked to millions of dollars of theft that’s going across state lines.”

But not all New York legislators are keen to take a tough-on-crime stance.

State Assemblymember Carl Heastie (D-Northeast Bronx) last week spoke out against Governor Kathy Hochul’s $45-million plan to curb retail crime, which includes instituting harsher penalties for criminals who assault retail workers. “I just don’t believe raising penalties is ever a deterrent on crime,” he said.

The politician said that while his office cares “very deeply” about the safety of store associates, “We just have other ideas of how to get there.”

“If you just keep dealing with the penalties, what happens after people get arrested?” he added. “You’re still only worrying about what happens after something has already happened.”

Heastie’s response rankled fellow legislators and members of the business community.

Speaking on radio show WABC The Cats Roundtable, former Governor David Paterson expressed dismay at the Assemblymember’s take on the matter. “I hope that he was misunderstood,” he said.

Speaking about retail workers, he added, “These are people who are not high-wage earners. Most of them are not unionized. They don’t really have much [other] than the benefit that that the owners give them.” Heastie’s stance “doesn’t solve the problem,” he said. “That there should be any leniency for this type of thing…I really don’t understand that.”

Ken Giddon, the co-owner of upscale men’s wear retailer Rothmans, told Sourcing Journal that his Union Square store was hit twice by flash mobs in December of 2020, and has since dealt with a slew of shoplifting incidents and threats to employee safety.

“Comments from Heastie that he doesn’t believe that punishment is a deterrent to crime—well, that’s breakthrough thinking in the history of mankind,” he said.

Giddon, who serves on Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg’s Small Business Alliance, a task force to address such issues, said store staff are uniquely vulnerable during a theft, whether it’s a smash-and-grab or a lone shoplifter.

“Retail workers are the ones who are standing out there on their own,” he added. “If you’re a TSA worker, you’re surrounded by a bunch of cops with guns. Retail workers—you’re surrounded by police in about 15 minutes. That’s a big difference, and I see it firsthand.”

The storeowner said Rothmans’ locations in Scarsdale and Bronxville have not been subject to the same problems as its Manhattan boutique, which has been forced to lock its doors and institute a “knock-to-enter” policy. “It’s a messed up situation, because we pay a lot of rent to be in a good location where you want people walking by to walk in,” he said. Additionally, Rothmans has switched up its inventory to move away from brands that might be especially attractive to thieves.

Since the large-scale crimes several years ago, the store has seen “a bunch” of smaller incidents. “Lately, we’ve had more people that need mental health help than organized gangs,” Giddon explained. These events have terrified workers. Consequently, he believes the Senate Majority Leader’s RICO pitch may not strike the heart of the issue for most retailers.

“I’m not so sure about the energy that guys like Schumer are putting in to worrying about these dramatic busts of organized retail theft; I see more of a loose affiliation of people that should be in the system in other places, both in jail and or taken care of by mental health organizations,” he explained. “I think that it might make good press, but I don’t know that that’s really where it’s at.”

Instead, he wishes politicians would focus on the people at the center of the crimes. “My first step would be to enact laws protecting retail workers, and then I would work on people getting together from both sides of the aisle to make the necessary changes to the bail reform,” he said. “I would start pushing very strongly for penalties that take into account recidivism,” or repeat offenses.

Whether lawmakers have the chops to enact effective policy surrounding retail crime is yet to be seen, but Giddon believes the first objective should be a simple one. “I want to start a new political party in New York and base it on what my employees say to one another when they leave each day—‘Get home safe,’” he said. “That’s all New Yorkers really want.”