According to activists, panic buttons get installed in businesses to alert authorities to any emergencies after two fatalities in New York City bodegas.
State and city authorities have promised to pay for the panic buttons, according to Fernando Mateo of the United Bodegas of America, but the funds hasn’t come.
A 24-year-old gentleman was mortally knifed in the neck during a fight with two other young men on Wednesday night while standing outside the Ameer Deli &, Grill, where two people were killed inside of a bodega, Mateo said.
This put an end to the murders. Tomorrow, we don’t want to wake up and be aware that another man was murdered in a eatery. We must put a stop to it.
Sorai King, 20, was shot in the neck and chest on Thursday evening while fighting with another person outside the Shak Deli at E. 217th Street and Bronxwood Avenue in Williamsbridge, Brooklyn.
When King was shot, he was on an assignment to get a treat for his mother, his devastated parents said.
He was visiting his mother’s business. He had a great heart. Nana King, the defendant’s 15-year-old daughter, told the Daily News,” He went to the store and he never came back.” We just knew something was amiss when the police arrived.
In neither scenario have there been any prosecutions.
Mateo claimed that if each bay had a panic switch, the police could have been quickly called in and arrested, or also saved a life.
Mateo said,” It could be a life-saver for them,” adding that several of his associates have requested that they be installed. When a person enters a bay and is robbing the cashier with a stress button, they can shock the gunman by pressing a button, and the police will arrive right away.
Mateo continued,” We need for our government to manage and do what’s appropriate for these small businesses in New York City.” To save existence, and the lives of those who support you in business, we need cash.
Mateo claimed that about 50 of the city’s more than 25 000 bodegas have stress keys.
According to Mateo, who claimed that the panic keys are only used to direct bay employees to a calling center that dials 911 for them,” Fifty is a drop in the bucket.”
By the time that occurs and all the inquiries are made, people die and individuals get away with committing crimes, Mateo said, adding that some downtown workers have left because of the violence they’ve witnessed.
When people witness this kind of crime happening right in front of them, they leave. They are afraid. They’re anxious, he said. Because bodegas are no safe enclaves like they should be, it’s difficult enough to persuade employees to work there.
He anticipates that once purchased, the fresh panic buttons will game link directly to the NYPD’s command center, allowing law enforcement to respond to calls for assistance right away.
He said that the crime could be avoided entirely. It’s technologies. It’s quick.”
The” Bodega Act,” a new act in Albany, is being proposed to grant grants to bakeries, convenience stores, and food stores who want to place panic buttons and surveillance equipment in their businesses. The Legislature’s codes committee is currently reviewing the policy.
New York City Rep. Ritchie Torres introduced legislation last year that would help bay owners to use federal grant money to purchase panic buttons and other security equipment.
After a a spate of attacks on bay workers , which had left many of the smaller firms on top and sparked calling for more security measures, Torres introduced the bill.
According to Mateo,” We need for everyone in this area to realize that these bodegas are neighborhood locations.” They are not only places where people go shopping. When someone is flees from a trouble, they encounter a bay because we’re present anywhere.
An internet to the NYPD asking for comments on the UBA’s suggestion for a panic option was not immediately returned.
___
© 2025 New York Daily News.
Tribune Content Agency, LLC distributed.
