A break-in at Lucky on Avenue B

A man broke into Lucky at 168 Avenue B after close on Sunday night. 

Owner Abby Ehmann told EVG contributor Stacie Joy that the break-in occurred just after 4 a.m. The bar has a rolldown gate. However, the burglar got into the residential part of the building and into the back garden, where he picked the lock to the back door.

Surveillance video shows that the man spent nearly 30 minutes inside the bar here between 10th Street and 11th Street. (Don't worry — this clip isn't 30 minutes long!)

   

He took all the cash left in the drawer ... as well as a $5 bill that someone had signed for Abby to staple to the wall.

The burglar didn't steal anything else — and even locked the door behind him.

Police sources also said the same suspect robbed an unnamed business early that morning on St. Mark's Place.

Anwar Grocery burglarized

Text and photos by Stacie Joy

Anwar Hossain, who owns Anwar's Grocery at 106 Avenue B between Sixth Street and Seventh Street, arrived to work yesterday morning to find his front door knocked in and $1,200 missing from the cash register.



Anwar said that there isn't any video record of the burglary. He plans to ask the building's landlord for help getting additional plywood to prevent or deter another break-in.



While Anwar was sad about the burglary, he remains optimistic about the future and said he doesn't have plans to close the store. The grocery's hours will remain flexible for now.

2 break-in attempts in 1 night at East Village Finest Deli

Text and photos by Stacie Joy

Two attempted break-ins occurred this past Tuesday night at East Village Finest Deli on the southwest corner of Avenue B and Fourth Street.

The first attempt occurred when a man took a hammer to the door at 12:23 a.m. Several hours later, a man with a skateboard, possibly seeing that there was already a smashed door, tried to finish the job and get in at 4:38 a.m.

Manager Anwar Shahbain told me that Mohammad, a neighbor in the building across the street, screamed through the window at the perpetrators, potentially scaring them off while another neighbor called the police. (The store also has an alarm.)



Anwar expressed gratitude to his neighbors as well as to Sgt. Omar Elsayed at the 9th Precinct, who responded to the burglary attempts and called the family multiple times to alert them to the attempted break-ins.



Anwar arrived at 5:09 a.m. and spotted Mohammad, who was still standing in the window across the street, arms crossed, keeping an eye on the business.

East Village Finest Deli will keep their COVID-19-adjusted hours of 6 a.m. to 10 p.m., but have boarded up the store with plywood for now.

And in the photo below (from the left) Ahmed Almulaiki, Mohammed Alaskari, Anwar Shahbain and Yusif Zindari ...

2 break-ins on Avenue A: Village Square Pizza, Tompkins Finest Deli & Grill

Two businesses on Avenue A between Ninth Street and 10th Street were burglarized last night.

The front door was smashed in at Village Square Pizza... not known at the moment what was taken...



A few storefronts away, Tompkins Finest Deli & Grill was damaged during last night's break-in...





An EVG reader sent this message just before midnight:

Called 911 23 minutes ago about a group of people breaking into bodega on Avenue A ... they still haven’t come. The looters filled up a car full of shit, threw the register into the street and bragged about where they are heading next.

And in a subsequent message: "No cops have come. And they’re long gone."

Given the timing of the break-in, this occurred roughly 30 minutes after the start of last night's 11 o'clock curfew.

These are the latest break-ins in the East Village. A group of seven men burglarized more than a dozen businesses late Sunday night.

Noting another break-in, this time at Rue-B

In what was likely an unfortunate common occurrence today... Michael Camacho, the owner of Rue B on Avenue B between 11th Street and 12th Street, filled out a burglary report with the 9th Precinct.



The same group who broke in at C&B Cafe, Alphabet City Beer Co. and Khiladi, among others late last night, busted their way inside the jazz club, which has been closed during the COVID-19 crisis.

The thieves used a crowbar on the cash register, but it was empty. Nothing else was taken from the bar.

The break-in at Khiladi on Avenue B

Khiladi, which serves South Indian cuisine on Avenue B at 11th Street, was another victim of the late-night break-ins throughout the neighborhood along with C&B Cafe and Alphabet City Beer Co., among many others.

Owner Sruthi Chowdary, who has been helping feed area families as part of the Neighborhood Food Swap during the COVID-19 crisis, said that she cried this morning as she surveyed the damage to her restaurant. The thieves made off an undisclosed amount of cash.



As she wrote in an Instagram post:

"Tears rolled down my eyes thinking how much more should I endure. The harder part for me was I didn’t know how to feel. I definitely wasn’t angry — I still feel there is justice to be served ... This happened to so many businesses in the neighborhood and we all don’t know how to feel about it. I'm scared and uncertain like many but I will not lose hope!"

She showed EVG contributor Stacie Joy, who took the photos for this post, the security footage from the break-in...





... those involved are the same as the seven-person team who broke into Alphabet City Beer Co. and many of the other neighborhood businesses, per security footage that Stacie has seen.

Breaking, entering and leaving a mess

Has anyone else noticed an increased in car break-ins around the neighborhood...? Such as this one on Avenue B near 10th Street....