New $1 million initiative aims to protect small business owners, tackle crime across the city
A total of $1 million will be invested to carry the plan out across the five boroughs.
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Local leaders are launching a new plan to make local small businesses safer and less of a target to crime.
Rep. Adrianno Espaillait unveiled a five-part initiative that looks to partner with the NYPD and tackle crime, as well as gangs, in Manhattan and the Bronx. A total of $1 million will be invested to carry the plan out across the five boroughs.
"Although violent crime is down, quality of life issues are still very prevalent and the businesses, the small businesses feel that every day," said Rep. Espaillat.
Back in June, bodega owner Majed al-Saidi was stabbed in the chest along East 169th Street and College Avenue.
The 42-year-old was attacked in a neighborhood where he's lived in over two decades.
"I think bodega owners are very similar to police officers for the relentless work they do," said Fernando Radhamés Rodríguez, from the United Bodegas Association.
The plan also aims to work with the Department of Education to implement programs that would get kids out of the street and away from violent activities.
