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Madison Ave retailers lock doors in daytime amid crime frenzy
Swanky Madison Avenue shops on the Upper East Side are lowering lights, locking doors and opening by appointment only in an effort to combat a relentless scourge of brazen daytime shoplifters terrorizing the glitzy thoroughfare.
The Carolina Herrera boutique near 67th Street has been robbed so many times it now pretends to be shuttered, with lights dimmed and door dead-bolted shut, even during normal business hours.
“It looks closed,” lamented one bride-to-be, hoping to drop six figures on three Herrera dresses for the walk down the aisle and post-ceremony receptions. She noted it’s a “bad look” for one of the world’s most celebrated luxury shopping districts.
Shop workers opened the door after seeing the future bride and a friend peering through the window.
“The normal thing now today is to lock our doors on Madison Avenue,” confessed Carolina Herrera sales associate Michelle Singh, while showing off the fashion accessories, handbags most notably, that have proven a favorite target of an apparent organized band of shoplifters brazenly plucking luxury fashions off the shelves of avenue boutiques.
“We don’t feel safe,” chimed in a Carolina Herrera store manager, who gave his hame only as Michael. “You feel violated when they come in.” The store has locked its doors “for at least several months” to limit unfettered access.
Nearby, Chanel (at 64th) and Prada (at 70th) are also locked during normal business hours, with well-dressed security guards standing by, opening the entrance for potential shoppers after eyeing them through the door windows. An NYPD patrol car with two officers sat outside Prada Friday afternoon.
In February, a team of seven thieves strolled out of The Real Real on Madison at 71st Street with nearly $500,000 worth of handbags and jewelry, in the shopping district’s most brazen daytime heist.
“It’s very much an organized crime model,” said Matthew Bauer, president of the Madison Avenue Business Improvement District.
There has been a shocking rise in theft across the city, with grand larceny up 54 percent and petty larceny up 42 percent, according to NYPD data. Citywide shoplifting complaints have jumped 81 percent in the past year, Chief of Crime Control Strategies Michael LiPetri said in April.
The fallout for shoppers is that a stroll down Madison Avenue has lost much of its luster and spontaneity. Many retailers now encourage, or even require, shoppers to make appointments before they open the doors.
Peggy Hogan of Westchester was hoping to browse Monique Lhuillier on Madison at 69th Friday afternoon, but was stunned to learn she could not get an appointment until May 17.
“It’s tough to get in these days,” she said.
When the most basic purpose of a state: the protection of life, liberty and individual’s property aren’t performed, you have a failed state, nd citizens will turn to self-help instead, We’re seeing a lot of that these days.
The contractors consist of off-duty police who carry guns, and surveil the neighborhoods in marked cars equipped with cameras and flashing lights
Crime has continued to spike across Chicago, with even some of its wealthiest neighborhoods seeing surges as high as 86% in 2022 from this time last year
And in Beverly Hills, not only are the rich pulling strings to get pistol permits denied ordinary citizens, but even the police force is hiring private security guards.
