NYC announces $1.6 million in confidential panic buttons for 500 bodegas

New York City’s war on crime is taking another step, and bodega workers couldn’t be happier that someone is finally thinking of their safety.

The city has announced its intention to designate $1.6 million to fund the effort of installing hundreds of panic buttons in high-crime locations across the five boroughs. Which locations will be receiving the buttons is being kept confidential, so criminals won’t know if the bodega, deli or business they are targeting has one. The buttons aim to bypass the requirement to call the police and give information to the dispatchers, which in the cases of crimes like armed robberies, may not be possible until after the crime has been committed and the perpetrator is long gone.

Every button will be connected directly to the New York Police Department’s central command to help reduce response time.

Mayor Eric Adams lauded the move in a statement, saying that the buttons will serve as a deterrent.

“Instead of just having the cats keeping away the rats, we’re going to have a direct connection with the police to keep away those dangerous cats that try to rob our stores,” he said.

“No one knows who would actually have a device or not. That adds to the omnipresent and the element of surprise that we’re looking for,” he added in a statement to the NY Post. “The bodegas are important, and what this is going to do is add an extra layer of safety. Number one, for those who actually have the panic buttons and the direct communication to the police. But second, the element of surprise — 500 of these devices throughout the entire city.”

UBA spokesman Fernando Mateo says he appreciates the panic buttons, saying it will make conducting business in the city much safer.

“This mayor has made this the safest city in the world, but there are always pockets where criminals take advantage … those pockets, we all know, the trains, taxis, and bodegas — we’re the easy target,” Mateo said. “For so long, we’ve been asking for a panic button. We have gotten promises from council members, from Congress members, from assembly members and from the governor. Guess what? The killings are still there, the stabbings, the shootings, the robberies, the attempt, the assaults, they’re all still there.”

“Panic buttons is what’s going to save the lives of so many, not just the lives of bodega owners and workers, but the lives of so many that have run into a bodega seeking safe shelter and they’ve been killed.”

Bodega worker Aassim Kadeem says he works in an area with gang activity, and believes the buttons will serve to help keep him and his co-workers safe.

“Over here, it’s a little scary,” he said. “Anybody can come in there and be a thief. Anybody can go in there be a killer, like you don’t know.”

Hopefully, it works,” he said of the buttons. “That’s the main thing — just time, time, time. I’ve never personally had to make [911] calls myself, but I’ve been in situations that involve people having to call, and it’s usually anywhere from 10 to like 15 minutes [for cops to arrive], and it’s like, anything can happen within that time … because somebody can die, you know what I’m saying?”

Writer/Columnist

Sierra Marlee is a millennial whose hunger for the truth in a world of fake news has led her to BizPac Review.

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