A newly released video shows brazen thieves stealing cash from a tapioca shop at the Fulton Transit Center. The retail giant that operates the hub is threatening to withdraw, citing rising crime.
One video obtained by the Post shows a man sticking his head around a plastic barrier surrounding a cash register at Fulton Goncha in November 2022. The video shows the thief reaching into his hand, opening the register, leaning over the counter and snatching a handful of cash.
He slipped out his hand just as the employee ran up to him, then walked away. He left behind bewildered employees.
Another video recorded in December 2023 shows a man waltzing over the same counter and silently snatching a chip bottle as the barista turns around to make a drink. The thief is then seen casually walking away.
The store manager said he reported both incidents to the NYPD, but said he no longer cared about them because there were simply too many.
“Security issues occur regularly, about once every two weeks,” a manager told the Post. ‘Security he’s the only one [officer] throughout the building. We prefer to have four, one on each door. ”
These videos show that Westfield Fulton, a large retail store operator, says it wants to vacate the transportation hub 10 years earlier than the lease requires because tenants are being evicted due to crime. It depicts the real-time status of complaints listed by the Center.
The company said in federal court documents that the complex was occupied by homeless people and street pushers, and that the MTA, as landlord, did not provide adequate security, leading to rampant vandalism at the complex. He claimed that there was.
Assaults and threats against employees have also become more common inside the glass-and-steel building at the corner of Fulton Street and Broadway, which the MTA initially said was comparable in size to Rockefeller Center or Grand Central. The company claimed it advertised it as comparable to a train station.
There are very specific reasons why a retail store owner, a subsidiary of Unibail-Rodamco Westfield, a major international commercial real estate company, can break a lease, but retail crime is not one of them. the MTA said in a court filing.
Up to 300,000 straphangers pass through the center every day, which connects five metro stations and nine metro lines. According to the M.T.A.
The agency asked the court to force Westfield to stay and declare it in breach of contract if it breaks the deal.
