Brooklyn Target has banned children under the age of 18 from shopping in stores without adult supervision. This is the latest business in the region, using drastic measures to curb delinquent behavior.
Target, located at the Triangle Junction Mall, on the corner of Flatbush Avenue and Avenue H, recently posted security guards on its front door and began carding people who don't see their age.
“All guests under the age of 18 should be accompanied by adults at this target store,” reads a sign placed inside the door.
Anyone who does not meet the age requirements and does not have an adult is prohibited, and anyone who sneaks in and gets caught will be escorted.
The measure reportedly was introduced to reduce recent fights and other wild behaviour among groups of teens wandering around the store and the mall, said Monday by a 25-year-old security guard working at Target's door.
“It's just regular. They're playing. They come in groups, you know, and a lot of kids – they're not really friends,” the security guard told the post.
The teenage issues are ramp-extensive issues for targets and other stores that have been caught in headlines in recent years – and have something to do with common delinquent behavior and lo-mut, he explained.
“We're trying to make sure no one has a hangout after school,” the security guard said.
He said he intervened in a fight that began on the second floor of the store the other day and had to eventually spill into the basement lobby.
The conflict only heated up when he and his colleagues intervened to abandon the rough children, he said.
“They started cursing each other. We put them back on the stairs, one of them threw a punch. That's what it is,” he said. “I wonder why this is [age policy] It happened in the first place. Because it makes the guests uncomfortable.
“We'll do our best,” he said.
Some customers are fully equipped with the new rules.
“I think that's a good idea because you can't predict what these kids are trying to do, especially after school,” said Kaela Ramsey, 20, who was shopping at three teenagers nie and Target.
“They don't do activities. They don't do programs or anything. I see a lot of kids coming here and doing a lot of nonsense,” she said. “I've seen so many people jump. I've seen kids milk. They throw milk at them and fight milk.”
But her 15-year-old Nie, Kayla, said the age limit was “silly.”
“Not every child comes here to destroy targets and things,” the teen said, explaining that she was recently abandoned with a minor friend who was trying to buy “emergency” medication for her mother.
“They feel they need to give everyone a fair opportunity to shop,” Kayla said. “I feel so stupid.”
Festus Adogu, an 80-year-old customer at Target's Starbucks Café, said the kids were “sit down and do their job.”
But when they play and scream, [workers] Always call the police. ”
Target last month, just below the street from McDonald's, which prohibited people under the age of 20 from entering without parents, worked the door and hired a card that everyone could pass through.
Fast Food Place unveiled dramatic measures after enduring more than a year of harassment from a group of children (more than 20 at a time).
The final straw came after one group was charged with smashing a glass door by wearing a ski mask.
Retail crime has declined in the neighborhood in recent years, but some businesses remain notorious hotspots for bad behavior, according to NYPD data.
Over 100 911 calls have been made from that McDonald's in each of the last three years, and so far this year, there have been 29.
Target Guard said that while business doesn't like having to make kids a card, he knows that managers have very few options, it's a shame and now they have to miss it.
“When I was in high school, I was interested in getting fast food after school,” he said.
“I got it, I understand it,” he said of the restrictions. “But kids who actually received $10 from their mom in the morning are looking forward to eating something after school after a long day. So I feel bad for those kids.”
Target did not respond to requests for comment Monday.
