Adams gives bodegas $1.6 million to improve security
Mayor Adams gives $1.6 million to bodegas to install panic buttons
FOX 5 NY's Stephanie Bertini on Mayor Adams funding an initiative to increase security in bodegas. Subscribe to FOX 5 NY: https://www.youtube.com/fox5ny?sub_confirmation=1
NEW YORK CITY - New York City Mayor Eric Adams announced $1.6 million in funding for bodegas to improve their security.
SilentShields
What we know:
"SilentShields" buttons, which can immediately contact the NYPD when pressed, will be installed in an estimated 500 bodegas. The bodegas that experience higher levels of crime will take priority.
The SilentShields will be connected to cameras in the bodegas, giving NYPD officers the ability to see the bodegas in real time – these live feeds work in coordination with a separate program Adams launched that allows businesses to share security footage with the NYPD through a closed-circuit of television cameras.
The buttons will be distributed through an emergency grant to the United Bodega Association (UBA).
Spokesperson for the UBA Fernando Mateo called SilentShields "a game changer for New York City Bodega workers." The association is aiming to begin the installation process in the coming months.
The push for panic buttons
The backstory:
The UBA has been requesting funding for increased security, specifically panic buttons, since New York Governor Kathy Hochul introduced the idea a year ago.
In the past week, there were two violent crimes committed at separate bodegas: a robbery in Brooklyn and a stabbing in Harlem. Both instances led to the UBA speaking out about the lack of security in bodegas.
The Source: This article includes reporting from a presser from Mayor Adams, as well as reporting from FOX 5 NY's Stephanie Bertini.