Man fatally stabbed after running into NYC bodega for help as violence plagues Big Apple stores
A man was viciously stabbed to death late Saturday after running into a Queens bodega for help — the latest burst of violence that has neighborhood stores in the Big Apple in “a state of emergency.”
“The [workers] who were here last night, they quit,” said Ali Alzokeri, a cashier at Sammy’s Gourmet Deli in Jamaica, to The Post on Sunday. “They don’t want to work here no more. It was bad.”
The fatal assault occurred around 9:40 p.m. when the unidentified 40-year-old victim ran into the small deli on Jamaica Avenue in Jamaica looking for help and was stabbed multiple times in front of horrified store clerks, according to police and a rep for small-shop merchants.
Police sources said the slaying stemmed from a dispute that spilled into the store.
Alzokeri said the victim ducked behind an ATM machine but was spotted by his pursuer — with the smaller victim then getting into a knife-wielding brawl with his taller assailant.
“They started fighting, they stabbed each other,” he said. “One of them ended up dead, one of them ended up cut in the face.”
Alzokeri said the dead man suffered stab wounds to the eye, neck, body, “all over.”
For bodega owners, the bloody brawl was just the latest chapter in an ongoing onslaught plaguing their stores.
“Bodegas are not equipped to save lives, and that must change,” Fernando Mateo, head of the United Bodegas of America, said in a statement Sunday. “UBA has declared a state of emergency.
“We must remember bodegas are community centers to many of these communities,” Mateo said. “Selling eggs, milk and beer is 65% of what we do. The other 35% is helping our community and helping the NYPD solve crimes.”
The NYPD has not released further details of Saturday’s slaying.
The safety of bodega workers has been a constant concern in the Big Apple.
In January, Gov. Kathy Hochul announced a $40 million plan to help bodega and small-business owners, including about $5 million to beef up security and police presence to combat shoplifting and violence at the neighborhood stores.
But Mateo said he’s yet to see the investment.
One local interviewed in a video obtained by The Post said the fatal dispute at Sammy’s erupted during a dispute over a stolen wallet that escalated.
“I just feel like it’s not safe in this area,” a woman who lives on the block said. “You don’t want to raise your kids over here.
“I have two kids,” she said. “I worry about my kids’ safety all the time, especially in this area.”
Bodegas in the five boroughs have repeatedly become crime scenes in recent years.
In May, a Queens deli worker fatally stabbed a Bronx man who was choking him inside the store, while another man was stabbed to death in another Queens store during a fight over beer.
In April a bystander was shot and killed during an armed robbery at a bodega in The Bronx, and in February, a Brooklyn deli worker was shot in the back in a dispute over cigars, police said.
According to NYPD stats, robberies at bodegas and small stores in the city had already more than doubled midway through 2022 compared to the same period in 2021, with the small-time merchants repeatedly calling for help from City Hall.
By the end of 2023, The Post reported that more and more bodega workers were arming themselves.
