I didn’t realize yesterday, when I wrote about how a Rite Aid closed in the greater Times Square area, that (liberal) actor Michael Rapaport had gone viral with a pair of videos about how his neighborhood Rite Aid closed after “everyone stole everything.” This is on the Upper East Side of Manhattan, one of the wealthiest corners of the city.
”I can’t believe I’m seeing this s**,’ Rapaport said. “This f***ing guy just filled his two bags up with everything in Rite Aid, right here on 80th and First Avenue is walking down the street like s**t is Gucci. I was watching him the whole time. . . . My man just went Christmas shopping in January,” he added, noting that the thief walked right by a security guard. Rite Aid employees including security guards told the New York Post that they’re under orders not to accost or try to stop shoplifters
In a followup video, Rapaport said, “Back in my Rite Aid and there’s nothing to steal because this Rite Aid, like so many other Rite Aids, is closing down because everyone stole everything,”
Just an idea, but . . . maybe the liberals who created this situation through the ballot box should rethink how they vote? Leftist Manhattan district attorney Alvin Bragg, who has vowed to treat armed robbery like shoplifting unless a gun is involved, is rarely or never prosecuting nonviolent shoplifters. Reports of petit larceny are up 26 percent over the comparable period last year, but one has to suppose that many incidents of theft are simply not being reported. Why bother? Bragg has convened a special “task force” to consider the problem, with a report due in May. What is there to consider? Either shoplifting is treated as a crime, or it isn’t.