NYC sees 12% drop in shoplifting as state’s retail theft crackdown takes effect: Hochul

New York City has seen a 12% drop in shoplifting, Gov. Kathy Hochul announced Tuesday — crediting the double-digit dip on Albany’s retail theft crackdown passed last year.

Speaking on a street corner in Harlem, the governor touted the 12% year-on-year drop in retail theft cases in the Big Apple, and a 5% drop statewide, following a surge of such incidents hitting New York in the aftermath of the COVID-19 pandemic.

“Neighborhoods that I visited during the height of this crisis, to hear from them on whether they feel the effects, and the answer is a resounding ‘yes,’” Hochul told reporters.

“Just goes to show the power of working together,” she said, giving business leaders credit for pushing Albany lawmakers to act.

Hochul and the state Legislature included several measures to crack down on the retail theft wave in last year’s sprawling state budget package.

The provisions included legal tweaks meant to boost the seriousness of cases against repeat offenders and organized retail theft rings, such as allowing prosecutors to combine the values of goods stolen from multiple stores to slap heavier charges on defendants.

The measures also included a $40 million investment to support state and local authorities going after such organized rings, $5 million in tax credits for small businesses to make security upgrades and increased penalties for those charged with assaulting a retail worker.

Hochul also recognized collaborating with Mayor Eric Adams on a “joint operation” to tackle the issue, including providing additional state police resources to the city.

The new data indicates New York is in a “much much better direction than the trajectory we had been on” coming out of the pandemic — when the city was setting record high shoplifting numbers, Hochul said.

Retail thefts had spiked 45% in 2022, compared to 2021, according to NYPD data.

“Harlem has turned a corner, and the whole city has turned a corner when it comes to crime,” Manhattan Chamber of Commerce President and CEO Jessica Walker said.