Extra Time: Combating violence inside NYC's bodegas and supermarkets
NEW YORK CITY (WABC) -- In this edition of 'Eyewitness News Extra Time,' we begin with the vicious attack on a supermarket employee in the Bronx.
The worker was confronting two suspected shoplifters when the brutal beating began.
Police are trying to identify the attacker but are having a difficult time because the person was wearing a mask.
Earlier this week, Mayor Eric Adams called on shop owners to require customers to remove their face masks when entering stores to help cut down on retail crime.
Eyewitness News reporter Sonia Rincon spoke with the store supervisor about what happened in the Allerton section.
We also dig a little deeper into where this violent crime was committed, a supermarket in the Bronx, and that matters.
Supermarkets are of particular importance in that borough because there are so few of them. A map shows the ratios of bodegas to supermarkets across the city. The ratios are high in parts of the Bronx. In fact, the area where the latest attack happened has a ratio of 20 bodegas to just one supermarket.
Compare that to the Upper West Side of Manhattan, where the ratio is 3-to-1. Why is this an issue? Many bodegas have a wide selection of food after all, right?
Well, quality matters, and the average quality and accessibility of all the food products necessary for a healthy diet is significantly lower at bodegas, and that has created a so-called "food desert" throughout much of the Bronx.
Nearly half of households in that borough do not have easy access to a properly varied grocery list. That's far below the other four boroughs.
We have that and more on 'Extra Time.'
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