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So Maybe Don't Buy Ice Cream At A Bodega
By
Nell Casey
Published Aug 12, 2016
Modified Aug 12, 2016
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Jen Carlson/Gothamist
By
Nell Casey
Published Aug 12, 2016
Modified Aug 12, 2016
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Bodegas are great for lots of things, like last-minute beer runs and clandestine kitties. But maybe we should think twice about heeding the call of the midnight ice cream craving at our local corner store, because some unscrupulous vendors may be selling us pilfered pints.
This information comes out of a string of ice cream-related robberies that have unfolded at billionaire and once-mayoral hopeful John Catsimatidis' chain of Gristedes grocery stores. It seems thieves are running off with pints of pricey Ben & Jerry's and Haagen-Dazs ice creams, only to turn around and sell those pints back to area bodegas to turn a quick, if meager, profit.
"They keep stealing it because it’s an easy item to sell," Catsimatidas explained to the Post. Thieves resell the product to bodegas, earning a reported 10 cents per item for their crimes. Cops have said that there have been nearly 250 complaints of ice cream theft by local businesses, resulting in 130 arrests.
The problem for the average bodega ice cream buyer—ya know, aside from the ice cream being "hot"—is that the pints can be left to melt and grow bacteria before eventually being refrozen by the bad bodegas. "[It] looks like it’s been out in the sun for an hour and refrozen," one such potential victim observed.
So there you go, unless you truly trust your local bodega/deli/corner store, purchase pints with extreme prejudice.
Tagged
gristedes
ice cream
ice cream theft
john catsimatidis
theft
Nell Casey
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