Thefts Force Bed-Stuy Walgreens To Freeze Out Haagen-Dazs

BED-STUY, BROOKLYN — Omar Walker walked through freezing temperatures and brutal winds Saturday night because all he wanted was a scoop of Talenti’s Chocolate Chip Cookie Dough gelato with Reese’s Pieces sprinkled on top.

But when Walker, 30, finally arrived at the Walgreens on Fulton Street near Nostrand Avenue, he made a horrific discovery. There would be no gelato.

“Not then,” said Walker. “Not ever.”

A clerk told Walker that the Fulton Street Walgreens had stopped stocking Haagen-Dazs, Ben & Jerry’s and Walker’s personal favorite, Talenti, in a last-ditch attempt to win the battle against ice cream bandits.

“The thieves ruined it for us all,” Walker wrote in a Facebook post, that he said was written in a state of shock. “I was so angry about it, I was like ‘What is going on?’”

Ice cream bandits have been plaguing New York City for years, and one trio went so far as to steal 1,126 pints and 123 ice cream bars from pharmacies across Manhattan in 2016.

“They take [the ice cream,] they put them into bags, and then they flee,” Deputy Chief Joe Dowling told Planet Money reporters, shortly after the ice cream spree of 2016.

The sticky-fingered bandits were probably not about to go on an epic binge, Dowling explained on NPR, but more likely executing a profitable, if illegal, business plan.

“They then take that ice cream that they stole,” said Dowling. "They bring it to bodegas and smaller grocery stores."

The bodega owners will pay as much as 25 cents on the dollar for the $5 pints, Dowling said.

Some store owners — such as the billionaire owner of Gristides, John Catsimatidis — offered $5,000 rewards for anyone with information about the bandits.

But, according to Walker, the Walgreens on Fulton Street decided enough was enough and just gave up.

“I was just shocked to see that would be a practice,” said Walker, who photographed rows and rows of near-empty freezer shelves. “That they would stop selling it all together?”

Walker’s picture shows that pints of Edy’s, Breyers and Walgreens brand Delish ice cream remained on the shelves, but the Bed-Stuy resident barely noticed them.

“Talenti is pretty special,” he said. “They have nice combinations.”

What angered Walker, beyond having to forgo his favorite dessert, was that Walgreens gave the fight so quickly, he said.

“It’s an ice cream injustice,” said Walker. “Just lock up the ice cream.”

Walker also suggested a swap between the ice cream section and the section dedicated to frozen pizza, which is visible from the front counters.

“Switch the case,” he said. “It’s so basic.”

A Walgreens representative did not immediately respond to Patch’s request for comment.

Photo courtesy of Omar Walker