Upper West Side Smoke Shop Robbed 4 Times In 2021 For Over $30K

UPPER WEST SIDE, NY — An unknown number of robbers broke into the Unique News & Smoke shop on the Upper West Side early Monday morning and took over $11,000 worth of cigarettes and lottery tickets, according to a complaint report filed with the New York Police Department.

Unfortunately, the break-in and burglary is a relatively common occurrence in 2021 for the smoke shop located at 2218 Broadway, on the corner of West 79th Street.

It is the fourth time this year that the store has been burglarized, according to police reports.

In total, Unique News & Smoke has lost $30,500 in goods during 2021 because of burglaries, police reports show.

An Upper West Side resident who lives nearby to the smoke shop and wished to remain anonymous told Patch that the store does not have quality cameras or a metal gate it can pull down at night. Owners of the smoke shop shared with the Upper West Sider that the landlord doesn't want to pay for better cameras or a gate.

There have been no arrests in any of the four burglaries, according to police reports.

"Many folks in the community are puzzled as to why there are still no adequate surveillance cameras of Broadway/79th Street, even after drug deals and break-ins have occurred, not once but many times," UWS resident Estee Williams told Patch.

Here's the timeline of break-ins that ownership of Unique News & Smoke has had to deal with:

Complaint Filed On July 12: A 50-year-old man reported to police that Unique News & Smoke was broken into overnight, and robbers removed over $11,000 worth of cigarettes and lottery tickets. There are no arrests and the investigation remains ongoing.

Complaint Filed On May 30: A 50-year-old man reported to police that Unique News & Smoke was broken into at midnight, and $18,000 worth of cigarettes and lottery tickets were taken. There are no arrests and the investigation remains ongoing.

Complaint Filed On April 20: A 30-year-old man reported to police that two women entered the sunglasses store connected to Unique News & Smoke at 2218 Broadway and took $1,704 worth of sunglasses, and ran out without paying. There are no arrests and the investigation remains ongoing.

Complaint Filed on January 10: A 52-year-old man reported to police that an unidentified individual walked into Unique News & Smoke and took a cellphone from the counter and fled. There are no arrests and the investigation remains ongoing.