Left-leaning members of the NYC Council are considering bizarre new legislation that aims to curb retail theft — by penalizing customers and business owners rather than criminals.
NYC supermarkets and pharmacies would be forced to impose a 15-item limit for customers using self-checkout lines, and have at least one employee assigned to every three of those lines, or face daily fines of at least $100.
“We’ve seen the consequences of removing workers from these spaces: increased retail theft, less oversight, fewer protections for both workers and customers, and generally decreased safety,” said Councilwoman Amanda Farias (D-Bronx) while introducing the legislation Tuesday.
“This bill is about protecting good jobs, supporting workers on the front lines and creating a more secure shopping environment for New Yorkers,” added Farias, contending the 15-item limit is to “maintain safety, accountability, and fairness in the checkout process.”
The legislation’s rollout comes on the heels of the Council’s far-left faction trying to drum up support for a separate bill backed by socialist Mayor Mamdani to increase the city’s hourly minimum wage from $17 to a nationwide-high of $30 — a plan business leaders warn would be a costly disaster for employers and likely cause NYC to lose many jobs.
Farias’ bill is already co-sponsored by four other Dems: Manhattan’s Gale Brewer and Harvey Epstein, Tiffany Cabán of Queens, and Shirley Aldebol of The Bronx.
However, critics such as Councilwoman Joann Ariola said those pushing the bill have their priorities wrong.
“This is typical backwards leftist logic,” the Queens Republican said. “Instead of actually trying to punish criminals, my colleagues are pushing to make life even harder for businesses and consumers.”
She also took aim at the separate push to nearly double the city’s minimum wage.
“Demanding that struggling businesses hire even more staff — and at $30 an hour, no less, if some on the Council have their way — is a surefire way to drive business out of NYC and make it even more difficult for New Yorkers to get their medicine and groceries,” she said.
If elected officials really want to help businesses crack down on shoplifters, they should put tougher laws in place to hold criminals accountable and help provide more police presence when needed, said Jason Ferraira, a board member of the National Supermarket Association, which represents more than 700 NYC and East Coast stores.
“I think this is a horrible idea,” said Ferraira, who has self-checkout at two of three Foodtown supermarkets he runs in Queens. “Self-checkout helps us because we don’t have to man as many registers, that’s true, but at the same time, it’s the benefit for the customer. People like options.”
“You don’t prevent shoplifting by making me have a certain ratio of employees,” he added. “People shoplift in a lot of different ways. Some shoplift through self-checkout. Some through the regular cashier checkout. Some people bypass the checkout altogether, and go straight to the floor.”
John Catsimatidis, owner of the Gristedes supermarket chain, said he believes the motivation for the new bill is preventing retail stores from replacing workers with self-checkout lines as the Council “tries to impose” a higher minimum wage.
“They think people are really stupid and don’t realize the real reason they’re doing this,’ said the billionaire, who also owns WABC-AM radio.
Gristedes doesn’t have self-checkout lines and likely never will because they’re easy targets for shoplifters, he added.
Shoppers also think the Dem plan is misguided.
The City Council should be dealing with more important things — like passing laws to combat crime — than trying to dictate how supermarkets should deploy staff or how many items customers can have on a self-checkout line, said Tommy Bayiokos, 60, who regularly shops at Key Food supermarket and CVS pharmacy.
“Government should stop being disruptors of businesses,” said the Brooklyn-based actor.
“If anything, force businesses to hire more security guards that will actually crack down on shoplifting, but it seems like no one is watching the store anymore. And what is the point of inconveniencing people who use the self-service line?”
A pandemic-era surge in shoplifting ravaged stores statewide — including in the city — and lead to $4.4 billion in losses during 2022 alone, spurring mass closures by CVS, Rite Aid and other major retailers.
Shoplifting in the Big Apple and across the state has steadily dropped since Gov. Kathy Hochul took steps in 2024 — including forming a $40 million statewide task force — to tackle the surge that caused big-box stores to start locking up goods.
Shoplifting crime rates in NYC are still well above pre-pandemic levels, rising 47% from February 2020 through June of last year, according to data compiled by Brennan Center For Justice.