Burglars robbed a Manhattan newsstand then jumped on a bus and robbed another, investigators say

Police in Manhattan are investigating two separate robberies at newsstands and they want to know if they are connected.

Shah Hussein was robbed at gunpoint in the middle of the afternoon.

"I don't feel safe. I often say it, this is not safe here. New York City? It is very, very difficult here," Hussein said.

He was working in his tiny newsstand at 81st Street and Columbus Avenue, just steps from the Museum of Natural History, when thieves pushed their way inside at 1:15 Monday afternoon.

"They are suddenly inside coming. They come inside and find me inside. Here I am standing and I fell down," Hussein said.

He says the two men were wearing masks and hooded sweatshirts when they roughed him up before stealing roughly $3,000 in cash.

NYPD detectives say that exactly 23 minutes earlier, two men robbed a newsstand on 79th Street, just west of York Avenue on the Upper East Side.

That victim asked not to share their identity, but police say those thieves escaped with $1,100 in cash and lottery tickets.

Investigators now believe the men may have boarded the M79 bus and traveled across Manhattan, where they robbed Hussein.

As word spread through the neighborhood, his customers expressed condolences, reacting with disbelief.

"I know the man, you see him in almost every day. And he's a nice man. And I felt bad that it happened to him. You know, I just wanted to say hi and give him some support," neighbor Michael Freedman said.

Submit a tip or story idea to Eyewitness News

Have a breaking news tip or an idea for a story we should cover? Send it to Eyewitness News using the form below. If attaching a video or photo, terms of use apply.