Migrant shoplifting wave from troubled NYC shelters forces stores to take drastic measures

Miscreant migrants from two troubled shelters in Brooklyn have unleashed a wave of ceaseless shoplifting, fights and other shenanigans in the sleepy waterside neighborhood — forcing some shops to take drastic steps.

Business owners and workers told The Post they’ve lost business and have been beset by thieves since twin Clinton Hill migrant shelters — one of which saw a deadly, potentially gang-linked shooting over the weekend — went up on Hall and Ryerson Streets and swelled with roughly 4,000 people housed there.

The Key Food supermarket on Myrtle Avenue has resorted to hiring security for the first time and now requires shoppers to relinquish backpacks upon entering the shop, said front-of-store manager Henry Fryas.

“We never took shoppers’ bags, but now we take their book bags,” Fryas, 23, said this week.

“It’s crazy, the situation now.”

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Migrants, some still wearing their IDs from the shelter, steal beer, deli meats, toothpaste, shampoo and more, Fryas charged.

The controversial shelters in the Brooklyn Navy Yard’s shadow drew complaints from residents even before back-to-back Sunday shootings left two people dead and a third critically injured.

The shelter at 47 Hall St. opened in July 2023, followed by the nearby 29 Ryerson St. site this April.

Neighbors argued packing thousands of people in two shelters a block apart is a recipe for problems spilling out — a fear that shop owners and workers who spoke with The Post on Wednesday made clear is a frustrating reality.

Melissa Wood, 41, who works at Storrow Management self-storage from the Hall Street mega-shelter, said the business’ occupancy has fallen 20% since the site opened because customers are intimidated by migrants when they pull up.

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The business hired a weekend worker to stand on its loading dock as a way to assure customers that they’re safe, according to Wood.

“Once our customers pull in, some of them don’t even come inside, they just leave,” she said.

“We do the sale over the phone, lock them in, but once they arrive and observe the neighborhood they don’t want anything to do with it. They worry they won’t be safe and their stuff won’t be safe.”

Those safety fears weren’t unfounded — at least for one of Woods’ colleagues, she said.

“One of our staff was attacked because we asked the migrants to get their food off the loading dock, where they were just having a feast,” she claimed.

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Shoplifting has become a daily problem at the Myrtle Avenue deli where Alex Lexan, 40, works.

Lexan said he catches two or three migrants — who all wear lanyards showing they’re staying at the nearby shelters — a day stealing beer, soda or candy.

“Sometimes, when they see I’m busy, they get away with stuff,” he said.

“When you check back the footage you can see they’ve taken something. They put beers, candy, sodas, down their pants. Or after they’ve bought something, they try to put candy in their bag.”

When Lexan catches the thieves, he said some want to fight.

“They’re all talk,” he said. “Once they get outside they yell ‘fuck you’.”

“I’m tired of calling the cops, I don’t call them no more.”

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