Bergen Beach Civic Association President Sal Calise advised the community on Saturday afternoon, that four general contractor’s vehicles have been stolen in the neighborhood over the course of the past two weeks; three pickup trucks and one box truck, all emblazoned with business logos and information, which they believe made them targets.
As a working class neighborhood, Bergen Beach is home to a great many contractors, many of whom drive pick-ups and leave desirable and expensive tools and equipment on their flatbeds overnight out of convenience. While it may not seem wise, it is rather common in what has always been a safe and quiet community where neighbors know and look out for one another. Only in recent years, has it become necessary to secure everything from planter pots and holiday decorations to lawn gnomes and loose change left on vehicle dashboards.
Calise explained that members of the community have gathered an abundance of video footage of the thefts, which occurred mostly on weekdays, between the hours of 2:30 a.m. and 5:00 a.m. and have handed the evidence over to the NYPD to aid in their investigation. He encouraged members of the community to park in their driveways and lock their gates if they have them, and in well-lit areas in view of surveillance cameras I possible. He hopes now, to alert other contractors in Bergen Beach and surrounding neighborhoods like Mill Basin and Canarsie, to be vigilant as well to avoid becoming victims of this type of opportunistic crime, which deals a terrible blow to blue collar workers, many already struggling during these trying times.