By: Meyer Wolfsheim

The city will invest $1.6 million to install panic buttons in up to 500 bodegas across New York City in response to recent violent attacks on deli workers, Mayor Eric Adams announced Sunday during a press conference in The Bronx.

According to reporting from the New York Post, the buttons will be placed in high-crime “hotspot” neighborhoods throughout the five boroughs and will connect directly to the NYPD’s central command, bypassing the traditional 911 call system. Officials say the goal is to drastically cut emergency response times during armed robberies, assaults, or other threats to store employees.

“Instead of just having cats keep the rats away, we’re going to have a direct connection to the police to keep away those dangerous cats who try to rob our stores,” Adams told the crowd outside Pamela Green Deli, where the announcement was made, as quoted by the Post.

The panic button system will be implemented by security tech company Silent Shield. However, the exact locations of the bodegas receiving the devices won’t be disclosed publicly — a strategic decision meant to introduce uncertainty for would-be criminals. “No one will know who actually has a device,” Adams told the Post after the event. “That element of surprise helps us.”

The initiative comes after months of mounting pressure from the United Bodegas of America (UBA), whose members have pushed city leaders for better protection following a series of violent incidents, including two deadly attacks in Bronx delis earlier this year.

UBA spokesman Fernando Mateo praised the move but emphasized that it came only after years of broken promises from various levels of government. “We’ve asked for panic buttons for so long,” Mateo said at the event. “We’ve gotten promises from council members, assembly members, even the governor — and still, the killings, the stabbings, the robberies, they keep happening.”

As reported by the New York Post, a previous pilot program launched last June installed 50 panic buttons in select bodegas, but some store owners complained about inconsistent police response times, largely due to integration issues between the technology and NYPD systems. The new rollout aims to correct those gaps by connecting the devices directly to police command.

Eli Soto, a 51-year-old worker at Pamela Green Deli, said he sees the panic button as vital for safety. “There’s a lot of crime in the area,” Soto told the Post. “People are getting robbed, even killed. If something happens and the cops take too long, that could be the difference between life and death.”

Nearby store worker Aassim Kadeem, 26, said the measure makes sense, especially in neighborhoods where gang violence is common. “You don’t know who’s going to walk in. It could be a thief, or worse,” he told the Post. “A lot can happen in ten minutes, and the usual police response times? It’s too long.”

Mayor Adams said the buttons not only improve safety for bodega staff but also create a deterrent effect across communities. “We’re talking about 500 devices citywide,” he said. “And the fact that no one knows exactly where they are — that’s going to make a difference.”