A Metropolis Council member from Queens is urging her constituents to arm themselves following a terrifying house invasion through which robbers posing as Amazon drivers tied up a household and snatched 1000’s of {dollars} in money, based on cops.
Republican Vickie Paladino provided to assist residents in her district — which covers Whitestone, the place the ordeal came about — acquire gun permits in gentle of the break-in Monday morning.
“I need to remind my constituents that New Yorkers have a constitutional proper to guard themselves,” Paladino stated in a press release.
“I urge my constituents to avail themselves of their rights underneath the Second Modification; my workplace is all the time out there to help constituents with acquiring firearm permits for premises or hid carry,” she stated Tuesday.
The conservative pol’s name to arms got here as the NYPD on Wednesday launched surveillance footage of the pair of wished perps sporting baseball caps, with certainly one of them carrying an Amazon field and the opposite sporting a bright-yellow vest, strolling on the quiet residential block.
The masked thieves pushed their method into the house at round 9 a.m., tying up the household residing there, together with three youngsters, duct-taping their mouths — after which making off with the money and jewellery, cops stated.
“The NYPD has indicated that this was a focused incident and there’s no ongoing risk to the neighborhood,” Paladino stated.
“Let me be completely clear – violence has no place in Whitestone or anyplace in our district.”
Neighbors stated house invasions weren’t unusual within the space — with no less than two telling The Submit they’d just lately been robbed.
A 37-year-old Whitestone resident who declined to present her identify stated cash and jewellery have been taken from her home six months in the past, however fortunately nobody was house on the time.
“I don’t suppose it was random. I feel individuals are scoping out the world,” she stated.
“This neighborhood has been just a little loopy. The identical factor that occurred to them occurred to us.”
One other neighbor, a 25-year-old man, stated his home had been damaged into about six months in the past as properly.
“When that occurred, we obtained ready. You gotta defend your self. All that issues is your life. The dangerous folks, they by no means get caught,” he advised the Submit.
The 109th precinct, which encompasses Whitestone, has reported 99 robberies to this point in 2025.
The NYPD remains to be trying to find the suspects within the newest heist.
“The security of our neighborhoods is my prime precedence – and I can’t sit quietly whereas violence threatens our neighborhoods,” Paladino stated.
