x.com/AustinJustice/status/2047530684344901710
2 corrections found
so five $200 shoplifts from the same Rite Aid becomes a serious felony, not misdemeanor slaps.
New York now allows aggregation of retail thefts, but five $200 thefts total exactly $1,000, and the felony threshold is for value that exceeds $1,000 — so that example would not be a felony.
Full reasoning
New York's 2024 retail-theft changes do let prosecutors aggregate stolen retail goods across incidents, but the example in the post gets the threshold wrong.
Under current New York Penal Law §155.30(12), aggregated retail theft becomes grand larceny in the fourth degree only when "the value of the property exceeds one thousand dollars." Five thefts of $200 each total exactly $1,000, which does not exceed $1,000.
The Governor's own summary of the FY25 budget agreement says the new law lets prosecutors aggregate retail goods "for the purposes of reaching a higher larceny threshold," but it does not say that five $200 thefts automatically become a felony. The threshold still has to be met.
So the post's specific example is incorrect: five $200 shoplifts would total $1,000 and would not satisfy the statutory 'exceeds one thousand dollars' felony threshold.
2 sources
- NYS Open Legislation — Penal Law § 155.30 (Grand Larceny in the Fourth Degree)
The property consists of retail goods or merchandise stolen ... and the value of the property exceeds one thousand dollars, which value may be determined by the aggregate value of all such property ... Grand larceny in the fourth degree is a class E felony.
- Governor Hochul Announces New Initiatives to Crack Down on Organized Retail Theft and Protect Frontline Workers in the FY25 Budget Agreement
The Budget allows retail goods from different stores to be aggregated for the purposes of reaching a higher larceny threshold when stolen under the same criminal scheme.
The NYC economy was hemorrhaging $4.4 billion a year to shoplifting.
The widely cited $4.4 billion figure is for New York retailers statewide in 2022, not for New York City alone.
Full reasoning
The $4.4 billion number attached to New York retail theft is a statewide estimate, not an estimate for New York City alone.
Capital One Shopping's state-by-state retail-theft page says: "Retailers in New York lost $4.404 billion in revenue to theft in 2022." It also separately says "The State of New York lost out on $176 million in retail sales tax dollars due to theft." That is a statewide estimate for New York retailers.
The Retail Council of New York State repeated the same figure in budget testimony as "stores in New York" losing $4.4 billion in 2022. So the post's wording shifts a statewide figure into an NYC-specific claim, which overstates what the source says.
In short: $4.4 billion is a New York State retail-loss estimate, not a measure of the NYC economy's annual losses.
2 sources
- Capital One Shopping Research — Retail Theft (Shoplifting) Statistics
### New York Retail Theft Statistics ... Retailers in New York lost $4.404 billion in revenue to theft in 2022. ... The State of New York lost out on $176 million in retail sales tax dollars due to theft.
- Retail Council of New York State — Testimony for Joint Legislative Public Hearing on 2024-25 FY Executive Budget Proposal
For context, stores in New York lost $4.4 billion in revenue as a result of theft in 2022, according to Capital One Research. The same study noted that the State of New York lost $176 million in retail sale tax dollars due to theft.