Businesses fear another robbery/rape

Nearly a week after a break-in at a Jackson Heights laundromat, local business owners and workers worry that they could be future victims even though they characterized the incident, which included a robbery and rape of a 46-year-old employee, as unusual.
&#8220I'm so scared,” said Nur Aktar, who has owned a small shop two doors down from the laundromat for the past five years. Aktar, who normally opens her Bangladeshi market by herself in the morning, has taken to opening up 20 minutes later than usual each day so that more people are around when she unlocks the doors.
&#8220After this break-in, I'm scared. I'm so nervous,” she said, adding that her home nearby to the laundromat was also broken into six months ago. &#8220I go over there [to the laundromat]. She [the woman who was attacked] is a nice lady.”
On Wednesday, December 20, two men came into the laundromat, which is located on 35th Avenue at the intersection of 71st Street, at about 7 a.m. asking for change. The robbers brought the female employee into the store bathroom and took turns raping her at knifepoint, police said. Their victim was taken to Elmhurst Hospital Center after the attack.
In addition, the thieves ended up walking away with somewhere between $500 and $1,000, according to local business owners.
As of Tuesday, December 26, police were still on the lookout for two Hispanic men between the ages of 20 and 25. One man has a thin build and is 5'3”, and the other has a medium build and is 5'2”. Both men were also wearing black wool gloves with multi-colored fingers, and anyone with information about the men or the attack is asked to call Crime Stoppers at (800) 577-TIPS.
Sayed Khalid, who opened a 99-cent store down the street last year, said that the store's owners were most concerned about the woman, who Khalid said usually opens the store by herself at 6 a.m. Only a cabstand down the street - the &#8220Mexican Car Service” - is open at the time, with dispatchers changing shift at 5:30 a.m. Taxi dispatcher Morton Arevalo, who arrived at work the morning of the attack, said that nothing seemed out of the ordinary that morning. &#8220It's really a shame,” Arevalo said.
Although he described the neighborhood as safe and quiet, Khalid said that other business owners had warned him to be extra cautious around the holidays when opening and closing.
Khalid, who used to come into his store at 11 a.m., now swings by earlier so that none of his employees are left alone in the morning.
&#8220If you have two [people], it's better. They [robbers] can handle one person very easily,” he said.
In November, The Ranger Texas Barbecue at Legends Bar, several doors down from the laundromat, was robbed at gunpoint of $6,000, according to owner Frank Giannone. Giannone said that in the nine years he has been open, he has been robbed twice, and that the neighborhood people generally watch out for one another.