Overview
- Assemblywoman Emily Gallagher told reporters Thursday outside Manhattan Criminal Court that many shoplifting cases involve people taking basic items like soap and toothpaste out of a “biological need” and urged a treatment-not-jail approach.
- The comments came at an event with Court Watch NYC, which said it observed 360 arraignments over four days and found more than half were misdemeanor charges.
- Local elected officials, store managers and shoppers quickly condemned Gallagher’s remarks as enabling theft and harmful to small businesses, and several Republicans publicly criticized her on social media.
- City data cited in coverage show retail theft fell about 14.7 percent and petit larceny fell about 5.4 percent through Aug. 9 compared with last year, even as retailers report losses and increasingly lock products in security cases.
- Reporters noted Gallagher has posted on X that no one should be jailed for taking a tube of toothpaste, she did not answer press requests, and the dispute highlights a broader debate over criminal-justice reform, policing of low-level offenses, and how to address poverty-driven theft.