Our shoplifting crime really went up by a lot in the last few months. You just get a slap in the wrist if you get caught in NYC. You get fined like $500 then the state will let you go. I think as long as you don’t steal more than $3000, it is not a felon. Once you get the items in your home, most of the time, the cops cannot prove that you stole it.
Basically, it is the same people stealing stuff over and over. They get caught, they get released and then they steal stuff again. Hard times though in NYC with high rent prices, high inflation, cost of foods on the rise and so on.