A plaque remaining from the Big Apple Night Club at West 135th Street and Seventh Avenue in Harlem.

Above, a 1934 plaque from the Big Apple Night Club at West 135th Street and Seventh Avenue in Harlem. Discarded as trash in 2006. Now a Popeyes fast food restaurant on Google Maps.

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Entry from March 29, 2006
Push-in robbery
The "push-in" robbery commonly occurs when someone waits for an elderly person to open the apartment door, and then pushes that person in the apartment and robs it.

The term "push-in" robbery appeared in news stories in the high-crime 1970s. It recently was used on the New York-based television show Law & Order.

(Google)
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8 October 1976, Los Angeles Times, "Elderly Pair Hang Selves in Fright" (wire service news story, based in New York City), pg. A13:
Sgt. Arthur Marini said the Kabels were driven to despair by push-in robberies committed by "vicious punks picking on people who simply cannot resist."

12 November 1976, New York Times, "Many Elderly in the Bronx SPend Their Lives in Terror of Crime" by Judy Klemesrud, pg. B6:
Mrs. Lieberman, a gray-haired, sparrow-like woman, was the victim of three "push-in" robberies, meaning that the criminals waited for her in the hallway and then pushed her into her apartment as she was unlocking the door. This is one of the most common crimes against the elderly.

13 November 1976, New York Times, "Police Unit Hunts Predatory Youths, Aids THeir Aged, Terrorized Victims" by Judy Klemesrud, pg. 10:
The Senior Citizens Robbery Unit is assigned all cases involving indoor robberies of Bronx victims over the age of 60. Many of these crimes are the so-called "push-in" jobs that occur when a robber or group of robbers waits in a hallway for a victim to come home, and then pushed him or her into the apartment.

Posted by Barry Popik
Names/Phrases • Wednesday, March 29, 2006 • Permalink


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