A gutsy 87-year-old man fought off a brazen pair who tried to tear off his $48,000 Rolex outdoors a Gramercy Park senior middle he was attending together with his spouse, in line with cops and the victims.
Larry Schwartz, 87, and Joanna Cuccia, 89, have been approaching the Stein Senior Middle on East twenty third Avenue close to Third Avenue – a brief distance from their condominium – round 11 a.m. Wednesday when the male suspect held the door open and requested Cuccia for instructions to a Walmart, he stated.
“I stated, ‘There are not any Walmarts in New York Metropolis,’ after which he stated, ‘Oh, inform my spouse, inform my spouse,’” Cuccia stated.
The stranger, believed to be in his 40s, led Cuccia outdoors to the curb the place a girl sat within the again seat of the passenger facet of a grey SUV.
As soon as Cuccia met the supposed spouse – who seemed to be about 35 years outdated – on the window, she shortly sensed one thing was off.
“As I’m speaking, what she had in her hand was lots of chains and bracelets,” she stated.
“They have been attempting to indicate that they have been very wealthy, I assume. However I wasn’t desirous about that. She prolonged her hand and I believed she needed to shake, however she then grabbed my hand and began kissing my hand and thoroughly trying on the ring and the watch that I had on. I didn’t like the entire thing.”
The difficulty began when Schwartz, who had been within the foyer, got here out to see what was occurring.
The feminine passenger shortly fixated on Schwartz’s Presidential Rolex – which he’s owned for greater than 40 years and values at $48,000 – and all of the sudden supplied him a watch of her personal that seemed to be an inexpensive knockoff.
“She dangles this faux Rolex,” Schwartz stated.
“She’s providing me what supposedly was a greater one. Earlier than I even held it, I knew it was faux. I knew there was one thing improper.”
As Schwartz held the faux, the grasping girl received her fingers on his wrist, he stated.
“So she prolonged her arm and grabbed the watch on my wrist, and she or he was adept sufficient to maneuver my thumb down and flip the catch,” Schwartz recalled.
“So the watch slid off my wrist. Immediately the bells went off. What I did was I grabbed her wrist and pulled her complete physique and smashed it in opposition to the facet of the open window. She’s screaming.
“And only for good measure, I gave her arm a three-quarter twist,” he added.
“Now, she’s nonetheless holding on to my watch. So what I did was slip my hand underneath her wrist. I grabbed her wrist and banged her complete physique in opposition to the within of the automotive. She’s screaming like loopy.”
Her male confederate, in the meantime, made a last-ditch effort – retrieving a wad of payments from the automotive and fanning them in entrance of Cuccia’s face.
“He made a fan of it and he stated, ‘Come, select no matter payments you need,’” she stated.
“And at that time I actually knew we have been in deep s–t. It was so weird. I stayed put and didn’t go for that. Within the meantime, Larry’s having a tug-of-war with the bitch that’s attempting to get his actual Rolex.”
Lastly, the male driver received again into the automotive, turned it on and revved up the engine – prompting Schwartz to let go of Cuccia’s wrist – and the pair hit the street of their silver late mannequin Jeep Compass.
Schwartz refused medical consideration for minor bruises and cuts, cops stated.
Regardless of his age, he stated preventing off the would-be thief was a pure intuition for him.
“I’m a bodily individual. I’m not bashful,” he stated.
“I’ve been concerned in bodily issues a great a part of my life. I work out with weights daily. I run. I do the entire 9 yards.”
However he stated he doubts that “the overall citizenry” can be “in any situation, form or ability to take them on.”
Schwartz stated he additionally has little hope that the devious duo will wind up in cuffs – or no less than not for lengthy.
“The most important phrase I can placed on the 2 of them is brazenness,” he stated.
“These individuals don’t have any worry. I believe they don’t have any worry that in the event that they do get caught they’re going to get turned free. However I don’t suppose they consider there’s a lot probability they’re going to get nailed.”
And Cuccia, a seasoned New Yorker, described the late-morning theft try as “surprising.”
“I’ve lived in New York all my life, by means of lots of administrations, lots of troublesome crime instances,” she stated.
“I’ve by no means been concerned in something like this. I’ve all the time been on the road, however I’ve by no means been gray-haired earlier than and I really feel extra weak than ever.”
Robberies and grand larcenies within the confines of the thirteenth Precinct, which covers the realm the place the stick-up occurred, are on the rise to date this yr, in line with the newest NYPD knowledge.
A complete of 124 robberies have been reported as of Sunday inside the precinct’s boundaries – a couple of 19 p.c leap from the 104 reported inside the identical timeframe in 2024.
And the precinct tallied 192 grand larcenies to date in 2025, leaping about 21 p.c from the 159 reported throughout the identical interval final yr, the statistics present.
