Police Issue IOUs as Toys for Guns Scores Sellout in High-Crime Area
A holiday program offering toy gift certificates for guns has proved so popular in a crime-ridden neighborhood that police were forced Saturday to hand out IOUs, a department spokesman said.
The program, which began Wednesday, offers a $100 gift certificate to Toys ‘R’ Us stores for every weapon taken to the 34th Precinct police station in the high-crime neighborhood of Washington Heights.
The station in northern Manhattan ran out of certificates Saturday after taking in 250 weapons, ranging from broken hunting rifles to a submachine gun.
The overwhelming response has been dubbed “the miracle of the 34th Precinct” by Police Commissioner Raymond Kelly, a takeoff on the Christmas film classic, “Miracle on 34th Street.”
The program was the brainchild of a neighborhood carpet retailer who said he wanted to do something about the high rate of gun violence.
The businessman has put up $5,000, with the remaining $20,000 coming from other businesses, including Toys ‘R’ Us. More money will be sought to pay for the IOUs and continue the program through the end of the year, the police spokesman said.
The precinct, with a population of 200,000, has had 65 murders so far in 1993, although officials said the homicide rate has dropped sharply from last year’s 100 killings.
The program was meant to expire at midnight Saturday.
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