A prominent bodega advocate accused Mayor Zohran Mamdani on Sunday of focusing more on public image than public safety after a 12-year-old boy, the son of a former NYPD sergeant, was fatally shot while heading to a Bronx deli.
Fernando Mateo, founder of United Bodega Owners of America, criticized the progressive mayor for attending a FIFA World Cup viewing event with inmates at Rikers Island earlier this month, calling it a publicity stunt as gun violence continues to unsettle New York City neighborhoods. The latest victim, beloved 12-year-old Jacob Freytas, was killed Saturday near a Mount Eden bodega.
“Where is Mamdani?” Mateo said angrily outside the deli where the child was shot.
“We know what the remedy is because we’ve lived through this before. The remedy is very simple: The governor, the mayor, instead of having a day out watching a FIFA game at Rikers with criminals, be advocating for victims,’’ Mateo said.
“Protect the victims and their families.”
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Jacob had gone to Wanda Deli Grocery on Elliott Place near the Grand Concourse shortly before 5 p.m. Saturday to buy a ball when gunfire erupted outside during a dispute involving six people, according to law-enforcement sources.
After the shots rang out, Jacob ran outside to get back on his bicycle and escape, but surveillance video obtained by The Post showed him stumbling back into the store moments later, clutching his chest before collapsing. He later died from his injuries.
Law-enforcement sources said Jacob’s father is a former NYPD sergeant who served in the Bronx.
Mateo said the bodega owners group is offering a $5,000 reward for the killers.
“This is directed to the governor and the mayor of this city,” he said. “Let’s get tough on crime. Let’s stop giving a pass.”
Despite the tragic shooting, NYPD stats show that shootings and murders in the five boroughs at historic lows — but Mateo said too many neighborhoods are still plagued.
