Two gunmen posing as FedEx deliverymen took advantage of lax security on a quiet Good Friday, snatching $7 million worth of diamonds and other jewels from a Diamond District wholesaler, officials and eyewitnesses said yesterday.
The hoods were pleasant enough as they entered the building at 55 W. 47th St., making small talk with the doorman before heading up to Diamart, a small but prestigious sparkle joint on the seventh floor of the building, sources at the building said.
The theft occurred on an overcast holiday when security on the big-money block was relaxed because many jewelers were closed, the sources said.
Inside the seventh-floor offices of Diamart, manager Raj Goinka buzzed in a couple of men who said they were from FedEx, authorities said. Both were dressed in black from head to toe.
Once they were inside, Goinka realized he had made a big mistake – as both were wearing masks.
Goinka said that because it was the end of the week and his workers were busy cleaning up shop, the safe had been left wide open – to the hoods’ delight.
Goinka said one of the gunmen pulled out a weapon, slammed it onto the counter and said, “I want all of this.”
He then grabbed the store owner by the hair and jammed the gun into his temple, while his cohort helped himself to a stack of valuables, including gold watches and emeralds. After the crooks had neatly stuffed the loot into envelopes, they went to work on the contents of the safe.
Diamonds, jewelry, baubles of every sort – charm bracelets, earrings, small priceless origami envelopes filled with glittering prizes from the mines of Pretoria – all had been cleaned out, Goinka said.
Cops said the storekeeper, who called 911 as soon as the crooks fled, wept inconsolably until dusk.
He told cops the gunmen had slipped the loot into plastic bags, thanked the doorman in the lobby, hit the street and left the epicenter of bling for the relative chaos of Times Square.
The whole thing took 20 minutes, but for Goinka and his family, it could take 20 years to correct the damage done to their business.
Meanwhile, habitues of Diamond Row, which for decades has been a bloody and brilliant destination for happy couples and newly minted rappers, said snatch-and-grab mayhem was a constant.
“Shocked? I ain’t shocked,” said one old-timer. “Par for the course, buddy.”
Even though there is a constant and visible police presence and enough surveillance cameras for a reality show, the street remains a magnet for the fleet-fingered.
“This was an inside job,” said one longtime diamond dealer. “They knew what was going on. They know how it works around here. It’s Good Friday, so usually there’s less security.”
In 1996, a diamond worker was shot to death during an afternoon robbery several hours after another crew of gunmen invaded a nearby jewelry store, tying up six workers and beating three of them to a bloody pulp.
The holdup ended badly for one of the thugs, who tripped on the sidewalk and scattered a bagful of watches, rings and other valuables to the delight of cabbies and frankfurter vendors on the street.
A year later, a thief armed with duct tape and a silver gun took off with $3 million worth of jewelry. In 1983, two men in stocking masks forced a jeweler at gunpoint to fork over $1.5 million in diamonds, emeralds and jewels. And that same year, an estimated $6 million in gold chains – 9,000 pounds of the stuff – was ripped off.
Additional reporting by Jamie Schram