Crime-plagued NYC bodegas implementing ‘panic buttons’ to combat ballooning violence

It’s a real panic move.

Fed-up Big Apple bodega owners are trying a new approach to stave off the wave of violence that has plagued small shops and delis in the five boroughs for months – a “panic button.”

“We need help today, not tomorrow,” Fernando Mateo, the spokesman for the group United Bodegas of America, said in a statement released Wednesday. “Panic buttons that can notify numerous people in real time will save lives and deter criminals.”

The pilot program for the alert gizmos, in partnership with the digital security company SaferWatch, is hoped to help tap state funds that were supposed to be earmarked for small business security.

“We believe that everyone who works or visits a bodega deserves to feel safe, and this new program helps us accomplish that,” Mateo said. “We are installing SaferWatch technology because it can make the difference between life and death.”

The UBA did not say how many bodegas would be involved in the program to start.