Brazen gunman holds up supermarket in tony NYC area in broad daylight, flees with $2K

A brazen gunman held up a Manhattan smoke shop in an affluent neighborhood in broad daylight Thursday — whipping out a gun and making off with $2,000 in plunder, police said.

The crook walked into Rainbow Smoke Shop in the posh West Village at 378 Sixth Ave. around 2:24 p.m., flashed the weapon, and thrust out a bag while demanding cash from the cashier, according to the NYPD.

An unidentified individual, depicted in this New York City Police Department handout, is wanted in connection with a gunpoint robbery at Tashkent Supermarket. NYPD

After robbing the store, the thief darted out with his two grand and fled into the West 4th Street subway station before heading uptown toward 42nd Street, authorities said.

Surveillance images released by police Friday show the suspect was last seen wearing a black hoodie, black pants and black sneakers while carrying a brown backpack.

An exterior view of 378 Sixth Ave. in the West Village Google Maps

Anyone with information regarding this incident is asked to call the NYPD’s Crime Stoppers Hotline at 1-800-577-TIPS (8477) or, for Spanish, 1-888-57-PISTA (74782). The public can also submit their tips by logging onto the Crime Stoppers website at https://crimestoppers.nypdonline.org/, on X @NYPDTips.