BEDFORD-STUYVESANT — Santa’s naughty list has a new addition following the theft of dozens of Christmas trees from a Brooklyn garden center.
A man swiped more than 20 trees from the Seasons nursery and garden center on Stuyvesant Avenue on Dec. 10, according to police and business owner Deborah Young.
The thief clipped the lock on the gate of 378 Stuyvesant Ave. near MacDonough Street in the early morning hours between 2:30 a.m. and 5 a.m., officials said, taking off with a variety of small and large trees and fresh wreaths.
The incident marks the second year in a row thieves have targeted the greenhouse, according to Young.
“Thieves are thieves, and thieves are everywhere. It’s Christmas, it happens,” she said.
“People get desperate at Christmas.”
In 2014, log reindeers and wreaths were stolen from Seasons, but the hit wasn’t as significant as this year’s loss, Young said.
“In this businesses you have two times of the year to make your money: May and June, and December,” Young said.
“The money you make in May and June carries you through December, and vice versa. I had to get out and get more trees, you have to. You’re not going to let them win.”
Young opened Seasons in 2012 to supply her neighbors with quality plants at affordable prices, she said.
The business owner, who also provides the Christmas tree for the annual Fulton Park holiday celebration, said she received an “outpouring of love” from residents who visited the greenhouse after the theft.
After hearing the news, many flocked to buy local during one of the busiest seasons for the garden center.
“It’s a store, but it’s also a community place,” Young said.
“The support I received made me cry harder than when I walked in here and saw that big hole where the trees were. It was so heartwarming."
