KIPS BAY — Neighbors of a Kips Bay tailor who was stabbed multiple times in a robbery are raising money to help his recovery.
A crowdfunding effort launched Sunday by neighbors and customers of Apel Tamagoglu, 78, had raised $425 by Tuesday morning. The tailor was stabbed on Jan. 23 by a robber in his shop at 203 E. 27th St., between Second and Third avenues.
Customer Evan Rofheart, who lives in Murray Hill and is organizing the fundraising, said he wanted to show support for Tamagoglu. The shop owner suffered multiple stab wounds, a punctured lung and a cracked skull, according to police.
“It just seemed like such an unfair kind of thing,” he said. “Here’s a guy working day in and day out, it’s not a place with a lot of money in it, and he gets attacked."
The crowdfunding page has a target goal of $10,000.
Tamagoglu was attacked by John Franklyn, 53, after refusing Franklyn’s demand for cash, according to police reports.
The tailor put up a fight but was stabbed multiple times in the chest. He eventually handed over $80 before chasing Franklyn out of his shop with a chair, police said.
Franklyn, a resident of the 30th Street Men’s Shelter at East 30th Street and First Avenue, was later arrested and charged with attempted murder, robbery, assault and criminal weapons possession, records show.
He is currently being held without bail at Manhattan Detention Complex and is due back in court on Tuesday.
Tamagoglu did not respond to requests for comment but, in an interview with the Daily News, he told reporters last week that he planned to be back at work within 10 days.
“I have no choice. I have to work to make a living,” Tamagoglu told the newspaper. “If I don't work, I'm hungry.”
“We just want to give him a little cushion so that if he needs to take a break he can take a break,” said Rofheart.
