BY YANNIC RACK | They grabbed the cash but left the candy.
On an Easter weekend more than 40 years ago, Little Italy was shaken by a brazen team of safecrackers, who bagged $55,000 in weekend receipts from Ferrara, the famed pastry shop on Grand St.
According to an article in The Villager from April 6, 1972, merchants and residents alike were stunned by the break-in at the local landmark.
“Stealing from Ferrara’s is like vandalizing a shrine, and the incident shocked the community,” the article reported.
The robbers bypassed the shop’s pastries and candies, which the article noted were sold all over the world, and instead went for the office safe, busting it open with a crowbar and acetylene gas torch.
Apparently the establishment’s owners wouldn’t comment on the daring burglary, though one manager shrugged off the crime with a dramatic comparison — which served to underscore the shop’s standing in the neighborhood.
“Like a kid who chomped too hard on a piece of nougat candy, Ferrara’s was keeping its mouth shut this week,” read The Villager’s report.
“[But] before caution took hold,” the article continued, “Mauro Magnani, the general manager, told a newsman, ’They desecrate Grant’s Tomb. Why not this place?’ ”
The article noted that the loot reflected a busy Easter weekend at the shop, with tables heaped high with Easter candies, including a huge Easter egg that sold for $75.
In the end, the cafe recovered and the burglars didn’t succeed in robbing the community of its treasured cannoli and pasticciottos. Today, Ferrara still stands at the same spot between Mulberry and Mott Sts. where it opened in 1892.
