But elsewhere, many restaurants stop delivering much earlier and stick to known customers. Her store usually only delivers to five or six regulars, and it won't deliver beyond a 10-block radius. Some restaurants near the Hub won't deliver to the Mott Haven Homes, residents said. One Chinese restaurant distributes fliers inside the buildings, but the Domino's Pizza drivers won't get out of their cars when making deliveries, said Charles Herkless, who lives in the complex. Staff at the Third Avenue Domino's confirmed that this is their policy.
Larger chains follow set procedures to deter crime.
For some restaurateurs, the main concern is time, not crime. Even so, he only delivers to addresses that he knows are nearby. If you send someone to deliver and they live on the 14th floor of a building with a broken elevator, it can take half an hour for them to come back, he said. At American Taste in Fordham Plaza, employee George Martinez also said he wasn't intimidated by crime, although he said that teenage gang members often hang out by nearby schools. American Taste, which serves mainly local businesses, only delivers until 6 p.m. in the winter and 8 p.m. when it stays light longer.