Nino's Regular Raises Cash For UES Eatery After Gunpoint Robbery

UPPER EAST SIDE, NY — A regular of a beloved Upper East Side Italian restaurant is raising funds to help the eatery after the owner and an employee were held at gunpoint, tied up and robbed of $9,000.

"I am the most appreciative," Nino's Ristorante owner Nino Selimaj told Patch. "For many people who have supported us."

Devin Marshall — whom Selimaj says often dines at the restaurant on First Avenue and East 73rd Street with his "wonderful family" — launched a GoFundMe last month to raise the $9,000 stolen from Nino's on Feb. 13, according to the owner and the online campaign.

The GoFundMe has raised $280 since it was launched in late February.

Selimaj and an employee were robbed in broad daylight, according to police and reports, and the owner told Patch, "I had a gun to my head."

The duo came into the restaurant around 2 p.m. and demanded one of the workers open the safe, according to police.

But when no money was inside the safe, the thieves went through the victims' pockets, finding $9,300 that a patron had given Selimaj to help the struggling eatery, according to police and the GoFundMe.

"That may not be considered much by Manhattan standards but the owner was given that money by a patron because the business is struggling," wrote Marshall, who organized the fundraiser.

"Please donate to help a local business."

There had been no arrests in the robbery as of Thursday, according to police.

Selimaj extended thanks to all the Upper East Side regulars who have continued to dine at Nino's, but his ultimate message to his neighbors was one of caution.

"Please," Selimaj said. "Be safe."