A 30-year-old man was shot in the gut as he exited a Midtown bar early Saturday after he tried to fend off a masked crook who wanted to snatch his gold chain, police said.
The victim left the Stafford Room on West 46th Street in Hells Kitchen around 2 a.m. when a thief approached and tried to tear the bling from around his neck, cops said.
He tried to defend himself from the goon, who was decked out in black and had dreadlocks, but the stranger pulled out a gun and shot him in the belly, according to cops.
“You can’t just step up to people,” an NYC cop said.
The victim was taken to Mount Sinai Morningside in stable condition. There were no arrests.
Cops were trawling the area, where several bars are located, for surveillance video.
The victim is the second person to be shot in the Midtown North Precinct this year, cops said.
Three people had been shot at this point last year, NYPD data show.
Shootings overall are down 24% so far this year citywide with 435 people shot compared to 575 at the same point last year, according to NYPD data.
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