Nabe jittery after suspect in ‘duck sauce’ slay makes bail
A judge’s decision to grant accused “duck sauce killer” Glenn Hirsch bail sent shock waves through a Queens neighborhood Tuesday, rattling the suspect’s neighbors and scaring off both workers and customers at the Chinese restaurant he allegedly targeted.
Great Wall restaurant owner Ken Yang was stunned that Hirsch, who is charged with nursing a monthslong grudge over inadequate duck sauce packets that exploded with the murder of a deliveryman, is back at home thanks to a $500,000 bail package. NYPD cops were posted outside the eatery in Forest Hills.
“All the community is scared,” Yang said. “All my community, they come here to ask me why they gave him bail. ‘He killed people, why did they give bail?
“I need the community and the police to help me. For our safety.”
Residents of the nearby Briarwood co-op building where Hirsch, 51, lives were also shocked. The accused murderer, described by police sources as a hoarder, is now on home confinement with an ankle monitor.
“Unfortunately, we must report that a member of our community, Mr. Glenn Hirsch, was arrested and indicted for a murder that did not occur on the property,” the building’s management wrote to residents in a letter obtained by the Daily News.
“Despite the vigorous protest made by the co-op’s attorney to the Queens district attorney, he is being released to move back to his apartment.”
One resident said he had called the DA’s office to complain.
“All this guy’s got to do is open the door and shoot anybody,” the man said.
“I don’t know what this guy’s capable of if he’s harassing somebody over duck sauce.”
Judge Kenneth Holder acknowledged the loathing for Hirsch when granting bail on Monday.
“Apparently there are enough people around who just hate you that I’m sure they’re going to take a picture of you if they see you in an area where you should not be and send it to the court,” the judge said, warning Hirsch to comply with the strict terms of his release.
The decision was so controversial that a customer of the Chinese joint was charged with saying ahead of the hearing that the judge would “have trouble” if he allowed Hirsch out of jail.
Authorities say that Hirsch became enraged on Nov. 30 that he did not receive enough duck sauce with his take-home order from Great Wall. Repeated confrontations at the restaurant culminated on April 30, when Hirsch stalked and then fatally shot a well-liked deliveryman, Zhiwen Yan, 45, prosecutors say.
Hirsch was busted June 2. The Queens DA described his demand
for more duck sauce as an “obsessive point of contention.”
Now that Hirsch is back at home, Yang said the restaurant will no longer deliver to his co-op building. Business had picked up after Hirsch was taken into custody, but dipped again after he was released on bail.
“They don’t want to come around here,” Yang said.
The first customer to show up on Tuesday was Catherine, a regular since 1998.
“If [Hirsch’s] family has the means to post that kind of bail, he can buy duck sauce at Trader Joe’s, Whole Foods, Key Food, Amazon. Right?” Catherine wondered.
Hirsch’s brother posted the bail with a certified check, but the $500,000 came from Hirsch himself, his lawyer Michael Horn said.
Catherine was still grieving over the kind deliveryman’s killing.
“I miss him,” she said. “No matter how busy, and he was busy, he would always take a moment to acknowledge you as a fellow human being, and give you that connectedness that we so crave these days in this post-COVID world.”
Great Wall’s recovery was complicated by a lack of deliverymen, Yang said. Chinese people were too scared to work for the restaurant, so Yang said he now had a Hispanic man handling deliveries.
“The Chinese no, they don’t want to come. They’re scared,” he said.
The slain deliveryman’s widow, Eva Zhao, was “devastated and heartbroken.”
“He is a danger to our community, and his presence in the community where I live and work makes me feel unsafe,” Zhao said in a statement.
“I thank the district attorney and the police for their efforts in obtaining and enforcing an order of protection for me, and I have faith that we will get justice for my husband, Zhiwen Yan.”
Hirsch has pleaded not guilty. His lawyer Horn, has said they will try to find the real killer.
“Our position is that he’s not the guy who did this, that that person is still out there. And we’re going to try and find that person as much as anybody else,” Horn said.