Can you tell I grew up in NYC back in the bad old days? We learned it all the hard way. Sorry for your friends!
I once went to NYC to visit a friend; I stayed overnight in his apartment. He warned me not to have any coins visible inside my car because thieves would use a center punch to pop a window and take whatever they could find. I asked him if there was some lower limit. Would the break the window for a nickel? For a penny? He said he was sure they'd break in to get a quarter. This was almost 30 years ago.
My son stopped overnight in Waco to visit my daughter (a student at Baylor) on his way back to his classes at Texas Tech in Lubbock back in the 1970s. There had been a snow storm, and he had his ice scraper stolen out of his car over night. Under the circumstances, that was almost as bad as having someone steal the shoes off of your horse!
LOL, totally agree with your friend’s estimate.