A day before the Nov. 3 election, many New York City businesses are boarding up windows in preparation for potential civil unrest.
Stores across Manhattan have covered their glass windows with plywood, the New York Post reported. Those include the Chanel on Spring Street in SoHo, Levi’s and Gucci in SoHo and Dior along Greene Street.
New York Stores Board Up
In Chelsea, people have fortified the Ann Taylor, Bed Bath & Beyond and Staples with plywood. They’ve boarded up the Macy’s flagship store in Herald Square. Likewise, Bloomingdale’s, Saks Fifth Avenue, Louis Vuitton, Tiffany, Bergdorf Goodman and Tourneau also prepared for the potential unrest.
“It is very sad to see New York City in this kind of condition, with all these beautiful stores boarded up or closed down. It’s very upsetting!” SoHo shopper Tina Sayah told WABC.
The riots and looting this summer caught some New Yorkers off-guard. Now businesses are determined not to let that happen again.
An NYPD official also said that police are urging business owners in potential unrest hot spots to take steps ahead of the election.
“The NYPD talked to many segments of the business community this week and advised that businesses in or in the area of location that have historically been protest targets, Washington Square and Union Square for example, and gave them advice to take extra precaution,” the official told the Post.
The official said the NYPD did not tell businesses to board up their stores. They took that step on their own.
Retail Corridors Everywhere Bracing for Unrest
New York City is not alone. Across the U.S., high-end retail corridors will be shuttered up and blocked off. Police departments are developing plans to head off any potential looting.
“There’s coordination across city departments,” Rich Gamble, chairman of Chicago’s Magnificent Mile Association, told Bloomberg.
A partner at security consultants Control Risks told Bloomberg that they expect worse violence from supporters of Joe Biden if President Trump wins than they do from Trump supporters if Joe Biden wins.
