There is a disturbing sight popping up around New York City, adding an Armageddon-like feel to the near-empty streets and shut-up shops. Rather than just locking up and closing the gates, more and more stores owners are opting to board up their doors and windows, making it look like they’re protecting their properties from an oncoming storm.
High-end retailers Louis Vuitton, Prada and Dolce & Gabbana, Sephora in Times Square and Meatpacking, and a series of closed bars and restaurants on the Upper East Side have been spotted using nailed-up plywood barricades to guard their goods on the coronavirus-emptied streets.
A NY1 viewer sent in photos to NY1's Roma Torre of some of the boarded-up shops in SoHo.
"What a gloomy site for us the residents who go out for picking up necessary stuff or simply for a little fresh air," the viewer wrote.
Local business advocacy groups are also not happy. In an interview with the Real Deal real estate news website, Mark Dicus, executive director of the SoHo Broadway Initiative, asked local business owners to find a different way to protect their premises.
"We're encouraging property owners and retailers to keep those storefronts untouched and to keep the lights on at night," he said. "We want to maintain a sense of normalcy and make sure our neighborhoods are safe. We feel there are ways to take care of that without resorting to drastic measures like boarding up storefronts."
Dicus suggested hiring security firms, or keeping interior lights blazing.