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June 2, 2020

Some downtown businesses wary in wake of nationwide violence

PHOTOS | New Haven BIZ The Apple store on Broadway was boarded-up with plywood late Monday afternoon to protect it against a possible outbreak of violence and looting similar to what took place in a number of other U.S, cities over the weekend.
By Michael C. Bingham

Even as a new day and a new month brimmed with hope for business revitalization in downtown New Haven and Connecticut, dark clouds gathered in the form of violent protests in the wake of the death of 46-year-old African-American George Floyd in the custody of Minneapolis police a week ago.

Late Monday afternoon the Apple Store on Broadway was hastily boarded up to safeguard the storefront from potential violence at the hands of protesters and rioters that erupted over the weekend.

The workers who erected the plywood barrier Monday afternoon refused comment to the media.

Following the looting of two Apple Stores in downtown Boston on Sunday, a number of recently reopened Apple stores nationwide were hastily boarded up and employees sent home to be safe from possible violent episodes. Photos circulating on social media on Sunday and Monday show Apple Stores in locations across the country, from Manhattan and Brooklyn to Washington state, with their windows and entrances boarded up.

The city's largest commercial/retail landlord is Yale University Properties, which owns most of the Broadway shopping district as well as significant numbers of properties in the College/Chapel Street commercial district.

Asked what steps University Properties would take to safeguard tenants in its commercial zones, including the deployment of units of the Yale Police Department if needed, Yale spokeswoman Karen Peart said that "The Yale Police Department is committed to working with the New Haven Police Department to maintain a safe environment for citizens to exercise their right to peacefully protest and to also maintain the integrity of property.

"We all have an interest in keeping businesses open and there have been no reports that any of them have been vandalized or damaged," Peart added late Tuesday afternoon.

 

A Yale Police Department cruiser patrols Broadway on Tuesday morning.

Apple did not immediately respond for comment about the New Haven store or when it might reopen.

"Apple made a corporate decision — independent of the university — to cover their New Haven store and other locations around the country," said Peart.

On Sunday a march of some 1,000 protesters culminated in a confrontation with police officials and Mayor Juston Elicker at police headquarters at 1 Union Ave.

The New Haven Register reported on Monday night that Molotov cocktails had earlier that day been hurled at police substations in the Hill and Newhallville neighborhoods.

Some business leaders expressed solidarity with the protestors.

"At the Greater New Haven Chamber of Commerce we talk a lot about inclusive growth, but clearly, first we need to recognize social justice," said the business group's president and CEO, Garrett Sheehan, in a statement. "A lot of horrible things happen in the world, and as a chamber, we normally do not comment on them because our cause is business.

"My pledge is that as the chamber moves forward to support inclusive growth, we will keep the social issues at the forefront," said Sheehan. "We’re not going political and we’re not going to comment on every wrong in the world. What we will do is recognize that real economic growth cannot be achieved until there is social justice reform."

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