New York City took its first steps to reopening on Monday after nearly three months in lockdown, with retailers finally opening their door...
New York City took its first steps to reopening on Monday after nearly three months in lockdown, with retailers finally opening their doors again to provide curbside pick up.
While it was almost business as usual again for a number of stores, many retailers such as Saks remained boarded up following a week of riots at looting in the city, sparked by the death of George Floyd in Minneapolis police custody on Memorial Day.
The luxury department store, located on Fifth Avenue, has covered its renown display windows with large wooden panels and razor-wire fencing to deter any potential thieves.
Private security guards equipped with a dozen specially trained German shepherds, Belgian Malinois and pit bull dogs have also been seen patrolling outside the premises over the last few days.
The extensive defences were put in place by Saks last week in a bid to avoid the same fate of some of its competitors, including Kate Spade, Sephora and Coach - all of which had their windows smashed in at least one location by looters last weekend. None of the stores reopened Monday either.
Macy's world-famous Herald Square location was also ransacked amid the unrest last week. Though the flagship store, as well as Bloomingdale's 59th street location will remain closed until later in the week, the remainder of Macy Inc. stores reopening this morning.
While it was almost business as usual again for a number of stores, many retailers such as Saks remained boarded up following a week of riots at looting
The luxury department store, located on Fifth Avenue, has covered its renown display windows with large wooden panels and razor-wire fencing to deter any potential thieves
Private security guards equipped with a dozen specially trained German shepherds, Belgian Malinois and pit bull dogs. have also been seen patrolling outside the premises over the last few days
The extensive defences were put in place by Saks last week as the luxury retailed hoped to avoid the fate of some of its competition, including Kate Spade, Sephora and Coach - all of which had their windows smashed in at least one location by looters last weekend. None of the stores reopened Monday either
Guards, some with dogs, stand outside of Saks Fifth Avenue on June 07, 2020 in New York City. The luxury department store is one of hundreds of boarded-up businesses in New York City following nights of looting last week
Security personnel stand guard outside Saks Fifth Avenue on Monday evening, with razor wire suspended above their heads
Bloomingdale's 59th street location will remain closed until later in the week, offcials from the store confirmed in a statement
The store remained boarded up on Monday. Officials said they're still working through operational logstics before opening the store up
Diners sit outside a Manhattan restaurant as eateries across the city roll-out curb-side dining in phase one
People enter the subway at Times Square during rush hour on the first day of phase one of the reopening after the coronavirus lockdown
Commuters at Grand Central Station on Monday morning, when phase one of New York City's reopening began. Between 200,000 and 400,000 people are expected to return to work today as retail, construction and manufacturing jobs resume
Commuters arrive at Grand Central Station with Metro-North during morning rush hour on June 8, 2020
Free hand sanitizer and face masks were given out at Grand Central Station on Monday. The subway has always been open but
New York Governor Andrew Cuomo takes the escalator after riding the New York City subway 7 train into the city on June 8, 2020 in New York
Jewelry stores opened on Monday morning on a curbside basis. Pictured, men on West 47th Street waiting for custom
A man in the jewelry district walks to work while holding his mask in one hand on Monday
Construction workers also return to work on Monday in the first phase of the city's reopening
Jewelers on West 47th Street opened up on Monday morning to serve people on a pick-up basis for the first time since March 20
Jewelers on West 47th Street reopening on Monday morning
A jeweler on West 47th Street takes the temperature of a customer wearing a mask before allowing him inside
A worker at RPM, another jewelry store, on Monday. Many remain boarded up after a week of riots and unrest
On the whole, De Blasio said the unrest seen in the city over the last week had had little impact on reopening plans.
'Because we contained it with the curfews, very minimal impact in terms of phase one,' he said, adding that the looting had been 'horrible'.
Before commencing phase one of reopening, New York City had to hit state-mandated targets on COVID-19 testing and hospital capacity as well as infection and hospitalization rates.
'All New Yorkers should be proud that you got us to this day,' de Blasio later said of the reopening at a press conference in Brooklyn. He credited residents following strict social-distancing measures since mid-March, and predicted 200,000 to 400,000 people will return to work during this first phase.
If all goes ahead as planned, after two weeks the city will be permitted to move into the second phase of reopening, which would allow outdoor dining at restaurants, while offices, hair salons and retail stores could open their doors at 50% capacity.
But so far, there has not been a sudden rush back to business that might have been expected several weeks ago. Some retail workers are also scared to go back to their jobs because they fear contracting COVID-19.
De Blasio accepted that not everyone would hurry back and said many people and businesses will likely watch eagerly over the next few days and weeks for a second wave of virus infections before encouraging staff to return to work.
'Everybody has to make their own choice. New Yorkers are very pragmatic. What they're going to do is watch and as they see things working, more and more people will come out,' he said.
A person shops in front of an open antiques store on June 8, 2020 in the Carroll Gardens neighborhood in New York City
A return to normalcy? A large group of people are seen waiting for the train at Times Square during rush hour on the first day of phase one of the reopening
A customer browses outside of a antique store in Manhattan as a young girl rides her scooter in the street
People enjoy a night out as resturants are allowed curbside service during phase 1 of the Coronavirus re-opening
There were more shoppers in the Bronx. People were seen at P.C. Richard and Son, an electronics and appliance store, when it opened
People shop at the Danice clothing store after it reopens, Monday, June 8, 2020, in the Bronx
Danice clothing store manager Alexander Nee checks invoices as the Bronx business reopens, Monday, June 8, 2020
Customers browse at Danice clothing store as the Bronx business reopens, Monday, June 8, 2020, in New York. The store was ransacked a week ago during protests
Tiffany & Company store is seen boarded up on Monday as phase one of reopening efforts began in New York City
Monday's long-awaited reopening lets all retailers open up on a pick-up basis only, and allows manufacturing and construction workers back to work
Dine-in service at restaurants and bars remains prohibited in the city, gyms are closed and hair salons and offices are still not yet allowed to reopen. Monday's long-awaited reopening lets all retailers open up on a pick-up basis only, and allows manufacturing and construction workers back to work.
The phase one of reopening comes 100 days after the first coronavirus case was detected in New York state. There were six deaths from the virus in NYC on Saturday, according to data released by the city, and only 61 people were hospitalized with it on Sunday.
Gov. Cuomo said on Monday at his daily briefing: 'When we first started, all the experts. They all said the same thing. It's going to depend on what people do.
'I am so proud of how New Yorkers have responded. New Yorkers did what they had to do.
'If you'd told me 100 days ago that we would be reopening when we didn't even know how bad it was going to get... we had some dire predictions.
'It was frightening. But New Yorkers did it. It's that simple.
'We're not out of the woods but we are on the other side, certainly. When things are tough, New Yorkers are tougher. Our mojo is back. Our energy’s back.'
Some stores, including many in Manhattan, remained closed on Monday despite being able to reopen
The streets of Manhattan were busy on Monday but nearly everyone who was walking around was wearing a mask
He went on to say it had been both 'emotionally hard' and 'exhausting' but added optimistically: 'Congratulations. We are back. We are back.'
More than 17,000 people have died in New York City since the pandemic began.
At the height of the crisis, 800 people were dying every day and field hospitals were erected to help cope with the staggering body count.
Now, they have been dismantled and temporary morgues that lined the streets have all been removed.
Many of the retailers in Times Square also remained closed on Monday despite getting the go ahead to reopen
The Macy's flagship store in New York's Herald Square, which was also hit by looters late on Monday, will offer curbside pickup service to customers beginning on Monday
A Coach store on Fifth Avenue which was looted on Monday night is boarded up as seen on Tuesday. Coach will also not be opening its doors on Monday
Jewelry and metal trading stores on West 47th street in Manhattan begin to re-open
There have been fewer than 50 deaths across the state of New York - which has a population of 19million - for the last several days
On Monday, Mayor Bill de Blasio announced five new bus ways will be added to the city to ease the load on the current network. The Staten Island ferry will also run every 20 minutes during rush hour.
Coach, Kate Spade, and Stuart Weitzman locations in the Big Apple all remained closed on Monday - this despite the fact that hundreds of their stores across North America, Europe, and Asia have reopened in recent weeks.
All three brands are properties of their parent company, Tapestry Inc.
Around half of Tapestry's retail locations in the United States and Canada are open for curbside service but the company is being more cautious when it comes to its New York operations, given that the city was hit hardest by COVID-19.
'We’ve been taking a careful, phased approach in reopening our ~700 stores across North America (NA), following the successful strategy we utilized in China, South Korea and Japan,' a spokeswoman told DailyMail.com.
'Today we have about 460 NA stores open across our three brands (Coach, Kate Spade and Stuart Weitzman), most offering curbside or store pickup, with about ¼ of these locations fully open to the public with safety measures in place.
'We have not, as yet, reopened our NYC stores.'
Ulta Beauty Inc, the popular cosmetics brand, also opted not to resume business in New York City today.
Of the company's 51 locations in New York State, just seven opened for curbside pickup on Monday, but none of those were in New York City.
Retailers are taking it very slow since many of their employees do not feel safe enough to go back to work given the possibility of additional COVID-19 outbreaks.
'Phase 1 is only going to have a minor impact on retail and retail employment,' Stuart Applebaum, president of the 60,000-member Retail, Wholesale and Department Store Union, told the New York Post.
'Most retail workers will remain unemployed.'
Sephora, the popular beauty products seller, will also remain closed as of Monday. A Sephora store is seen above on Thursday on New York's Fifth Avenue
A boarded-up Stuart Weitzman location is seen on Madison Avenue in New York City on Tuesday. The store will remain closed during phase one of the city's reopening on Monday
Applebaum said workers are 'frightened' to return to work, which for many requires them to take mass transit.
To offset their fears, the city is giving out free hand sanitizer and face masks on trains.
The Bloomingdale's location on East 60th Street will offer curbside pickup services, as will the Macy's in Herald Square.
The Macy's flagship store was looted last Monday just after 11pm, when dozens of people broke their way through the boarded-up entrance and ran into the store.
One such metric is the number of new infections which dropped to 781 cases, or around 1 per cent of those tested on Saturday.
Other metrics needed before reopening was granted include at least 30 contract tracers for every 100,00 residents and the capacity to perform 30 diagnostic tests for every 1,000 residents.
Thirty per cent of hospital beds and ICU beds must be available and wards must have a 90-day stockpile of PPE.
Officials said the city's subways should be operating at around 95 per cent of their pre-pandemic service by Monday to help facilitate New Yorkers' return to work, officials said.
Mayor Bill de Blasio estimated that up to 400,000 people would be returning to work today under Phase One of the reopening scheme.
On Sunday he emphasized that Monday's reopening was 'a moment that every New Yorker should celebrated', ABC News reported.
It is mandatory for masks to be worn in a bid to reduce the chance of catching the virus, and the MTA has said it will test 'real time' air filtration systems on trains.
A source told the NY Post: 'It complements the disinfecting and cleaning that is happening multiple times a day in every car, and the requirement that everybody wears a mask.'
Workers will also distribute masks at kiosks as well as other locations to help keep New Yorkers safe.
Normal, pre-pandemic service levels will resume by Tuesday, Interim Transit President Sara Feinberg told 1010 WINS.
Last week the MTA called for a wave of volunteers to help hand out the masks as well as hand sanitizer.
A letter sent to to the mayor and city leaders said: 'The vast majority of our workforce will of course be operating and maintaining the system itself.
'The MTA has requested the city provide 3,000 volunteers to support this customer facing effort.'
The city's reopening today comes after thousands of people marched through streets to protest racism and police brutality in the wake of the killing of George Floyd.
A deserted 42nd Street is pictured in midtown New York on April 19 amid the coronavirus epidemic
Mayor Bill de Blasio lifted New York City's 8pm curfew yesterday, a day early, ahead of today's reopening. The curfew was put into effect to stop George Floyd protesters from looting and destroying businesses
De Blasio announced an early end to the 8pm curfew that was set to remain at least through early Monday, with officials planning to lift it at the same time the city was to begin reopening after shutdowns because of the coronavirus.
He said he was 'cautious' about moving to Phase Two, which would allow a surge of workers to return to offices, restaurants and bars to offer outdoor seated services and retail shops to allow people in store.
Hair salons will also be allowed to reopen at 50 per cent capacity in this stage.
While state guideline say Phase Two could be implemented in two weeks' time on 22 June under state guidelines, Blasio told New Yorkers to 'think about the beginning of July as the target'.
He said New York City has was 'not like other regions' of the state and said the reopening process could be either slowed down or sped up depending on its success.