SALEM, Mass. — Despite the governor’s and mayor’s best efforts to scare off tourists this year, Salem still attracted its annual crowds Saturday just one week out from Halloween. Several local businesses also said they had a bone to pick with local officials after several new regulations were announced this week.
“On the eleventh hour, the governor and the mayor decided to tell us that we had to close Friday, Saturday and Sunday at 8 o’clock, including doing all of our tours and everything that we had pre-paid,” said Lorelei Stathopoulous, owner of Crow Haven Corner on Essex Street. “Now there’s like 300 tickets out there that we have to try to work out and refund.”
Stathopoulous told Boston 25 News that she felt the move was political and said she would not be closing her private garden toward the back of her business.
“I will not shut down, Mayor Driscoll, Governor Baker. My garden will be open. So you’ll have to arrest me,” she said.
PREVIOUS: Salem cracks down on crowds, announces new round of restrictions for Halloween
This week, Governor Charlie Baker and Mayor Kimberly Driscoll made a plea for people to stay away from the city, so it would not become a COVID-19 hotspot. Over the weekend, parking garages closed at noon and fewer trains stopped at Salem Station.
Saturday afternoon, a group of women from New York and New Jersey gathered on Essex Street dressed as witches.
“Unfortunately with COVID, we miss a lot, but it’s not keeping us back,” explained Donna Bauer from New York.
She explained that the group drove up at 6 a.m. on Saturday, determined not to miss out on the spooky season. She added that she felt safe because the vast majority of people were wearing masks.
“A lot of people in Salem didn’t want out-of-towners. But we felt the same way with people coming from out of town to come apple picking. It happens.”
The city also cracked down on illegal parking.
Boston 25 News saw a number of parking tickets placed on windshields and vehicles being towed.
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