BOSTON — Up and down Newbury Street, board-up crews removed plywood from storefronts Monday two days after former Vice President Joe Biden won the United States presidency.
It was a step in the direction of pandemic-era normalcy as businesses hoped to usher into their stores not only sunlight but also a lot more customers.
For Suit Supply general manager Nick Sullivan, it was a sad reality that shops needed to board up in the first place.
After riots and looting left Boston stores smashed and empty in May following peaceful protests calling for racial justice, tension and fear were high again around Election Day.
“You never really thought you’d get to the point where an American election would put a business to the point of needing to board up,” Sullivan said. “Time to take [the boards] down, business as usual and hopefully the start of something better.”
The past week was peaceful, and Sullivan is glad customers will be able to see into the formal wear shop again. He also hopes a stretch of 70-degree weather will increase foot traffic.
“It snowed like five inches last week before Halloween, and now it’s 70,” Sullivan said.
Farther down the block, server Ignatius Aleas told Boston 25 News he, too, hopes the unseasonably warm weather will fill up his tables at Puro Ceviche Bar.
“Surprising,” Aleas said. “I heard it was record numbers in certain places in Massachusetts, and happy about that for the next coming weeks.”
The state’s new 9:30 p.m., curfew for restaurants due to rising COVID-19 cases is yet another blow for the service industry. Aleas said Monday’s news from drugmaker Pfizer announcing a successful trial for its coronavirus vaccine is a much needed moral boost for the industry.
“Definitely a feeling of happiness, little bit of relief,” Aleas said. “It’s not there yet, but it’s light at the end of the tunnel, for sure.”
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