Staten Island tanning salon is shut down by the NYPD after defying lockdown orders to reopen - as hundreds of small businesses quietly open their doors despite warnings from de Blasio that they'll be fined for disobeying him
A Staten Island tanning salon was shut down by NYPD cops on Thursday after reopening in defiance of the lockdown order like hundreds of small businesses across New York that are quietly opening their doors after growing tired of waiting for the mayor or governor to let them get back to work.
Sunbelievable, a tanning salon run by Bobby Catone, reopened after he complained that he was being treated like a 'prisoner'.
It is unclear whether or not he was able to serve any customers before police shut him down again on Thursday. Dozens of protesters turned out to support him.
Some wore masks, others did not.
Catone told DailyMail.com: 'The problem is they don't give you a date. Now it's phases. It went from flatten the curve to now I've got to wait a little longer.. we did that. Everybody did that. We were willing to sit in, make no money - it's not healthy to stay in, first of all, after a few weeks people started realizing this isn't really making much sense.
Sunbelievable, a tanning salon on Staten Island, reopened on Thursday after owner Bobby Catone (shown in light blue shirt) said he felt like he was being held 'prisoner' by city officials keeping him closed
Catone embraces a friend at the tanning salon. He was not wearing a masks but others, who stood outside to protest, did
NYPD cops descended on the business, shut it down, and gathered signs criticizing Cuomo for keeping them closed
Catone put a sign in the window telling customers he'd been shut down by the health department afterwards
There were dozens of protesters there to support Catone. Some wore masks, others did not
New York City recorded only 59 hospitalizations on Wednesday and 45 people died on Tuesday. Despite the low numbers, De Blasio and Cuomo have both dodged giving a reopening date for weeks and say the city's 'numbers' aren't low enough yet.
It is enraging business owners who demand to know why they haven't been allowed to return to work and implement social distancing and disinfecting rules while retail giants like Walmart, Costco, Home Depot and Amazon sweep the market.
All of those major stores have been deemed essential since the beginning of the pandemic predominantly because they sell household items and groceries.
But they also sell countless other types of goods and have continued to make profits while people shop online and in their stores.
Over the past week, businesses have quietly started reopening across the city. Some keep their doors locked once customers are inside and others turn out the lights to try to avoid attracting police attention.
Many did not want to be named publicly because they have been threatened with 'aggressive' enforcement from Mayor Bill de Blasio, according to Bruce Backman, spokesman for Reopen New York, a coalition of small businesses.
My Unique, a thrift store with multiple locations in the Bronx, Brooklyn and New Jersey, is open.
Peter Elliot Blue, a menswear store on the Upper East Side, has been open for weeks. The store owner, a 78-year-old veteran, is only allowing two people in at a time and is giving them masks and gloves. He says he can't affor to stay closed.
'We have 11 locations across NY & NJ, and as so many other small businesses, have been immensely impacted by the shutdown over the past few months.
'My boss started the company in 1987, and since the COVID crisis began, he’s been working around the clock trying to salvage the business and figure out how to survive this shutdown.
'He’s expressed how difficult it has been; we are a tight knit group, some employees have been with him for decades.
'We know them like family, and they’ve been unable to earn the income they rely on to feed those families.
'The safety of our customers and staff is our top priority, but we also provide essential goods, and have prepared our stores with every CDC safety measure and then some.
'In NJ, our stores have been deemed essential business and permitted to open during phase 1 reopening.
'We’ve been allowed to open on Long Island as well, but in NYC we have not been given the same qualification,' Chelsea McCarthy, Digital Operations, told DailyMail.com.
She added that the store sells items that have been deemed essential from the start of the pandemic, like paper towel, and that customers rely on their low prices for the goods.
They tried to stay open but were shut down by NYPD cops, she said, who came in and told everyone to leave.
Ilya Iskhakov runs Beard Barberia Cut and Shave, in Williamsburg.
He closed his doors briefly and was shut down by three cops who came to the shop and threatened him and his customers with summonses.
Beard Barberia Cut and Shave in Williamsburg, Brooklyn. Owner Ilya Iskhakov reopened quietly on May 22 and three cops showed up to shut him down again (shown). He's since started giving people haircuts in their homes and even moved to a temporary premises to avoid being caught
Peter Eliot Blue, a menswear store on the Upper East Side, has been open since the end of April
Owner Eliot Rabin, 78, let two people in the store at a time and provides shoppers with masks and gloves. He says he couldn't afford to stay closed
'They are hard working Americans that don’t want to be in danger,' he told DailyMail.com.
He said he is now going to people's homes to perform haircuts but has also moved his own business to a temporary location to avoid being shutdown.
'At the moment my customers are reaching out so I perform in house haircuts just to eat food and pay rent and utilities,' he said.
Gymies, a children's gym in Brooklyn, has been closed for months.
The gym area where children play is still closed but it has reopened its small retail section.
Michael Weinstein runs 360, an events company in Long Island. He has reopened his showroom and is inviting clients in once again.
'We need to open in order to meet one on one sagely with clients looking to use our various services.
'We have a showroom that has samples and it really helps to see the samples in person,' he said.
All belong to Reopen New York, a coalition of hundreds of businesses that has formed to unite against the local officials keeping them closed.
'Why is the mayor favoring Walmart and Costco over New York small businesses?
'When did the mayor and the governor become pawns against small business? It's probably the strangest position they have ever taken,' Bruce Backman, a spokesman for the coalition, told DailyMail.com.
My Unique thrift store, which has locations in the Bronx and Brooklyn, has reopened some of its locations despite shutdown orders
Gymies Gym in Brooklyn has not reopened its play area but it is reopening for curbside retail
They say there is no science or data to support the notion that mega stores can enforce mask wearing and social distancing better than they can.
They are calling into question the mayor and governor's entire shutdown strategy which banned small independent retailers from selling clothes and shoes, but allowed huge businesses to carry those items because they sold other 'essential' products.
'How is Walmart safer than a small children's good store or a jewelry store?
'Plenty of medical professionals will advocate small businesses with small groups of people will have far less spread of the virus than huge stores.
'It makes no sense and it's a crime...It's the most dangerous, reckless policy in the history of the city of New York,' he said.
Backman said all of the businesses are committed to operating safely and that they all accept they must enforce social distancing and hygiene rules.
'To join this group you have to agree to follow the recommended safety regulations. This isn't some willy nilly reopen group out of Michigan with guns. It was started by single mothers, businesses who are desperate not to lose everything.
'We can't open and all our clients are getting in the car and driving to Walmart. Beyond the fact of accessibility issues - most aren't in local communities and many New Yorkers don't have cars. In my own family, if I have to go out, my wife cant go to the grocery store,' he said.
He thinks de Blasio and Cuomo are clinging to the shutdown to cling on the power they have over the city but that they may also be receiving pressure from retail giants.
'I think it's a power grab... you have to wonder, how much lobbying are the big box stores doing to keep themselves the only ones in business?
'When have we ever forced people to go to three stores to buy everything? It's like the Soviet Union.
'We are encouraging stores to open, regardless of what the governor says... they can't shut us all down.'
The New York City Hospitality Alliance is asking for restaurants to be allowed to reopen in the first phase of the relaunch with outdoor tables.
Andrew Rigie, the director, told DailyMail.com: 'People are frustrated. Many businesses and restaurant owners are frustrated they want to get open but we're not going to determine when we're going to.
'Some are angry and want to reopen right away and others that are very unhappy but are more understanding.'
They need more in the way of grants - not loans - to tide them over until they can do open their doors, he added.
'If you're not going to let them reopen, what other kind of help are you going to give? It's an extended period of time that is hurting them so much,' he said.
Staten Island tanning salon is shut down by the NYPD after defying lockdown orders to reopen - as hundreds of small businesses quietly open their doors despite warnings from de Blasio that they'll be fined for disobeying him
![Staten Island tanning salon is shut down by the NYPD after defying lockdown orders to reopen - as hundreds of small businesses quietly open their doors despite warnings from de Blasio that they'll be fined for disobeying him]()
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