NEW YORK, June 3. /TASS/. The situation in New York after the second night was a lot calmer than on previous mornings, when many shops in the city center were looted by the crowd at night. A TASS correspondent, who drove around Manhattan’s central streets on Wednesday morning, reported that streets were almost empty, police patrols were deployed at major junctions and shop owners were doing their utmost to protect property from possible looting.
Particularly serious measures were taken by managers of a luxury department store, Saks Fifth Avenue, where not only plywood panels and barbed wire were installed to protect shop windows, but also a living chain of more than a dozen of tough-looking men.
A protective wooden wall almost two meters high was also installed by athletic apparel retailer Lululemon. The Jewelry on Fifth boutique and 47th Street Diamond Exchange also used plywood panels to protect their windows and doors. The nearby Gemological Institute of America, which, among other things, is involved in gemstone appraisal, also took precautions to safeguard its premises from looting.
According to police officers, looting attempts on Tuesday night were recorded at 6th Avenue and 31st St, and on Fifth Avenue.
On Monday, the mayor of New York announced a curfew in the city from 23:00 to 05:00 local time, and extended it for another night on Tuesday.
Mass unrest has engulfed many US states over the death of an African-American Minneapolis man named George Floyd. He died after a police officer kneeled on his neck and choked him to death while being taken into custody. On May 26, all police officers involved in the deadly arrest were fired and one policeman, Derek Chauvin, was arrested and charged with third-degree murder and second-degree manslaughter.
To counter the riots, local law enforcement is often supported by the US National Guard. So far, 40 cities, including New York and Washington, have enacted a curfew.