There’s Something Almost Existential About The Idea That “There Is A Fine Line Between A Shopper And Someone Who Is Up To No Good”
Block watch initiatives can sometimes be imperfect:
Tony stores on Atlantic Avenue in Boerum Hill stretch are policing themselves — fending off hoodlums coming from Fulton Mall to rob their shops.
Surveillance cameras went up Wednesday, along with buzzer systems, a new policy of locking front doors — and quizzing potential customers about what they are looking for before they are allowed inside.
There are 10 signed members of B-MAC, Brooklyn Merchants Against Crime, and about ten more in the pipe line. Managers say they are most wary of men shopping for ladies clothes without a woman in sight.
“There is a fine line between a shopper and someone who is up to no good,” said [a manager of a store] on Atlantic Avenue.
. . .
[One shopper], 52, was turned away at [a consignment store] on Atlantic Avenue Tuesday afternoon.
[The angry shopper], a black man wearing canvas sneakers and a hip military coat, walked down the block to the [ . . . ] boutique complaining to the owner that the salesgirl wouldn’t buzz him.
“When you take off work to do some shopping and they don’t let you in, yes it is confusing,” said [the shopper], a teacher, after the owner explained the concept of BMAC and their new policy of turning away men not accompanied by a woman.
“It’s New York, so I totally understand,” said [the shopper]. “I just needed someone to explain this to me.”
Location Scout: Atlantic Avenue in Boerum Hill.
Posted: December 14th, 2011 | Filed under: Brooklyn, Things That Make You Go "Oy"