reopen nyc

New Yorkers get creative to help keep masks from getting lost

Monday, September 14, 2020

New way to prevent face masks from getting lost

Lauren Glassberg reports on New Yorkers getting creative to help keeps masks from getting lost.

TRIBECA, Manhattan (WABC) -- An entire cottage industry is shaping up around chains traditionally used for reading glasses that can now be used for masks.

With all the mask wearing during the COVID pandemic comes mask losing.

Our dad kept losing his mask," said Skyler Rossen. "So we were like why don't we make mask holders."

And so Rossen and her sister Sloane launched their own business: Beadzboss.

They bead the straps often in the courtyard of their Upper West Side building. They have sold to family and friends - and now strangers through Instagram and their website.

Meanwhile, in Tribeca, Kylie Cheung and Anjali Agneshwar set up shop to sell their mask straps and chains.

Their shop was also born out of necessity after Cheung kept dropping her mask.

"The roads and sidewalks are filled with germs so you really don't want to wear a mask that filled with germs," Cheung said.

She recruited Agneshwar and together they created Peace, Love and Straps.

"I thought it was a really good idea because my dad kept losing his mask as well," Agneshwar said.

Some straps are made to order and others have sayings or mantras.

The friends in Tribeca and the sisters on the UWS are both donating a portion of their sales to causes close to their hearts -- including the environment, local restaurants and kids with special needs.

You can see more from Beadzboss on their Instagram account @beadzboss and more from Peace, Love and Straps on their Instagram account @peaceloveandstraps.

MORE NEWS: Watch Eyewitness to a Pandemic

The sense of doom grew, especially after March 1, when the first confirmed case arrived in Manhattan. Soon, there was a hotspot in New Rochelle, and small curfews and containment zones across the area offered a hint of a frightening future we still thought we could avoid.