Signs outside some businesses in Harlem say 'No Hoodies'
HARLEM (WABC) -- Some Harlem businesses are posting signs on the windows and doors saying anyone coming in with a hooded sweatshirt or mask is not welcome, and in fact, is trespassing.
Is it good security? Or does it go too far?
Hard-to-miss red signs welcome customers at half a dozen businesses along Frederick Douglas Boulevard in Harlem saying, "Do not enter with hoodie or mask. If so, you are now trespassing."
Some residents say it screams discrimination, while the shop workers who put them up say it's for their safety.
"If it would have been written different, it would have had a different response. I think the undertone especially now with the racial climate, it has no place. It can be misconstrued as discriminatory. You have to be sensitive to those issues," said Jules Jiles, a resident.
"There been a lot of issues in the community with robberies crimes and most of these businesses have cameras, but sometimes they come in with their hoodies on and you can't see their face. In order to make people feel safer, business people feel safer, we just ask some of the younger people please can you take your hoodie off. It's a safety issue," said Phillip Bulgar, a restaurant owner.
Eyewitness News found the signs from 126th and 129th streets at Manna's Restaurant, Harlem Fragrances, Candy Grocery Corp, King's Deli and Bravo Supermarket.
A store manager at Bravo Supermarket ripped down a sign, explaining to Eyewitness News in Spanish that he only put it up because he thought it was a new law.
Customers Eyewitness News spoke to say it should have been obvious that the signs would be controversial, and even worse, hurtful.
"Should they take the sign down?" Eyewitness News asked.
"Absolutely, absolutely, this is a neighborhood store," said James Foye, a resident.
"I think it will cause a lot of controversy because of Trayvon Martin; the assumption that everybody wearing a hood is bad. It's not true. I'm wearing a hoodie," said Ellis Turner, a resident.
