精东影业

Businesses in Cleveland鈥檚 Market District at West 25 ^th Street have mixed feelings about the city鈥檚 curfew decisions, even as traffic comes back to the area.

The rules of the curfew have changed almost daily since it was first announced.

The West Side Market adjusted its hours on Saturday due to the protests downtown, and closed Monday in compliance with the city鈥檚 curfew. The current curfew, which restricts travel Downtown and in the Market District from 8 p.m. to 6 a.m., is in effect through Friday morning.

The market expects to be back to its regular hours through Friday under the new curfew, but rules for this weekend have not yet been announced, leaving vendors without clear answers on what to expect.

鈥淲e are day to day,鈥� said D.W. Meats owner Don Whitaker. 鈥淲e鈥檝e got good local suppliers, so we can tweak our orders if we have to.鈥�

Traffic at the market is back to normal after the closures, Whitaker said, and isn鈥檛 sure why the curfew was expanded to cover West 25 ^th Street.

鈥淓veryone be safe and take care of each other, you know, that鈥檚 all we can do right now,鈥� Whitaker said. 鈥淗opefully we鈥檒l have a better world after all this is done.鈥�

The curfew was the result of Saturday protests in Downtown Cleveland against police brutality, which began peacefully but turned violent after a clash with local police. The demonstrations were in response to the death of George Floyd, a black man who was videotaped crying out for help while a white Minneapolis police officer knelt on his neck for nearly nine minutes. The four officers involved have been fired from the Minneapolis police force and charges against them range from second-degree murder to aiding and abetting murder.

The West Side Market wasn鈥檛 the only business forced to close under Cleveland鈥檚 curfew order. Storefronts along West 25th Street changed hours this week to meet the city鈥檚 requirements, after weeks of lagging sales and foot traffic due to weeks of coronavirus restrictions.

Horizontal Books was closed Monday and Tuesday, owner David Kallevig said. He鈥檚 anticipating more changes this weekend.

鈥淲e don鈥檛 know where it鈥檚 at, is the big thing,鈥� Kallevig said. 鈥淎ll my employees, I鈥檓 like, 鈥楾his is the plan now, but if things change, things are going to change.鈥欌��

The curfew has impacted suppliers as well as the storefront, Kallevig said.

鈥淲e got all our deliveries today,鈥� he said. 鈥淲e鈥檝e had three days鈥� worth of deliveries today, which is different. They normally space out pretty well.鈥�

But as the curfew restrictions ease, Kallevig said he鈥檚 worried people will forget about the messages behind the protests.

鈥淎s everyone reopens and things start to go back to normal, we鈥檙e all going to forget about everything that happened or why it happened, or why there鈥檚 protests,鈥� he said.

Something Different Gallery also closed in compliance with the protest order, though it didn鈥檛 impact business as much, according to owner Koula Lazar, since the gallery is usually closed on Tuesdays and has been operating with reduced hours for weeks due to the coronavirus.

鈥淐OVID-19 really impacted our business, but with this, with the protesting, so far it鈥檚 been good,鈥� Lazar said.

Lazar boarded up the door and window on her store but does think the curfew has kept local businesses safe and protected.

鈥淭hank God, there hasn鈥檛 been any trouble on West 25 ^th,鈥� Lazar said. 鈥淧lus, in the evening, you do have the National Guard on the street, so everyone feels safe and sound.鈥�