Saks Fifth Avenue surrounded its flagship Manhattan store with razor wire on Tuesday to keep thieves from smashing their way in and making off with troves of expensive merchandise, The Post has lea…
nypost.com
Saks Fifth Avenue is wrapped in razor wire to prevent looting
By Lisa Fickenscher, Elizabeth Rosner, Larry Celona and Bruce Golding
June 2, 2020 | 8:32pm | Updated
Saks_barbed_wire-Saks Fifth Avenue is wrapped in razor wire to prevent looting
Saks Fifth Avenue surrounded its flagship Manhattan store with razor wire on Tuesday to keep thieves from smashing their way in and making off with troves of expensive merchandise, The Post has learned.
The luxury retailer has also hired private security guards with specially trained dogs to protect the premises in the wake of Monday night’s looting of Macy’s iconic Herald Square location.
At Saks, workers on Tuesday afternoon began attaching chain-link fencing to plywood that was previously installed to cover the luxury store’s famed display windows.
The second phase of the job saw workers further fortify the fencing with a coil of razor wire along the top edge.
More On:
Looting
NYC is starting to win the war against chaos
Cop bashed in head with fire extinguisher during mayhem in Manhattan
Here’s what the streets of Manhattan look like after days of riots
Witness sees hammer fight between two groups of NYC looters
At least seven German shepherds, Belgian Malinois and pit bull dogs were also on hand, along with guards who will use them to patrol outside the store in an attempt to deter looters amid the ongoing protests over the racially charged May 25 police killing of George Floyd in Minneapolis.
“God willing, I hope they don’t show up and it goes smoothly,” one guard said.
The guard noted that the dogs “aren’t friendly.”
Saks
17
Matthew McDermott
In addition to the fencing and the guards, Saks rented four massive floodlights — at a total cost of more than $16,000 — to illuminate the streets surrounding the store, sources said.
The NYPD has access to live video from rooftop surveillance cameras on Saks and other nearby luxury retailers, and planned to monitor the feeds as the night progressed, police sources said.
Extra cops were also deployed to the area in the wake of increased violence and looting during the protests that began in the city on Thursday, the sources said.
Several hundred protesters who were marching along Fifth Avenue passed by Saks shortly after 7 p.m., chanting slogans that included “George Floyd,” “Black lives matter” and “I can’t breathe.”
The latter slogan echoed the pleas of Floyd, who was black, as white cop Derek Chavin — since charged with third-degree murder — was recorded kneeling on his neck.
NYC George Floyd protests
12
Guards with K9s pause as protesters pass by Saks Fifth Avenue.
Paul Martinka
The commotion caused by the protesters sparked a loud round of barking from the dogs and many people in the crowd paused to snap photos of the excited canines.
A contingent of about 30 NYPD cops in riot gear followed the activists as they continued marching north.
At Macy’s, scores of crooks were recorded swarming an entrance to the self-proclaimed “world’s largest store” shortly before a citywide curfew went into effect at 11 p.m. Monday.
The brazen lawlessness there and elsewhere in the city led Gov. Andrew Cuomo to declare that Mayor Bill de Blasio and the NYPD “did not do their job” and President Trump to tweet, “Bring in National Guard!”
Tuesday’s curfew was pushed up to 8 p.m., with non-essential traffic barred in Manhattan south of 96th Street.
Demonstrators march as they protest the death of George Floyd, in West Hollywood, California on June 3. Mark Ralston/AFP/Getty Images
