Emery says he’s torn about the new law, he’s already cut his own operating hours because of the “crime and rampant ridiculousness around here,” because after 7 p.m. “there’s not a lot of good things going on around here.”
Each morning, he’s tired stepping over syringes and discarded narcan. While he’s not a fan of big government, he’s willing to give the temporary change a chance.
“There’s no need for these places to be open [at 2 a.m.]. Working class people are not walking around at 2 a.m. looking to buy a soda,” he said. “I don’t like to be told that I can’t be open but you know maybe that’s something that might need to be addressed on a trial basis and see how it works.”
James Whitehead, owner of Royall Marketing said the new law is a bad idea.
“To me, that’s not fair. Because as a business owner in the free market I should be able to control my hours,” he said. “The businesses don’t have anything to do with the open-air drug market.”
Whitehead said he’s also unsure whether anyone will follow the new law anyway.
“It’s a rough community. They’re not used to listening to authority and following rules,” he said. “The neighborhood has been impoverished for so long to the point where they just don’t care no more and do whatever they want.”
Instead, Whitehead suggested the city should consider incentivizing small businesses to install cameras and share footage to reduce crime. Or perhaps a tax incentive for individuals in drug recovery to be hired at local companies.
