Businesses on North Williams Avenue in North Portland are begging local officials for any kind of response after being hit again by vandals and burglars. Half a dozen businesses in two blocks of North Williams Avenue were broken into in the last several days; exhausted owners say they have reached their limit.
About half a dozen businesses in the 3800 and 3900 block of North Williams were attacked or broken into over the past several days. A few blocks away on North Mississippi, Larry Lydon, co-owner of Gifty Kitty, said businesses on his street have been getting hit as well. “The pandemic and the desperation people feel have driven them to do these measures,” he said.
Business owners notes limited police resources, a growing homeless issue and disparity fueled by gentrification have all fed the vicious cycles of vandalism and burglaries. Owners as have handwritten signs on the doors, similar to many others in the neighborhood, telling would-be thieves there’s no cash inside.
“Help these people that are going through these issues that are causing them to do this,” Grybko suggested. “If we took care of people better, probably a lot less of this would be happening,” Lydon said. I think a lot of us businesses are getting really desperate,” said Lisa Stanger, owner of Blackthorn Mercantile about a block away. Stanger has lost tens of thousands of dollars so far from thefts and damages. Insurance often does not cover much of the cost anymore, she said. “I think we’re going to lose a lot of businesses,” Stanger said.
“It’s a big inconvenience now,” said Cody Grybko, a manager at Grains of Wrath. “The cost of it.”About a month ago, someone destroyed the glass of the bar’s front door. The same thing happened again this weekend. “It’s not cheap replacing commercial doors all the time, especially in these slow months … and with coronavirus,” Grybko said.
