Providence businesses work to repair damage after night of unrest

(WJAR) — In the wake of Monday night’s violence, Providence business owners worked overtime Tuesday fixing broken windows and starting to recover from the loss of thousands of dollars worth of inventory.

“There was looting that occurred in the mall, broken glass to get into various shops,” Providence Public Safety Commissioner Steven Pare said Tuesday morning. More than a dozen businesses inside Providence Place were damaged after nearly 100 people broke inside.

“We were able to get police officers in the mall and drive them back out,” Pare said.

Mall representatives wouldn’t let NBC 10 crews inside to see the damage, but what was done overnight was clear walking through the city on Tuesday.

“The glass is smashed here and there,” store owner Guido Silvestri said, showing NBC 10 the damage outside his skate shop Civil on Westminster St.

Windows spreading the Black Lives Matter message were shattered.

“At 1:45 a.m., that’s when I got an alarm call, and I knew exactly what was happening,” Silvestri said. “Terrible feeling really, to know that people are just going in and out taking stuff and breaking stuff.”

90 percent of the store’s clothing merchandise was stolen, along with loads of skate merchandise and sneakers.

“They destroyed everything else, [including] our computer system and our TV,” Silvestri told NBC 10.

Not far from Civil, rioters made their presence known at Cafe Nuovo at 1 Citizens Plaza.

“Disappointment is an understatement,” general manager Sean Scannell said Tuesday. “It hurts because I grew up here, I’ve been with this restaurant for 19 years.”

Tables and chairs outside were dumped into the river. Crews from Providence River Boat Company helped get them out this morning as Scannell reflected on an already difficult time for restaurants and small businesses just trying to survive the pandemic.

“Yesterday was our first day being able to serve diners inside,” he said. “We’ve been starting to feel a little bit back to normal again and now I’m just not sure when we’re going to feel safe to serve again.”

He believes Monday night’s events take away from the Black Lives Matter movement that he stands behind.

“Senseless crimes that are deafening a very meaningful message,” Scannell said.

Neither Scannell nor Silvestri is sure when they’ll be able to reopen.