(NPR) Plywood window coverings have blanketed high-end shopping areas of big U.S. cities ahead of Tuesday’s election.
It’s an eerie sight in a country built on the idea of a peaceful transition of power. In fact, that kind of signal is exactly why city authorities have generally advised business owners not to board up, promising stepped-up security measures.
Still, plywood panels are dotting major streets in Boston and New York, San Francisco and Los Angeles, Chicago and Washington, D.C. Store owners are on edge from break-ins during the summer, when looters took advantage of a nationwide wave of civil unrest following the police killing of George Floyd.