NORTHAMPTON — Two painted planks of wood covered one of the main display windows in front of Shop Therapy in Northampton Monday morning.
The wood, installed over a window smashed during a fight in front of the store Saturday night, included the following message painted in red capital letters:
“Let it be known this is the 3rd broken window — for all those who linger, curse, shout, beg & disrupt this street: the wrath of God will descend upon thee.”
Shop Therapy owner Ronny Hazel said that he painted the sign at his 189 Main St. store Sunday night. The sign was taken down Monday and the window was replaced, but Hazel thought that its message was important.
“I’m fed up,” Hazel said. “I wanted to bring a little awareness, not to the broken window, but to the mess that’s going on in the street.”
Hazel said that he witnesses unruly behavior on a daily basis and painted the sign to draw attention to it.
“After they broke the window and I arrived, the whole street cleared out,” he said. “Just like rats, the whole entire street, from one end to the other end, they disappeared. But when I’m not in town it’s a whole different story … you guys have a problem here that nobody addresses.”
He played down the biblical reference, saying that he hoped the reference to the “wrath of God” would get people’s attention.
“It’s so they know I won’t stand for it,” he said.
Hazel plans on bringing up storefront vandalism at a previously scheduled Downtown Northampton Association meeting Tuesday.
Reached Monday, Mayor David Narkewicz said he hadn’t heard about the incident.
According to Northampton Police, an officer responded to the vandalism at 7:10 p.m. Saturday and observed a large break in the bottom left of the front window pane, causing spider cracks across the window. The window broke during an altercation between two unidentified men, police said. There are no suspects.
Shop Therapy’s front windows have been broken three times in the past five years, Hazel said.
Erica Cole, a manager at Shop Therapy, said the fight disrupted the busy Bag Day sale, forcing the business to close and send employees home.
“It’s the second biggest shopping day (behind Sidewalk Sales) for us out of the year,” Cole said.
Cole said that disorderly conduct is an ongoing issue on Main Street, noting that customers have complained about it to Shop Therapy staff.
“It’s gotten aggressive,” Cole said.
Cole said she called police earlier in the day Saturday, around 2 p.m., because the same two people were fighting and almost broke the front window of Pinch, a store two doors down on Main Street.
Pinch owner Jena Sujat said that she too has heard from customers who don’t like to go downtown. She said she sees drug sales and drug use on her block.
She and Cole believe that having a bigger police presence on her block might change things.
“Personally I think the police force is a little shorthanded,” Cole said.
Northampton Police Capt. John Cartledge said that there is an officer downtown on foot 24 hours a day, in addition to bike patrol and officers who park their cruisers and walk around the area.
“There is an officer specifically assigned to Main Street,” he said. “Certainly we’re busy at times as far as staffing, (but) the budget is what it is. I think we manage pretty well for our staffing levels.”
In September, Police Chief Jody Kasper proposed the installation of security cameras in downtown Northampton, though the council is in the process of prohibiting such a move. Councilors last week, on first reading, approved an ordinance limiting municipally operated surveillance equipment downtown.
“I wonder if the security cameras would help because I’m at my wits end,” Sujat said. “I’m calling the police a few times a day. I’m policing the sidewalk instead of running my business.”
At the Haymarket Cafe, Assistant Manager Hilary Talbot said that they have not had the same problems with vandalism. She said that people come into the cafe primarily to use the bathroom, and that in general the space is respected. Over the summer there was a problem with drug paraphernalia being left in the bathrooms, but when the Haymarket put up a sign, the problem went away.
“We try to make this a safe space for people,” Talbot said.
Staff Writer Sarah Robertson contributed to this report. Meg Bantle can be reached at mbantle@valleyadvocate.com.