A group of 40 restaurateurs and other members of the downtown Minneapolis business community say it’s not just Covid-19 but crime threatening their livelihoods — even if the danger is more perception than reality.
In a letter to Minneapolis Mayor Jacob Frey and the City Council, members of the Downtown Restaurant Group urge the elected officials to treat “the real and perceived rising rates of crime” as a crisis. They ask for a plan to combat the view that going downtown to dine is risky.
A copy of the letter was submitted to the Business Journal. Downtown Restaurant Group members include the owners or operators of restaurants in both downtown and the North Loop, including destinations like Spoon and Stable, Manny’s Steakhouse, Hell’s Kitchen, Brit’s Pub, Smack Shack and others, as well as Shea Inc., the downtown design firm known for its work with restaurants.
“We are asking for practices that will encourage a return to business and a return to the downtown offices. We are asking for the city to do its job in the prevention of theft and destruction, with no tolerance for violence and assault,” they write.
Attempts to get a response from Frey and the councilmembers who represent downtown, Steve Fletcher of Ward 3 and Lisa Goodman of Ward 7, were not immediately successful.
The latest Minneapolis Police Department crime statistics reveal 548 violent crimes reported so far this year in the First Precinct, which covers all of downtown Minneapolis, including the North Loop. That total is more than 7% lower than the average through September of the previous four years.
A total of 2,352 property crimes have been recorded in the First Precinct since the start of the year. That is nearly 18% lower than the average year-to-date totals of the previous four years.
That’s despite a widely reported incident in August, when false rumors of a police shooting sparked an evening of unrest in the city’s core. Brit’s Pub was among the shops and restaurants on Nicollet Mall to experience damage and looting and has yet to reopen.
The letter argues that there is a “general perception of lawlessness in the city’s core,” and that restaurant employees and patrons feel unsafe. It describes the issues as several years old, predating the pandemic.
“It’s exciting and encouraging to see more companies signing leases downtown, but behind the scenes, a large number of businesses are considering or are already moving outside of the city. Losing us puts at risk the very infrastructure that energizes and makes an urban environment compelling. It’s becoming too easy to celebrate in the good news while turning a blind eye to the bad,” the letter states.
