NYC shoppers see less crowds for this year’s in-person Black Friday spree

Black Friday shopping is underway across New York City, but not with as big of a rush in stores as past years.

News 12 Staff

Nov 27, 2020, 6:56 PM

Updated 1,407 days ago

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Black Friday shopping is underway across New York City, but not with as big of a rush in stores as past years.
Masks, hand sanitizer and social distancing markers can be spotted all throughout Mall at Bay Plaza in the Bronx.
Christine Flood and her family say they did not want to let go of their Black Friday shopping tradition, especially this year.
"Nothing is normal, but it's important to feel like things are normal especially, you know, right now it's a little crazy," Flood says.
Macy's is operating at 50% shopping capacity. Some stores added line monitors and additional floor markers to make sure people are social distancing.
However, shoppers told News 12 that there was very little waiting compared to Black Fridays of previous years.
"I was waiting for the lines, the people, it's the opposite. There's no lines, there's nobody out there," says shopper Myra Seda.
Macy's And J.C. Penney were both closed on the holiday for the first time in years. They both opened at 5 a.m. Friday — to a lot less shoppers.
General Manager of J.C. Penney Marcos Avellan says the store had seven days of sales leading up to Black Friday to minimize Friday’s crowd and the risk of COVID-19 spread.
Still, Avellan says he feels it was good to give shoppers the choice to shop Friday.
"The holiday season, you know it's that time of the year where it's almost automatic people are going to be a little happier, we do feel our customers are grateful that we're open," he says
Brooklyn shoppers also flocked to Gateway Center Mall to get their deals on electronics.
With the pandemic keeping most people in, many shoppers say they did not have to deal with the madness that usually is Black Friday.
Workers also manned the lines outside the stores of the mall to ensure no one was walking in until others walked out, as to not overcrowd the store.