Manhattan Grocer Implements Senior Hour Due To Coronavirus

MANHATTAN, NY — A Manhattan grocery store chain is asking shoppers to avoid the store for an hour every day so senior citizens and people with health complications can shop without fear amid the spread of coronavirus in New York City.

Morton Williams posted a statement to its website this week announcing the implementation of a "senior hour" from 7 to 8 each morning. The statement was also emailed to customers and posted on Morton Williams' social media pages.

"We are asking our customers to please prioritize the hours of 7 a.m. to 8 a.m. for our senior citizens and compromised neighbors. Those most vulnerable in our communities would greatly appreciate it," the statement reads.

Morton Williams Co-owner Avi Kaner told Patch that store ownership decided to implement the senior hour while studying best practices on how grocery stores around the world were dealing with the coronavirus outbreak. Several grocery businesses overseas were limiting hours to serve people at high risk of the virus, and Kaner believes the practice is becoming more common in the United States.

Ownership has discussed the new measures with employees at each of its stores and is posting signage on all grocery store front doors to let customers know about the senior hour. Kaner told Patch that he trusts customers to make the responsible decision to limit their shopping and reduce contact with vulnerable shoppers.

"We're not a police force. We're not doing code quote 'enforcement.' We're asking our customers to voluntarily be flexible with when they shop and prioritize to allow seniors, you know, and those most compromised to shop between the hours of 7 a.m. and 8 a.m.," Kaner said.

"The sentiment is that we're all in this together, and anything we can, anything younger people can do to help older people not only makes them feel good, but it's also the very right thing to do.," Kaner added.

Older adults and people who suffer from chronic conditions such as lung disease, diabetes and heart disease are at a higher risk of suffering serious symptoms if they contract coronavirus, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. The CDC is urging people at risk to limit interactions with others and keep their distance while in public, but with New York City grocery stores being overrun with stockpiles, this can be hard for seniors and other compromised people.

Morton Williams' statement also detailed the store's cleaning policies during the coronavirus spread, stating that each location is sanitized multiple times per day. Employees are sanitizing anything that customers come into frequent contact with such as basket and shopping cart handles, door handles, hand rails, ATM machines, credit card PIN pads and self-service areas.

Morton Williams is family owned and operates 16 stores in the New York City area, Kaner said. All but two of the markets — in New Jersey and the Bronx — are located in Manhattan, with concentrations on the Upper East Side and in Midtown Manhattan.

Twelve New York state residents have died and 1,374 residents have tested positive for coronavirus as of Tuesday, Gov. Andrew Cuomo announced. Ten thousand people have been tested and, since Monday, 432 new positive cases were confirmed, said Cuomo.

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