Photos: Boston businesses board up ahead of election

Few business owners say they expect civil unrest, but they're being careful just in case.

Workers from Turner Construction secured boards over windows at a Boylston Street entrance outside the Prudential Center in Boston on Friday.
Workers secured boards over windows at a Boylston Street entrance outside the Prudential Center in Boston on Friday. –Craig F. Walker / Boston Globe
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November 2, 2020

Businesses across Boston have boarded up their windows and doors ahead of a potentially precarious election day, as documented by journalists and passersby on social media.

While few business owners told the Boston Globe that they expect civil unrest in the wake of the election Tuesday, several in Downtown Crossing and Back Bay are still taking precautions. They’re particularly wary after the summer protests over the killing of George Floyd, which saw several downtown businesses vandalized.

“People are being cautious, because of the fact that it’s not clear exactly the outcome and how people are going to feel about it and how they will express that,” Meg Mainzer-Cohen, the president of the Back Bay Association, told the Globe.

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