WASHINGTON, DC (WUSA9) — WASHINGTON -- Days after the new owner padlocked Deanwood businesses in Northeast with just one day notice, Nooks barbershop is back open for business. Sabrina Robinson Palmer opened, with the advice of her lawyer, on Saturday.
“It was good to come back I was happy,” she said with a sigh.
The past few days have been taxing on Palmer; padlocked and shut out of her barber shop Wednesday by the new owners - Neighborhood Development Company.
But October is an especially tough month because she lost her husband Nook 5 years ago this month.
His funeral program and her Bible sit on her work station. The couple opened the shop 25 years ago. She was hoping to pass it on to their children.
"It still seems like it’s going to be a struggle, but I don't have a choice,” she said. "It's all I got.”
“I think they were hoping no one would pay attention,” said April Goggans with Black Lives Matter DC. “I mean to put padlocks on businesses that you know people frequent is the biggest sign of disrespect. It’s gentrification at its best.”
Goggans is convinced, like many in Deanwood, that the police-community tensions alongside a summer stop and frisk on the same day the developer struck a deal with the city, are all related to the move to shut down these businesses.
Dozens protested outside of the developer’s home Saturday arguing Neighborhood Development Company's claim of "environmental issues" did not justify kicking people out with one day notice. (Despite repeated requests, the company nor DC Department of Energy and the Environment have provided any documentation proving such environmental issues exist.)
Now, she started a GoFundMe account to help support Nooks which is still losing business.
“We're just working on it,” said Palmer, “hoping and praying we'll be victorious."
Little Jewels Daycare will be open Tuesday morning in a temporary location. The space, rented through an existing daycare, is located on East Capitol Street, NE but is only available for 30 days. However, the owner fears losing her national accreditation after that 30-day period.
