The Crazy Line Outside Trader Joe’s on Grand Street

Photo: Karlin Chan
This is the queue outside Trader Joe’s on Grand Street. Distanced six feet apart, the line of shoppers snaked around onto Clinton Street and up to Broome.
It’s a scene that plays out daily amidst the COVID-19 shutdown, as residents scramble for groceries.
We were told that management allows a store occupancy of fifty to sixty customers inside.
This Trader Joe’s at Essex Crossing is one of the last Manhattan locations still open. The Chelsea, Union Square, and SoHo stores all temporarily closed after employees tested positive for the novel coronavirus. Meanwhile, no Trader Joe’s will be open on Easter Sunday.
Good luck out there.
i went to trader joe’s on grand st. the other day (first trip in weeks) and they were letting five people in at a time. it was great. meanwhile, though, THIS is happening?! https://t.co/naNoCEcinv
— spook kid (@superseriousgal) April 4, 2020
the window from my apartment overlooks the lower east side trader joe's and every morning i look at how big the line is and how close people are standing together as a gauge of how screwed we are
— wilfred chan (@wilfredchan) March 22, 2020
Trader Joe's at Grand Street has a line over 200 meters long. The line extrlends from Grand St then wraps around Broome towards Suffolk St.
— Ken🖖 (@eastriverrunner) April 4, 2020