It’s not business as usual on Block Island these days.
The coronavirus has come ashore, creating a heightened sense of worry not only about public safety but the damage the pandemic might do to the fast-approaching tourism season, the lifeblood of this 10-square-mile summer destination.
The first case of COVID-19 was reported by the Block Island Medical Center on April 3, sending a shockwave through the 1,000 year-round residents, who had been steadfast in trying to seal off the threat. The residents remain sheltered in place through at least May 8, protecting themselves from contracting the virus while hoping that the pandemic ends soon so they can open their seasonal businesses.
In a typical year, Block Island’s population swells to more than 20,000 people in the summer, a cash-laden mix of day-trippers, hotel guests and house renters who arrive 9 miles off the coast of Rhode Island by ferry and airplane to enjoy the beaches and the island’s quaint, laid-back atmosphere.
This year promises to be anything but typical.
Members of the Block Island Tourism Council are “really worried,” said Jessica Willi, the council’s executive director.
“It’s definitely going to impact business,” she said of the pandemic. “My feeling is that it won’t be as robust of a summer season. Block Island survives on its tourism economy. We know people will be struggling after this.”
Willi’s routine of marketing the island – to potential visitors from places such as hard-hit New York – has been turned upside down, filled with feelings of unease and uncertainty.
“It’s so unclear right now regarding what’s going to happen,” she said. “We’re in the thick of it now. I’m busy preparing now for later – whenever later will be.”
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NOTHING DOING: The Statue of Rebecca overlooks the intersection of Water, High and Spring streets in Block Island’s Old Harbor, normally one of the busiest areas on the island. / PBN PHOTO/KARI CURTIS[/caption]
A CRUCIAL TIME
The summer season is everything to Block Island. It’s what the community and its business owners prepare for every winter. They renovate and update their buildings and put a fresh coat of paint on the town’s historic district.
During high season, there is the hustle and bustle of people disembarking from the ferry and making their way through Old Harbor’s seaside shops and restaurants on Water Street, some checking into picturesque inns while others hop on mopeds and bicycles to venture to a beach or to the lighthouses.
The island is a benefactor of their presence.
The town of New Shoreham, Block Island’s official designation, generates around $1 million from the food and beverage, hotel, and cottage rental taxes. And the Tourism Council yields about $300,000 annually in hotel tax revenue, its staple funding source, which is 45% of the 5% state hotel tax.
There are also the incomes of the residents and the seasonal workforce. The island’s more than 250 seasonal businesses typically operate from late April or mid-May to early October, but their big sale period is between the Fourth of July and Labor Day, the high season that Block Island businesses are desperately hoping can still be salvaged.
Twenty-year island resident and retailer John Cullen isn’t sure when he is going to open.
Cullen and his wife, Sarah, operate three stores in The National Hotel: Block Island Tees, Solstice and True North Outfitters.
“When we first started sheltering in place here on the island, things didn’t seem that out of place because of the quiet pace of the offseason, and we were used to having most businesses closed for the winter anyway,” Cullen said. “Fast forward to mid-April and we would normally be buzzing with activity, but it is eerily quiet. I don’t think we have ever experienced anything quite like this in my life."
“There is some uneasiness, because it’s new and uncharted territory,” he said. “So, yes, we’re uneasy.”
Residents who typically congregate at meetings at Town Hall or events at the Island Free Library are relegated to the confines of their own homes. They take an occasional walk along the Greenway Trails or the shoreline; some shop for essentials, others cast fishing lines into the water.
But, as much as islanders want visitors to come this summer, some weren’t as welcoming when the pandemic first arrived.
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KEEPING THE PEACE: New Shoreham Police Chief Vincent Carlone is making sure year-round residents who are nervous about COVID-19 aren’t treating visitors poorly. / PBN PHOTO/KARI CURTIS[/caption]
Police Chief Vincent Carlone fielded complaints from visitors who own property on the island that some residents were making off-islanders “uncomfortable.” In response, he penned a letter for the
Block Island Times, warning people to behave.
“They are heeding my warning,” he said recently. “No one is going to be harassed or intimidated. There were a few who were making people feel uncomfortable; maybe they felt they were protecting their families, but what they were doing was kind of mean. That’s over now.”
At the same time, Carlone has stationed officers at the ferry landing to greet visitors and warn them they must quarantine for 14 days because of an emergency ordinance passed by the Town Council.
As of April 22, there remained only one case of COVID-19 confirmed on Block Island, a year-round resident who traveled frequently to the mainland.
“Will this all go to hell in a handbasket if this continues into June?” Carlone said of the emergency measures. “You can only keep people cooped up for so long, no matter where they are. This is stressing people out.”
‘BIGGER, LONGER HURDLE’
Typically, Interstate Navigation Co., which operates the Block Island Ferry, changes the schedule at this time of year, adding more trips as the season turns from winter to spring, and residents begin the process of opening their businesses. Instead, the winter schedule is in place, and the police are perched at the dock bearing warnings for the small number of new arrivals.
While these measures aren’t conducive to commerce, Cindy Lasser, president of the Block Island Chamber of Commerce, said she understands.
Town officials have to worry about safety while also being cognizant of island businesses, Lasser said. “They’re flying by the seat of their pants,” she added. “They’re trying to make incremental steps to get people back to work.”
As part of those incremental steps, the New Shoreham Town Council recently amended its emergency ordinance to allow one or two people from the mainland to work together at isolated construction sites, with the town’s approval.
The change doesn’t apply to businesses such as hotels and stores.
“It’s going to be different this summer season, if it happens at all,” said Town Councilman Sven Risom. “We are taking steps to try and bring a balance of health and safety and welfare to the island.”
Still, Lasser said, most of Block Island’s businesses are in a situation unlike most other businesses in Rhode Island.
“The businesses on the mainland were functioning and operating before having to close their doors,” Lasser said. “We have to open our doors. Business owners can’t just walk into their businesses and be ready to go for the summer season.”
By this time in most years, owners would be ordering supplies for the summer and hiring staff.
“So they have a bigger, longer hurdle because they need to get open,” she said.
Adding to the challenge: Uncertainty surrounding the arrival of the seasonal workforce. Some workers would have already started arriving by now, and island businesses are dependent on flocks of foreign students who work in the hotels, restaurants and shops for the summer under the J-1 visa program.
That program has been put on hold at least until May by the U.S. government, leaving it unclear when seasonal workers will be able to arrive and where they’re going to come from.
Then there’s the offseason work that was left unfinished when COVID-19 hit.
Lasser said some island businesses, such as hotels and inns, were in the middle of substantial renovation projects that came to a sudden halt, which is sure to cause costly setbacks before the businesses are ready for tourists to return.
That’s the case at the 45-room National Hotel, a grand Victorian-style landmark overlooking Old Harbor.
General Manager Julie Fuller said all of the hotel’s renovation projects are incomplete.
“We’re about two weeks away from finishing” installation of an air conditioning system, said Fuller. She said a compressor system needs to be transported to the island via the ferry.
The hotel, which normally employs about 100 people during the tourism season, has already postponed its opening until May 21, and might delay it further if COVID-19 continues to present a danger.
While Fuller is almost certain it’s going to be a down year on the island, she’s also thankful that the pandemic struck in the offseason instead of the busiest time of year.
“I don’t think it’s going to be a banner season,” said Fuller, noting “there will be limitations” to how hospitality businesses can operate even after the pandemic subsides. “We will be ready when the time comes to open. We are hopeful. We are fortunate that July and August are busy months. If this had happened in July, it would be devastating.”
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SALVAGABLE: Block Island Tourism Council Executive Director Jessica Willi hopes the pandemic is a distant memory by July. / PBN PHOTO/KARI CURTIS[/caption]
HOLDING OUT HOPE
Like many on the island, Willi is also focused on July and August.
While the tourism season typically starts ramping up at the end of April, she said the island economy can weather a bad start. A solid high season would be enough to sustain Block Island.
“Our main tourism tax dollar months are July and August, followed by September, and then June,” she said.
For now, though, she said people should stay away from the island.
Kristin Baumann, a 24-year island resident and director of the Island Free Library, remains optimistic that the difficult times will pass by the time July arrives.
“The month of June is typically a false start anyway,” she said recently. “Our summer season is really July, August and September. I think we can have a late season. I think the next few weeks are critical to letting us know where we are, and what might be happening.
“We’ve seen our season extend to November and December before, and we’ll be ready to do the same this time,” she added. “We have a beautiful fall season on the island that people already enjoy.”
Instead of overseeing the daily programming inside the library, Baumann is spearheading an initiative to ensure that residents have access to things such as the internet, books and other materials. “I am reinventing librarianship,” she said. “I am trying to figure out how to get materials into our patrons’ hands while encouraging sheltering in place.”
She also recently received 50 mobile hotspots from T-Mobile from an order that she placed prior to the pandemic, a handy development on an island known for having poor internet and cellphone service.
“I planned on doing a test program with the high school students to see how they worked around different parts of the island,” Baumann said. “The coronavirus happened and now they’re urgently needed by people on the island.”
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LOCKED UP: John and Sarah Cullen stand outside Block Island Tees, one of three shops they own at the National Hotel. Their stores remain shuttered during the pandemic. / PBN PHOTO/KARI CURTIS[/caption]
NEW NORMAL?
Cullen is trying to maintain a positive outlook, hopeful that the federal government’s stimulus programs will be able to help the island’s small businesses stay afloat if the worst happens.
“We can only control the things that are within our control,” he said. “I’m trying to be positive. The worst-case scenario is that there is no summer season.”
Meanwhile, Willi has learned that life on the island does go on.
While keeping tabs on the pandemic news, she has also juggled family matters.
“My brother and his wife arrived from Bali a week ago,” she said recently. “They are quarantining. You go a little stir crazy being inside every day, but we’re used to this. It’s like February on Block Island, but the days are a lot longer.”
After that first case of COVID-19 on the island was confirmed on April 3, Willi acknowledged she felt trapped, in part because the ferry was canceled that day because of bad weather.
“It doesn’t feel like that now,” she said. “It’s sort of the new normal.”
Cassius Shuman is the PBN researcher. Email him at Shuman@PBN.com.
