Call it a token gesture.
A trio of Williamsburg businesses will knock the price of a subway ride from Brooklyn to Manhattan off every sale at their stores this weekend and five subsequent weekends when the L train will not run between the two boroughs due to maintenance work. The $2.75 discount isn’t a huge saving, but the cheeky markdown will hopefully lift the spirits of locals and visitors who will be put out by the closure, said one price-slashing business owner.
“We are doing it to create a sense of community and keep people upbeat while this is going on,” said Renee Didio, owner of SlapBack, a vintage boutique on Metropolitan Avenue. “People are basically going to be stranded.”
The two other businesses offering the MetroCard swipe special are Milly & Earl, which is a jewelry store on Graham Avenue, and Antoinette Vintage on Grand Street.
The L train will run only between the Lorimer Street station in Williamsburg and the Canarsie-Rockaway Parkway stop from Friday night to Monday morning for weekends between April 18 and May 18.
The L-adjacent business owners say the service suspension won’t just cost them in high-concept giveaways — it will stop tourists visiting and splashing cash in the neighborhood right when weather is improving.
“We had a very rough winter, and at the start of spring season when everyone is excited to go shopping, this is happening,” said Didio.
Neighboring shopkeepers have called on the Metropolitan Transit Authority to push the works back later in the year, when they say business is slower. But the agency, which has in the past changed its repair schedule to accommodate special events in Brooklyn, claims it can’t reschedule this time.
