This Nike store just doesn’t ‘do it’ for its neighbors.
Soho residents are fed-up with the hordes of unruly crowds flocking to the 55,000-square-foot superstore that opened in their neighborhood last week.
“I was sitting in my [home] office with the windows closed when all of a sudden I heard all this crazy screaming,” said Pete Davies, 63, who’s lived in Soho for 35 years.
“It looked like a nightclub, not a store. There were big guys like bouncers out front yelling and pushing people,” Davies said of the crowd that formed around 11:30 a.m. on opening day.
Nike’s newest store opened its doors Nov. 18 at Broadway and Spring Street, drawing hundreds of noisy sneaker enthusiasts to an already clogged shopping area.
The mob crowded sidewalks and blocked the entrance to a building across the street, a doorman at 532 Broadway said.
Nike had assured neighbors in an email that they had a “crowd control” plan in place, but locals saw no such measures.
“It was a ridiculous mess. One of the most disruptive events of this type I’ve ever seen,” Davies added.
Locals are also worried that Nike’s weekly “Swoosh Saturdays” — which include athletic events and celebrity talks — will bring more chaos.
“The ‘Swoosh’ events are meant to bring large crowds and it’s an enormous concern. They make these plans and don’t care what anyone thinks,” said Susan Wittenberg, 64, a filmmaker and longtime Soho resident.
The five-story Nike Soho outlet attracted throngs of footwear fanatics drawn by the store’s exclusive Air Force 1 designs as well as a one-of-a kind digital interactive basketball court.
Soho residents have resisted the store since Nike began construction two years ago. They believe developers exploited a zoning loophole by calling the project an “alteration” instead of a new building.
Their frustration culminated in a protest Nov. 9 at Buildings Department headquarters.
“We’ve completely lost faith in the Department of Buildings. They’re a fantasy. There is no Department of Buildings,” said Michele Varian, 48, who also owns a boutique in the neighborhood.
The M1-5 zoning law says new retailers must not exceed 10,000 square feet. The Nike store was exempted because city officials considered it a building alteration.
“Stores aren’t supposed to be bigger than that for a reason,” said Varian.
“The huge increase in crowds has an enormously negative affect on the neighborhood.”
The project was reviewed “numerous times” by the DOB, which “determined that it complied with the NYC Construction Codes,” said spokesman Joseph Soldevere.
Residents fear the historic area is being monopolized by brand names and department stores.
“The old New York we all love is being trampled on and Soho is on the brink to be the second Times Square,” said Varian.