Businesses: Will You Close or Stay Open During Hurricane Sandy?

Patch has been tracking if you prefer — for the past three days as it’s made its way up through the Caribbean and the Atlantic Coast. As of Friday at 5 p.m., the National Hurricane Center reports that Sandy is packing 75-mph winds (down from 105 mph). It is expected to hit Long Island on Monday, though it is not known if the storm will take an easterly or westerly path up the coast.

Though most North Fork business owners boarded up and got out before Tropical Storm Irene hit the North Fork last August, a handful of markets, restaurants and taverns stayed open to brave the storm — and many had a good time.

“My philosophy is that if someone tells you that the world is going to end and we’re all going to die but then the world doesn’t end and we don’t die — I can always say I told you so if I do something other than nothing,” said Jimmy Rando, owner of Sweet Tomatoes on Shelter Island, last year after Irene.

If you’re a business owner, Patch wants to know — will you stay open or closed during Hurricane Irene? Let us know in the comment boxes below.