The properties/businesses must be uninsurable at this point; I wouldn’t be surprised if the city could be sued for having the police stand down. Businesses pay taxes that pay cops, and they can’t just be yanked like that; when they are, any “makers” leave permanently.
That, the USSC made very clear. Police might be barred from certain kinds of doing harm, but they have no legal obligation to help. And the situation now pretty much challenged their moral obligation to help too. They demonstrated that last night, and it’s difficult to blame them for wanting to teach that lesson.
The police are not required to show up. They are only liable if they do something like only showing up when whites are robbed. If they don’t show up for anyone, there’s no legal liability. Dinkins won that again in regards the Crown Heights riots, reaffirming the longstanding principle.