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NYC Announces Plan To Aid 100 Restaurants While Owners Still Await Details On Outdoor Seating Expansion
By
Elizabeth Kim
Published Jun 11, 2020
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Mark Lennihan/AP/Shutterstock
By
Elizabeth Kim
Published Jun 11, 2020
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Mayor Bill de Blasio on Thursday unveiled a plan that would help small restaurants in neighborhoods hardest hit by the coronavirus pandemic reopen as the city undergoes its recovery.
Spearheaded by the taskforce on equity and inclusion headed by First Lady Chirlane McCray, the $2 million initiative will provide funding to 100 mom-and-pop restaurants spread across 27 communities that saw high infection rates.
Each business would be eligible with up to $30,000 to pay for wages. The mayor said the goal would be to employ 1,000 restaurant workers at $20 per hour.
"We know it goes a lot farther than the food," he said. "In communities of color, a mom and pop restaurant, a community restaurant is something much deeper than that."
He added: "They have been dealing with immense challenges even before the pandemic."
De Blasio's announcement comes at a critical time for city restaurants, which are expected to expand from take-out only to outdoor dining as early as late June. The pandemic has ravaged the local and state economy, but especially the restaurant and hospitality industry, one of the engine's of the economy.
New York City has roughly 26,000 restaurants. In April, during the height of the crisis, New York City employers shed 823,500 jobs. Dine-in restaurants experienced the most dramatic loss, dropping by 119,000 jobs, what amounted to an 85 percent decline in a single month. In the wake of the shutdown, many restaurants have shuttered for good. Meanwhile, owners looking to survive have said that the bills have continued to pile up and that banks are not responding to their pleas for loans.
Andrew Rigie, executive director of the New York City Hospitality Alliance, a business group, criticized the mayor's plan, in particular the requirement that workers be paid $20 per hour, higher than the state's minimum hourly wage of $15.
He said the measure amounted to "dangling short term monetary relief to financially devastated restaurants in exchange for long term financial disaster, by forcing them to sign on to their misleading wage campaign."
Rigie added: "Like so many who have stepped up to support local restaurants during this crisis, the Administration has also made very important efforts lately but today’s announcement sets restaurants back."
Restaurants had been waiting for the city to provide more details on how outdoor seating would look once the city's enters Phase 2 of reopening, which could happen as early as the end of this month. The state only recently released guidelines, and last week, de Blasio announced that restaurants could use open streets as well as parking spaces to make room outdoor dining, adding that the Phase 2 plan would provide "a massive expansion of curbside seating” and open space.
Tagged
coronavirus reopening
bill de blasio
restaurants
Elizabeth Kim
Elizabeth Kim is a reporter on the People and Power desk who covers mayoral power. She previously covered the pandemic, housing, redevelopment and public spaces. A native of Queens, she speaks fluent Mandarin. Got a tip? Email [email protected]
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