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Restaurants Brace For A Brutal Winter As Indoor Dining Pauses In NYC Again
By
Ben Yakas
Published Dec 14, 2020
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Scott Lynch/Gothamist
By
Ben Yakas
Published Dec 14, 2020
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Last Friday, Governor Andrew Cuomo announced that indoor dining would be shut down in New York City starting today, a move that had been expected for weeks as local hospitalization rates continued to climb steadily. But despite the forewarning about an indoor dining suspension, restaurant owners are still processing how to survive this winter.
"After investing money in upgraded air filtration, UV lights, plexi dividers, contactless equipment and so much more, it is just beyond frustrating to be shut down again and have to lay off our staff again," Jeffrey Bank, president of the Alicart Restaurant Group (which runs Carmine's and Virgil's Real BBQ), told Gothamist. "The real kicker now is you are laying off staff when there are no extended benefits and no $600 checks. Just like in Game of Thrones, winter is coming and it is getting dark."
Liron Michaeli, one of the partners of Temakase, which opened its doors in the East Village in October, said that while nothing surprises him any more, "I figured with news of the vaccine coming out that the days of having to close our business was behind us."
Michaeli said that while working at reduced indoor capacity was challenging, it was better than nothing—and it was incredibly deflating to have to close again. "Breaking the news to our staff that they no longer have a job at Temakase for the unforeseeable future was one of the worst things I've had to do so far," he told Gothamist. "All we can do is be patient and be ready for when it's time to open back up, and we'll be ready when that time comes."
According to the state's latest data, New York State's seven-day rolling average now is over a 5% positive test rate, and New York City has over 4% positivity rate. To break that down further, Staten Island has the highest positive testing rate at 5.64%, followed by Queens at 4.62%, the Bronx at 4.47% and Brooklyn at 4.04%. Manhattan has the lowest positivity rate by far, at just 2.63%. The fact that the numbers vary so much across the city, and are lower than many other parts of the state, have left some restaurateurs confused.
"It's a dire, fearful and angry time for restaurateurs and workers," said Andrew Rigie, head of the NYC Hospitality Alliance. "There had been mention about the possibility of being shut down, but when it was made official, it was an enormous shock to the system. So many people are teetering on the edge of survival, we've already lost countless restaurants and jobs—and with the cold weather, outdoor dining does not work well. We desperately need support."
At his press conference on Monday morning, Mayor Bill de Blasio addressed the shift. "As of this morning, indoor dining is no longer in effect in NYC for the foreseeable future," he said. "The folks who work in our restaurant industry have been through hell, let's be clear. I feel for every one of them...we've got to bring this industry back, but it's going to take time, and in the meantime we need to stay safe. Because this second wave is very, very real."
De Blasio noted that this may just be a first step to keep New Yorkers protected this winter, and people should start to prepare for an even wider, more restrictive shutdown similar to the shutdown last spring: "We all have it within our power to fight back this virus and overcome it in the weeks ahead, but December and January are going to be very tough, it's really, really worrisome," he said. "This action that the state took was necessary. The governor said in a NY Times interview over the weekend that we should prepare for the possibility of a full shutdown, I agree with that. We need to recognize that may be coming and we've got to get ready for that now, because we cannot let this virus keep growing."
Before this announcement, many restaurants had already been forced to close for good while others have been scraping by. Since the end of September, city restaurants have been allowed to open at 25% capacity, less than the 50% capacity permitted in other parts of the state. While takeout and outdoor dining will continue, some restaurateurs say that it won't be enough to sustain their businesses through the winter.
In their most recent survey of 6,000 restaurant operators in the state, the New York State Restaurant Association found that more than half said it would be unlikely their restaurants would still be open in six months without any government aid. The survey found 78 percent expected more layoffs over the next three months. They also estimate that one out of every six restaurants in the country have already closed during the pandemic, which means around 8,300 restaurants in New York state, 4,500 of which are in New York City, have shuttered.
"As a recently-opened, family run restaurant, the indoor dining ban comes as a massive blow to our business and puts us in the impossible position of being forced to choose between shutting down and letting all our newly hired staff go, or staying open with a very uncertain few months ahead," Cressida Greening, the executive chef and co-owner of Willismaburg cafe and wine bar Winona’s told Gothamist.
"Like many restaurants, the game is now to pivot and repivot, endlessly redesigning our business hoping that something will work and allow us to emerge on the other side, whenever that is," she said. "We are trying to remain hopeful in the face of renewed challenge, but it is becoming increasingly difficult to pretend that being forced to shut down is simply us doing our part, when the government is offering nothing in the way of help."
Ruben Rodriguez, executive chef/owner of Amigo by Nai and Nai Tapas, said that while the many in the industry understand the need for restrictions to slow the spread of coronavirus, he objected to what he sees as a lack of communication from officials. And even though restaurants are targeted by these closures now, they have ramifications far beyond that.
"It’s important to understand that the restaurant industry is an ecosystem, so when you shut down restaurants you are looking at a serious domino effect from the purveyors to the farmers and the employees, who we just had to re-hire in November due to the PPP and to accommodate our indoor seating," Rodriguez said. "It’s just a devastating blow and there’s no guide line as to if or when we will get some help."
The restaurant industry has been hoping for the passing of the federal RESTAURANTS Act, which has been folded into the HEROES Act and would create a $120 billion fund to aid small and locally-owned restaurants. Despite House Democrats passing a version of that in September, President Donald Trump stopped all negotiations on that stimulus bill to focus on his Supreme Court nominee in October; the most recent stimulus talks do not include this in the bill.
Rigie, who has been advocating for the bill for months now, explained that short-term fixes were not going to solve long-term problems. "PPP does not work for restaurants, we need the RESTAURANTS Act," he told Gothamist. "Getting access to the money is already challenging, but giving businesses a loan for two and a half times their payroll that needs to be used for payroll, when you're shut down and have few or no employees and have eight months of missed rent, is not going to help, it's going to create more debt."
While federal money is the most important part of the equation, Rigie said there are other measures local government could pass to help small businesses now, including converting sales taxes to grants; reducing property tax payments and giving tax incentives to landlords to renegotiate leases and back rent with restaurants; automatically renewing licenses and permits; getting COVID testing to employees; and more.
While a nurse in Queens became the first person in the country to receive the COVID vaccine today, it has become clear that a significant majority of people won't be vaccinated until almost halfway through 2021 at best. So while the restaurant industry is staring down a long winter without indoor dining now, it seems unlikely things will miraculously be back to normal by the spring.
"It’s been 10 months and everyone knew dining would probably close again," Bank, the owner of Carmine's, said. "Everyone knew winter was coming. Everyone knows a vaccine is here, but it will take until the end of spring for a majority to be vaccinated, so why is there no plan to support my employees and my restaurant? Leaders need to lead by planning even for the unexpected. This was expected, so I answer your question with a question: so now what’s the plan?"
Tagged
COVID-19
pandemic
coronavirus
indoor dining
restaurants
Ben Yakas
Ben Yakas is a former Gothamist reporter.
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Gothamist is funded by sponsors and member donations
Gothamist is funded by sponsors and member donations
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