A majority of restaurants in New York will not be profitable without federal help
In a survey of more than 625 restaurants across the state, the New York State Restaurant Association found that nearly 90 percent of restaurants say they cannot make a profit in the next six months without government assistance. The lack of help will also increase the number of restaurant closures in the state, according to the survey.
Between April and July this year, more than 90 percent of the restaurants surveyed said they had experienced a lower volume of sales from the same time last year, and many said they had seen a more than 70 percent decrease in sales. The survey was conducted in the first week of August and follows on the heels of an intensified rate of closures since early August.
A top concern for restaurants received some sort of commercial rental and that claims for loans for business interruption are paid, according to the survey. As funds from the federal COVID-19-related fund, the Paycheck Protection Program, run out, restaurants are increasingly looking to their state and federal governments for more financial assistance to stay afloat.
In other news
– Noho-dive Bleecker Street Bar is closed on August 30 after 30 years. Attempts to negotiate the lease failed, according to the owners.
– Upper West Side spot Hi-Life Bar & Grill can now re-serve against alcohol after its license was suspended last month for socially-distancing harm.
Pork Island NYC pork-focused food festival will take place on Staten Island this September with purveyors such as the Bronx’s Father & Sons BBQ, and the Lower East Side’s Que Chevere.
– A massive new food hall is coming to the Starrett-Lehigh building in Chelsea. It is set to make its debut sometime in the spring next year.
East Village restaurateur Ravi DeRossi plans to open a new vegan Mexican restaurant nearby.
– A new rice noodle-focused restaurant called Sanshi is being brought to the East Village.
– Discover Bank has donated $ 25,000 each to NYC restaurants Reverence, Sol Sips, and the Nourish Spot, as part of the Eat It Forward initiative to manage black-owned businesses to recover from the COVID-19 pandemic.
– Lunch plans are set:
