COVID continues to hurt New York s small businesses, new report shows democratandchronicle.com - get the latest breaking news, showbiz & celebrity photos, sport news & rumours, viral videos and top stories from democratandchronicle.com Daily Mail and Mail on Sunday newspapers.
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But higher occupancy might not mean a full house, especially as temperatures warm up. Many New York restaurants report that diners, especially regulars, would rather eat outdoors, even in challenging weather.
Those who choose to dine inside tend to be younger, say owners, and in search of experiences they haven’t had for a year, namely digging into a big-ticket steak. And even in the absence of corporate card business dinners, check averages are going up, and so are tips.
Three sweaters
At Extra Virgin in the West Village, regulars are choosing outdoor seats. “They got used to it, even if they have to wear three sweaters and a parka,” says partner Michele Gaton. She sees a younger crowd sitting indoors.
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But elements of the city’s bureaucracy are gearing up to fight parts of the legislation. At a City Council hearing on Monday, the Department of Consumer and Worker Protection and the Department of Small Business Services pushed back on the proposals.
Consumer Protection Commissioner Lorelei Salas opposed what she considered would be a dilution of the Consumer Protection Law, which Salas argued has been part of the city code since 1969.
“Diluting the CPL and not improving its protections will have tremendously negative consequences for the most vulnerable of our city’s constituents and stifle our agency mission during a time of extreme crisis,” she said.
(iStock/Illustration by Kevin Rebong for The Real Deal)
In an effort to survive the financial fallout of the coronavirus pandemic, thousands of New York City restaurateurs entered into a perilous agreement with their landlords: deferring rent in the hopes that they’d be able to pay when their fortunes improved.
Thirty-seven percent of restaurants have deferred their rent due to the coronavirus pandemic, according to a recent report by the New York City Hospitality Alliance. But that pales in comparison to the number of restaurateurs who could not pay part or all of their rent: 92 percent in December, a figure that has risen steadily since the first Covid-19 lockdown was imposed last spring.