Despair among Brooklyn workers over closures

This is what the streets of 18th Avenue look like on the borders of Borough Park and Bensonhurst, with many businesses closed and few people on the street.

And is that even though the mayor said on Monday that this week the red zones of Brooklyn could change, this is still considered a high-risk area, which hurts Latino businesses and workers like Janeth, who for a week had than setting up a mobile stall because her husband’s working hours were reduced

“At least I’m desperate … here as he sees me, my husband earns very little and I had to help him pay the bills,” explained street vendor Janeth Flores.

Meanwhile, workers like Cándido Ayala have to come from the Bronx to this neighborhood to sell flowers even though he is over 60 years old and suffers from diabetes. The two days of work they give him here is the only job he has had since the pandemic began

“To get something for my family, right now I’m sick but I don’t have enough to eat here but I come to take care of my nephew’s business … since I haven’t worked for six, seven months now, and my family is waiting,” said Cándido.

At the same time, Latino businesses are struggling to survive.

Some business owners are desperate that the state and municipal government are not yet announcing when this neighborhood will no longer be part of the red light district, especially businesses that are near the 65th street line.

Such is the case of pizzeria J and V, where they say that since the city classified this area as a red zone and forced the closure of non-essential businesses, it has lost half of its customers. The pizzeria has the misfortune of being only one block from where the yellow zone begins.

“They are going to destroy all the businesses here, who is going to pay my rent, all the bills, do not send people home, they have family, how these people are going to live,” said Vito Conigliaro, administrator of the V&J Pizzeria.

For now, and in order to reduce the number of coronavirus cases, there is an increase in the use of masks, although there are still neighbors who do not wear them.

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