New York City restaurant owners sunk in rental debt

The ban on interior spaces in restaurants made most landlords unable to pay rent in December.

The restaurant industry continues to see the consequences of the closures and restrictions that New York City went through last spring due to the coronavirus pandemic from which, thus far, it has not been able to recover.

A new survey developed by the New York City Hospitality Alliance, revealed that the situation of restaurants in the five boroughs is increasingly difficult, even when the reactivation of interior spaces was approved by Governor Andrew Cuomo.

The results of the survey highlighted that 92% of those surveyed affirmed that the restrictions on the consumption of the interior spaces made them unable to pay their rents in the month of December.

According to these data obtained by the Hospitality Alliance, the low temperatures in the winter season and the restriction measures on indoor consumption generated a negative impact on the finances of the restaurants.

Since the start of the pandemic in New York in early March last year, restaurants had to close their doors to prevent the contagion and spread of the coronavirus, at a time when the Big Apple saw more than 20,000 deaths from the disease.

The restrictions caused dozens of restaurants to close their doors permanently, despite the fact that, on several occasions, the state authorities promoted a slight reactivation of the interior spaces of the food establishments.

The organization representing New York restaurants is asking state and federal legislators to approve a financial aid package from $ 25 billion to support the Big Apple restaurant industry. As well as, expand consumption indoors.

Read here: Bars, restaurants and other businesses in New York may open until 11 PM

With dozens of closed restaurants and bars, New York nightlife has taken a 360 degree turn. After almost a year, New York City has not been able to regain the mobility that characterizes it so much.

The executive director of the NYC Hospitality Alliance has emphasized the importance of financial assistance from the federal government to restaurants in the Big Apple in order to lift the industry that is mired in debt and closures.

“We have been in the public health and economic crisis for almost a year that has decimated New York City’s restaurants, bars and nightlife venues,” said Andrew Rigie, executive director of the NYC Hospitality Alliance.

Rigie added that the reactivation of 25% of the capacity in the interior spaces has been good news for the industry will not be enough in the short term.

“While the reopening of highly regulated inland consumption is good news, we must safely increase occupancy to 50% as soon as possible, and we urgently need solid and comprehensive financial relief from the federal government.”added.

Only 20% of New York City business owners said they lowered the rent for tenants struggling with the coronavirus pandemic, according to data from the NYC Hospitality Alliance.

At least 14 companies have been able to renegotiate the cost they pay monthly, the same data details.

In another recent study by the Hospitality Alliance, about 140,700 jobs have been lost in the New York restaurant industry over the past year to the coronavirus economic crisis.

Almost 39% of all jobs in this sector have disappeared, this is equivalent to 366,600 people who are currently no longer working.

The city’s restaurant owners hope that in the coming months, 50% of indoor consumption can be reactivated to recover profits and boost the industry again.

You can also read: New York City has lost 140,700 bar and restaurant jobs

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