Grim Statistic In Road To Reopening: 87% Of NYC Restaurants, Bars Couldn't Pay Full Rent In August
NEW YORK (CBSNewYork) - There's another indicator of the devastating impact the COVID pandemic has had on New York City's small businesses.
A new survey by the NYC Hospitality Alliance of 450 restaurants, bars and nightlife venues found that 87% could not pay full rent in August, and 34% couldn't pay rent at all.
The survey came at the height of outdoor dining.
"Restaurants, bars and nightlife venues have been financially devastated by the COVID-19 pandemic," said Andrew Rigie, executive director of the NYC Hospitality Alliance. "Even before the pandemic when operating at 100 percent occupancy, these small businesses were struggling to stay open. Now we're seeing widespread closures, approximately 150,000 industry workers are still out of their jobs, and the overwhelming majority of these remaining small businesses cannot afford to pay rent. The hospitality industry is essential to New York's economic and social fabric, and to ensure the survival of these vital small businesses and jobs, we urgently need rent relief, an indefinite extension of outdoor dining, a roadmap for expanded indoor dining, covered business interruption insurance and immediate passage of the Restaurants Act by Congress."
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CLICK HERE to see the full survey results.
Indoor dining, capped at 25% occupancy, is set to begin at the end of the month.
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