Restaurant Owner Says New Jersey Street Fair Is Hurting His Business
TENAFLY, N.J. (CBSNewYork)-- A New Jersey street fair designed be fun for everyone is having the opposite effect, according to one restaurant owner.
There's something for everyone at the street fair on Highwood Avenue in downtown Tenafly, New Jersey. The Tenafly Chamber of Commerce blocked off the street hoping to attract 10,000 people, CBS2's Brian Conybeare reported.
"It's a good time to bring a lot of outsiders into the restaurants that are here," Christine Evron, of the Chamber of Commerce, said.
But others are less enthused.
"It destroys the business, not just mine, everybody's," Massimo Bazzarelli, owner of Max's Italian Grill, said.
He said the street fair cost him his entire Saturday lunch crowd and that he had zero customers, compared to his regular 35 to 40 customers.
"People and families, they just want to go for a walk, they're not interested in my business," he said.
Other shop owners also said business was down because of the blocked streets, but they're hopeful the fair will help in the long run.
"It may hurt our customer flow because of parking and whatnot, but in the end we are getting foot traffic in a town that doesn't really get much foot traffic," Joe Diovisalvo said.
Even the head of the Chamber of Commerce admits they may find a way to make changes to help get regular customers into the blocked off stores.
"If this is going to continue, I actually will be out of business," Bazzarelli said.
The doors of these businesses are open-- that's the good news, the bad news is the same thing is going to happen again Sunday because it's a two-day street fair.
