JUNE 2 0 2 0 I BOROMAG.COM 11
Roseann McSorley, the co-owner of
Katch Astoria, a popular gastropub at
31-19 Newtown Ave. that reopened for
takeout and curbside margarita pickups
in May, said limiting their capacity won’t
help.
“We’ve told Senator Michael Gianaris
and a lot of our local politicians that 30
percent is not going to help us open.
We need at least 50 percent occupancy,”
McSorley said, adding that Katch has
150 seats. “If you tell me that I can only
get 30 percent, that’s a very small number
and we’ll never be able to make it.”
She added that capacity limits may
also affect how many people she’ll be
able to employ (she had about 40 staff
members, most of whom are collecting
unemployment). And as major sports
prepare to come back, McSorley said
people will want to watch them at places
like Katch, where they pay thousands of
dollars a month for cable.
McSorley already came up with a
guide to reopen. They’re going to take
temperatures of both staff and customers,
who will all need to use face masks;
have dining tables six feet apart separated
by plexiglass; give customers Ziploc
bags to store their masks when they’re
eating and drinking; use a phone app so
they won’t need to use physical menus;
and have a cleaning company do a deep
clean once a week while they disinfect
every day.
McSorley runs Senator Gianaris’
western Queens business committee,
and said businesses in the community
are looking to buy supplies like masks,
face shields, hand sanitizer and gloves
in bulk to distribute among each other.
“We don’t see each other as competition
anymore. We’re all affected by the
same things,” she said.
James O’Reilly, owner of Yerman’s Irish
Pub at 7026 88th St. in Glendale, took to
Facebook on May 28 to showcase his
opening model.
“It looks like they have no guidelines
or model for places to maximize
customers,” O’Reilly said in the video.
“Well I came up with a model, call this
O’Reilly’s Law.”
O’Reilly showed off the adjustable
separators made of wood and plastic
glass that they created to place in
between customers at the bar, with
Marine plastic placed in front of the
bar. He also has mobile separators
to put in between booths. His restaurant
has almost 300 seats, which
he said allows him to safely use the
inside.
O’Reilly, a 59-year-old Irish immigrant,
has been in the restaurant
business in Queens for almost 20
years. His staff of 10, including his two
daughters and in-laws, say they want
to go back to work. He said they’ve
all had antibody tests that came back
positive, so they’re not worried about
contracting the virus, if the antibodies
suggest they already had it.
“You can go to Home Depot,
Walmart, BJ’s … where people are
standing shoulder to shoulder, and we
can’t open?” he told QNS. “It’s unfair.”
Reopening carefully
Even so, restaurant owners want to
be careful about how and when they
reopen.
The Lowery Bar and Kitchen at 43-02
43rd Ave. in Sunnyside came back for
pickup after receiving calls from community
members who missed them.
Anne Muldoon, an Irish immigrant
who opened up the restaurant about
four years ago, said that after deep
cleaning the restaurant, she decided
to reopen at the end of April with a
smaller menu.
“We have a lot of love for this neighborhood,”
Muldoon said. “It’s not really
about making lots of money or making
a profit right now. It’s about survival, and
about putting food on my staff’s tables.”
Muldoon is deeply mindful of cleanliness
and social distance precautions.
She said her staff is bleaching her sidewalks
every night, windows are cleaned,
and her cooks wear masks and gloves
that they change periodically.
Loycent Gordon, the owner of Neir’s
Tavern, decided to temporarily close
the 191-year-old restaurant almost two
months ago in order to keep his staff
safe. To stay connected with Neir’s loyal
patrons, Gordon has hosted several virtual
happy hours. But he isn’t quite sure
when they’ll reopen.
“It’s multi-faceted,” Gordon said, noting
that one of his concerns is dealing
with liability issues, like if a customer says
they got sick at their restaurant.
The Center for Disease Control and
Prevention has provided guidelines for
restaurants to consider, delineating low-
to high-risk establishments, promoting
behaviors to reduce the spread of COVID
19 and maintaining healthy environments.
Read more on QNS.com.
Photos: Angélica Acevedo
FROM
LIC
COURIER
Staff member
Mo Nabil and
Katch Astoria coowner
Roseann
McSorley.
/BOROMAG.COM
/QNS.com
