Health
BY JESSICA PARKS
As many still-closed businesses
face an uncertain future
amid the coronavirus
pandemic, some institutions
are pushing for help from
health experts, saying the
city’s ever-changing reopening
guidelines have hamstrung
their prospects for return.
“I’d like the guidance,” said
Erica Ginger, owner of Owl’s
Head Yoga in Bay Ridge. “I definitely
want to do whatever I
have to do to open safely.”
Smaller exercise spaces like
Ginger’s yoga studio have yet to
be included in any phased reopening
plans, and the government
hasn’t given them clear
signals about when they can
open their doors once more —
and owners fear they may be
lumped in with facilities that
vastly differ from theirs.
“We shouldn’t be necessarily
lumped in with gyms,” Ginger
told Brooklyn Paper. “We aren’t
dripping sweat on equipment,
no communal locker rooms. We
are a one-room studio with a
personal bathroom.”
For some of Brooklyn’s biggest
venues, moving forward
with any type of live audience
is especially tricky, said the
executive director of On Stage
at Kingsborough in Manhattan
COURIER L 22 IFE, AUGUST 21-27, 2020
Beach, as they have to factor
in the safety of patrons,
crew, and the cast.
“We have so much to consider
from the backstage crew
that needs to be mingling and
working closely with one another..
the artists having the
space they need in the dressing
rooms,” Anna Becker said.
“And then of course the audience
being able to come back
safely through the lobby and
the theatre.”
To help establishments like
Ginger’s and Becker’s move forward,
their local senator, Andrew
Gounardes, is calling to
provide small business owners
with access to a free health expert
for reopening guidance.
“As you are well aware,
our small businesses are in
crisis,” wrote the senator in
a July 14 letter to Mayor Bill
de Blasio, city Department
of Small Business Services
Commissioner Jonnel Doris
and then-city Department of
Health and Mental Hygiene
Commissioner Oxiris Barbot.
“It has been estimated that
up to 40% of New York City’s
small businesses will not survive
the COVID-19 pandemic.”
The senator referred to the
city’s outdoor dining initiative,
which provides eateries
with a virtual consultation
with a health expert to ensure
compliance with an approved
checklist. Gounardes also
believes closed businesses
should be provided tailored inperson
help if the city’s transmission
rates remain low.
“I am specifi cally requesting
that the city offer health experts
to provide individualized assistance
to all businesses, as every
small business is unique,” the
One Brooklyn pol believes connecting all businesses with health experts
will help local entrepreneurs know how to best open safl ey, whever that
day comes. Pexels
pol wrote. “These consultations
could be done virtually, but if
transmission rates remain low,
masked, in-person visits from
health experts would be extremely
helpful.”
Ginger believes such support
might prevent unique businesses
from reopening with
one-size-fi ts-all guidelines that
aren’t suitable for the establishment.
Becker added that a health
consultant would help pick up
on “hot spots” that she might
have missed.
“If a health expert comes
to us, they are going to see our
venue in ways I would never
imagine, they are going to fi nd
trouble spots I would have never
considered,” she said.
The Bay Ridge yoga studio
owner said an individualized
consultation from a health consultant
could also lower small
businesses’ risk of being fi ned
down the road.
“I don’t want to be out of
compliance so anything preventative
is good.” Ginger said.
“And not having to spend more
money on things I don’t need to
reopen.”
Still-shuttered businesses
seek help from health experts
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