By Nelson A. King
New York City’s restaurant,
retail and recreation sectors
continued to struggle during
the COVID-19 pandemic,
even before the latest surge in
cases, with 169,700 fewer jobs
in November than from two
years ago, according to a report
released by State Comptroller,
Thomas P. DiNapoli.
The report says the losses
accounted for 41 percent of
total private sector jobs lost in
the city during the pandemic.
“When the COVID-19 pandemic
began, many businesses
in retail trade, accommodation
and food services, and arts,
entertainment and recreation
closed,” the report says. “These
sectors are also experiencing
a longer period of COVID-19
restrictions and depressed
activity due to the nature of
their operations and concerns
over virus transmission.”
The report says reduced economic
activity has had an outsized
effect on New York City,
the nation’s initial epicenter
of the pandemic, from jobs to
wages to real estate, with some
of the most significant impacts
affecting the restaurant, retail
and recreation (RRR) sectors.
The RRR sectors lost an
average of 48 percent of their
work forces between the first
and second quarters of 2020,
while the accommodation and
food services sector lost 64 percent,
the report says.
By comparison, it says the
private sector overall lost 21
percent in the City.
In response, the report
notes that a number of federal
programs were established or
expanded to aid affected businesses
Caribbean L 8 ife, JANUARY 21-27, 2022
in these sectors, first
through the Paycheck Protection
Program and Economic
Impact Disaster Loans.
Continued closures and
revenue losses led the federal
government to create specific
relief programs for restaurants,
through the Restaurant Revitalization
Fund, and for entertainment
venues, through the
Shuttered Venue Operators
Grants.
The report examines the
damage the pandemic has
inflicted on the RRR sectors,
and considers the distribution
of federal funds for businesses
in the City, particularly for
businesses in low- and moderate
income communities and
in historically underutilized
business zones.
“While approaches to targeting
federal funding have
improved, the City and the
State have already recognized
that they need to do more to
assist the City’s disadvantaged
businesses,” the report says.
“The state of these sectors suggests
support may be necessary
for some time for them to fully
recover.”
Currently, the report says
New York City’s overall economic
recovery continues to
lag behind the nation’s.
For example, it says the City
lost a higher share of jobs (of
all sectors) between the second
quarter of 2019 and the second
quarter of 2021 than any of
the other five most populous
counties in the nation, which
overlap all or in part with the
largest cities in the nation.
About 10 percent of the jobs
lost in the nation over the period
belonged to the City.
Even more striking, 62 percent
of the jobs lost in the State
An employee works inside of a Buffalo Wild Wings restaurant
in New York, U.S., Feb. 6, 2017. REUTERS/Lucas Jackson
were New York City jobs, the
report says.
In terms of the RRR sectors,
it says the City accounts
for about 67 percent of the lost
jobs in the State and about 9
percent of those in the nation
over this period.
Restaurant, retail and recreation sectors continue
to struggle during pandemic: State Comptroller
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