Editorial
Healing the pain
Almost every New Yorker is suffering
an emotional toll during the COVID
19 pandemic, but the suffering
is not equal for everyone.
A report released Monday by the New York
State Health Foundation stated the obvious
about a precipitous rise, across the board, in
anxiety and depression among New Yorkers
from every walk of life. The level of mental
stress, however, was disproportionately
higher among Black and Latino communities.
The report revealed yet another layer of
inequality in New York during a period in our
history when so much long-ignored societal
injustice has surfaced. New York has been,
in spirit, a state that says it believes in equal
justice for all, yet the track record falls far
short of reaching that objective.
That inequality is why, when the COVID
19 pandemic hit New York hardest last
March and April, Black and Latino communities
suffered the worst illnesses and losses.
Communities of color have perennially lacked
the health care resources needed to help all
stay healthy and well, and the massive death
toll was a direct result of that ignorance.
That inequality is why, following the horrifi
c murder of George Floyd at the hands
of Minneapolis police offi cers, New Yorkers
took to the streets in protest against racial
injustice. Communities of color have been
perennially subjected to police abuses and
systemic racism which blocked advancement
and the ability of all New Yorkers, regardless
of color, to live in safety and freedom.
The mental health gap in New York City,
despite recent efforts to close it, has grown
at the worst possible time. Yet there is a path
toward closing it. When COVID-19 tests began
ramping up, the city and state worked to establish
hubs in communities of color. The same
has held true with the COVID-19 vaccine, as
churches, community organizations and public
housing complexes are being equipped with
vaccination hubs to bring the “shot of hope”
directly to those who need it the most.
Now the city and state must work together
to do the same for addressing the mental health
needs of all New Yorkers, especially Black and
Latino residents, during the pandemic. They
must work with mental health professionals,
medical systems and the same partners involved
in COVID-19 testing and vaccination to
create a localized network bringing counselors
directly to where they are needed.
We must remedy this and other painful
inequalities as we move forward in building
a post-pandemic New York.
Op-ed
FILE PHOTO
People walk by restaurant’s outdoor patios after New York City Mayor Bill de
Blasio announced 21 more locations for outdoor dining options as part of a city
initiative that combines the Open Streets and Open Restaurants programs in
place to fight the spread of the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) in Manhattan,
New York City, U.S., August 14, 2020.
A glimmer of hope for nation’s
struggling restaurants
BY ANDREW RIGIE AND
ROBERT BOOKMAN
The nation’s restaurants and bars are
dying rapidly from COVID-19, and
like the new vaccine that will save
American lives, the $25 billion restaurant
relief package passed by the U.S. Senate last
week will save American small businesses.
Since the coronavirus hit, more than
110,000 restaurants around the country
have shuttered, and countless more eateries
and drinking establishments are teetering on
the edge of survival. What’s more troubling
is that approximately three quarters of restaurant
owners who closed for good say it’s
unlikely they’ll open another venture in the
future, jeopardizing the odds of returning 2.5
million restaurant and bar jobs lost in 2020,
including 372,000 jobs in December alone.
Saving our neighborhood restaurants and
bars is not a Democrat, Republican, or Independent
issue, it is a deeply American issue.
Whether you live in New York, the greatest
city in the world, or the heartland, restaurants
are essential to the social and economic
fabric of our communities. Restaurants are
where we traditionally share family time and
special occasions, go on fi rst dates and mark
anniversaries, cheers with coworkers after a
long week, and where millions of Americans
have gotten their fi rst jobs and so many others
have elevated their careers.
The tragic truth is that up until this point,
some in government have stood by in waiting
as the restaurant industry crumbles from
pressures and forces outside of its control.
The combination of COVID-19 and severe
restrictions limiting business operations has
cooked up a recipe that threatens the viability
of restaurants around the country. But it
is not too late for our elected leaders to do the
right thing and prevent the permanent loss
of even more beloved restaurants and jobs.
If the banks were too big to fail in 2008,
our country’s restaurants are too critical to
collapse in 2021.
The Biden Administration faces the monumental
challenge of restarting the economy
while preserving public health. Fortunately,
the blueprints for saving restaurants have
already been prepared and the solution is
ready to be built. Last year, Senate Majority
Leader (and Brooklyn born) Charles
Schumer was a leading advocate and fi ghter
for the RESTAURANTS Act, which earned
over 50 sponsors in the Senate and passed
in the House of Representatives, and now
the 117th Congress must immediately pass
a version of this dedicated restaurant relief.
Unlike the recently passed Paycheck
Protection Program, which is better suited
for other industries but is a band-aid on a
cannon wound for restaurants, the new $25
billion structed revitalization fund modeled
on the RESTAURANTS Act would provide
struggling restaurants with grants to pay for
months of missed rent, payroll for workers,
vendor expenses and more.
Now, it’s critical that lawmakers put politics
aside and enact a stimulus plan that supports
restaurants across the country that have been
absolutely devastated by the pandemic. The
restaurant recovery fund will put the nation’s
hospitality industry on a path to recovery so that
hundreds of thousands of small businesses and
millions of workers have the opportunity to get
back on their feet and welcome you again into
their dining rooms and bars after one of the
most harrowing crises in our country’s history.
Andrew Rigie is the Executive Director
of the NYC Hospitality Alliance and Robert
Bookman is on the Counsel of the NYC
Hospitality Alliance.
Publisher of The Villager, Villager Express, Chelsea Now,
Downtown Express and Manhattan Express
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