BY GRANT LANCASTER
As business owners across
the city struggle to keep
the lights on during unprecedented
conditions during
the COVID-19 viral outbreak,
some have found that the loans
offered as an emergency lifeline
are confusing and painfully slow
to pay out.
Less than a month after Mayor
Bill de Blasio ordered NYC’s bars
and restaurants to move to delivery
and take-out businesses, small
coffee shops like Ad Hoc Collective
in Greenwich Village have
watched their revenue vanish,
Ad Hoc owner Mariquit Ingalla
said. Ingalla owns two small coffee
shops in the area, both open
for less than six months.
Since the shop closed for dinein
customers March 16, Ingalla
continues to come in but only
makes a few drinks a day or sells
a few gift cards. She has not laid
off any of her employees yet, but
she cannot schedule them and
told them that if they would rather
fi le for unemployment than wait
for things to improve at the shop,
she respects their decision.
To get some help, Ingalla applied
to the NYC Small Business
Continuity Loan Fund, but has
not gotten a response, and now
applications for the fund are
closed, according to the city’s
website.
Village business owners stuck
waiting for emergency loans
Ingalla turned to federal emergency
loan programs, applying for
an Economic Injury Disaster Loan
through the U.S. Small Business
Administration, which advertises
a $10,000 advance within three
days of application, but she has
not seen that money yet.
Finally, Ingalla applied for the
Paycheck Protection Program
through Chase Bank on April 3
when applications opened, she
PHOTO VIA YELP
The curve flattens… but at a painful cost to NYC
BY EMILY DAVENPORT AND
ROBERT POZARYCKI
The death toll from coronavirus
across New York City kept climbing
this week, but by Wednesday,
there were signs that the upward trend of
infections was fi nally beginning to fl atten.
During his daily coronavirus briefi ng on
April 8, Governor Andrew Cuomo stated
that due to social distancing and the other
measures put in place by the state, New
York state, as a whole, is starting to see
the curve bend in the number of coronavirus
cases when compared to previous
projections.
“What we have done and what we are
doing is working is making a difference,”
said Cuomo.
However with the good news came the
bad: according to Cuomo, April 7 saw the
highest daily count of coronavirus-related
deaths so far with 779 total. April 6 saw
731 total deaths while April 5 saw 599.
said. The program is an SBA initiative
that employs participating
banks as lenders.
The response she got was not
encouraging – a confi rmation
email that said Chase would
either call or email her and that
their call centers were not able to
answer any questions about the
loans, she said.
Some of the other lending
banks are smaller banks that
Woman loaded into ambulance in Harlem neighbourhood of Manhattan during
outbreak of coronavirus in New York
The city’s Health Department reported
that, as of 9:15 am. April 18, there were
77,967 confirmed coronavirus cases,
resulting in 3,602 deaths. In Manhattan,
have told Ingalla they are only
accepting loan applications from
existing customers, she said.
Ingalla compared the response
to being injured in the woods and
someone trying to reassure her by
saying that help might be on the
way.
“You might be qualifi ed for
some help right now,” Ingalla said.
Ingalla has yet to hear anything
from Chase about her loan, she
PHOTO BY REUTERS
there were approximately 10,642 coronavirus
infections and 389 deaths — the
fourth-highest totals of the fi ve boroughs
in each category.
said April 6.
Andres Pazmino, president of
the Greenwich Village Chamber
of Commerce, said that he has
heard of a lot of confusion in the
loan process from small businesses
and self-employed people
in the neighborhood.
The Chamber is trying to help
businesses apply if they need it,
but when the applications opened
April 3, Pazmino said that he had
mostly heard people say the loans
were diffi cult to apply for and that
some banks were only accepting
previous customers.
Even if the shop is able to reopen
by May or June, Ingalla is
skeptical of her business’s ability
to bounce back. June is one of
the slowest months for business
anyways, and she doubts many
tourists will be eager to come to
one of the epicenters of the viral
outbreak this summer.
Her landlord offered to charge
her half rent for May and then pay
back the difference with June’s
rent, Ingalla said. But with the
loss of revenue and typical poor
June business, Ingalla wonders if
that will be possible.
“It’s like a death sentence,”
Ingalla said.
Cuomo stated that New York State has
lost 6,268 deaths – nearly three times the
death toll of the 9/11 terrorist attacks,
which claimed the lives of 2,753 people.
Adding to the tragedy is the disproportionate
number of black and Hispanic New
Yorkers who have died from the illness. In
New York City alone, the Hispanic community
suffered 34% of the city’s COVID-19
deaths and the black community suffered
28% of deaths.
As the city continues to cope with the
unbearable loss of life, New Yorkers are
still staying home to keep others safe —
and businesses are coming together to help
health care professionals on the front lines
of this biological battle.
From Flatiron to the Village and beyond,
organizations and businesses are doing
their part to feed and to protect doctors,
nurses and other hospital employees as they
toil to heal the sick and save as many lives
as possible.
Schneps Media April 9, 2020 3