BY BROOKLYN PAPER
Aaron Freeman thought he
had $150,000 coming to him.
As the owner of Sugar Hill
Restaurant and Supper Club,
217 Nostrand Ave. in Bedford-
Stuyvesant, Freeman says he
was told by the United States
Small Business Administration
(SBA) that his Payment Protection
Program (PPP) loan — a
federal loan meant to help businesses
keep their workforce
employed during COVID-19 —
was secure. Then, he received
an email saying he was denied.
“We went through the process,
and they said ‘you qualify
for $150,000,’” Freeman said.
“Then I got an email and it said
denied. No specifi c reason, just
said denied. But I gave them everything
they asked for.”
Freeman’s experience with
the program refl ects widespread
disappointment in the
federal Restaurant Revitalization
Fund (RRF) to rescue restaurants,
which announced its
closure on Tuesday, July 6.
COURIER L 4 IFE, JULY 23-29, 2021
The RRF program received
more than 278,000 submitted
eligible applications representing
over $72.2 billion in requested
funds, and dispersed
$28.6 billion, the full extent of
its allocation from Congress.
Restaurants and bars were eligible
for economic aid equal to
their pandemic-related revenue
loss, with a cap of $10 million
per business and $5 million per
location. The funds were available
for certain eligible uses,
like payroll and rent.
Restaurant owners and
business leaders alike say the
program fell short of its intentions.
Thomas Grech, president
and CEO of the Queens Chamber
of Commerce, originally
lobbied Congress for $120 billion
to help cover the full extent
of the damage brought about by
COVID.
“It’s a killer,” Grech said of
the fund’s shortfall. “In Queens
County, we have 6,000 restaurants.
We estimated that during
the COVID 1,000 shut for
good.”
Grech foresees additional
challenges for the city’s restaurants
in the coming months,
and is calling for a minimum of
$70 billion in additional rescue
funds from the federal government.
To help ease the burden, the
Chamber head wants to see the
state decline the additional $300
in unemployment support the
federal government is providing
this summer and the city
to declare a retroactive moratorium
on fi nes, good through the
end of this year.
But, Grech said, direct aid
is still the best solution — if the
money’s there.
“That federal aid would
have gone a very, very long way
to help,” he said. “Many of the
places that applied for the aid,
were unable to get it because the
well would dry pretty quick.”
Many restaurants that were
denied the federal assistance
ended up shuttering. In Freeman’s
The Sugar Hill Restaurant and Supper Club in Bedford-Stuyvesant.
Sugar Hill Restaurant and Supper Club
case, he was lucky to receive
private loans at higher
interest rates to keep his workers
on the payroll, but now, he’s
afraid it will take years for him
to fi nancially recover.
When contacted for comment,
SBS touted the success
its Fair Share: Restaurants
program, which helped small
businesses apply for the RRF
grants, though an agency rep
acknowledged there is more to
be done.
“With over 27,000 restaurants
across the city and only
9,775 RRF payments going to
state restaurants, let alone city
restaurants, the grants did not
reach many of our restaurants
in need of fi nancial support,”
said SBS spokesperson Julianne
Cho.
“SBS strongly supports the
replenishment of the fund and
will continue to advocate for
resources, initiatives, and policies
that support a sustainable
recovery of the NYC Food and
Beverage industry,” she added.
Looking for a lifeline
Small businesses still struggling to recover
as fed restaurant rescue funds dry up