FOR BREAKING NEWS VISIT WWW.QNS.COM DECEMBER 24, 2020 • 2020 YEAR IN REVIEW • THE QUEENS COURIER 7
2020 year in review
timeline in the borough
Connected Chef, Queens Together,
Catering for the Homeless, Hungry Monk
and Woodbine.
Catholic Charities Brooklyn and
Queens hosted emergency food popup
events in low-income neighborhoods,
while Queens County Farm had partnered
with Queens College Knights Table
Food Pantry, to help feed students and
their families.
Th e COVID-19 pandemic had devastated
Queens’ local economy, the second
largest and most diversifi ed of all the
fi ve boroughs, with jobs across the health
care, retail trade, manufacturing, construction,
transportation, and fi lm and
television production sectors. Small businesses
act as an important part of the borough’s
economic vitality with two-thirds
of all businesses employing between one
to four people.
In downtown Jamaica, a bustling commercial
transportation hub, the streets
were silent as businesses were closed,
according to Hope Knight, executive
director of the Greater Jamaica
Development Corporation.
“We never could’ve conceived a situation
like this. Some landlords are asking
for rent and there have been layoff s of
staff ,” Knight said.
Small businesses that were depending
on the federal government’s bailout plan,
known as the Payroll Protection Program,
did not receive the fi rst round of funding
in April to keep their employees on
payroll.
Th omas Grech, president of the Queens
Chamber of Commerce, had called for
the program to be replenished to provide
more federal funding for small businesses,
that he said are the “lifeblood of Queens,
and communities across America.”
“With unemployment reaching unprecedented
levels, and business owners grappling
with how to make payroll, pay rent
and keep up with other expenses, the time
to act is now. We don’t have a moment to
waste with inaction or play partisan politics,”
Grech said.
However, several establishments in
Queens that were considered a staple in
their communities had closed permanently
due to fi nancial constraints.
In Astoria, the beloved restaurant
Queens Comfort closed its doors on
Oct. 11 aft er more than nine years on
30th Avenue. While in Long Island City,
Corner Bistro had closed aft er trying to
survive on takeout and delivery service.
Forest Hills’ Austin Street corridor had
lost Jack and Nellies, Sushi Yasu, Ren Wen
Noodle Factory and the historic Forest
Hills Diner. Th ough the Irish Cottage had
closed, it reopened during the summer
under new management.
Even though new places were continuing
to open, it served as an incredibly
challenging time for restaurants, such as
American Brass in Long Island City.
Th e owner, Robert Briskin, had to create
a new menu with food, beer and wine,
and packages for takeout and delivery,
he said.
Aft er a three-month lockdown, Cuomo
had given New York City restaurants the
green light to off er limited outdoor dining
in Phase 2 of reopening, as early as
June 22 — two days aft er the offi cial start
of summer.
De Blasio’s “Open Restaurants Plan”
included curbside seating by allowing
restaurants to convert parking spaces in
order to use the roadbed alongside the
curb for dine-in service. Th e city has also
allowed restaurants, who are on the city’s
Open Streets Initiative, to create areas in
front of their establishments.
By June 29, Bayside’s Bell Boulevard was
bustling with life once again, as patrons
dined beneath the shade awnings and surrounded
by custom dividers in order to
help put diners at ease while also giving
them privacy.
Many business owners had taken the
opportunity to create a unique ambiance
to the sidewalk, like Chef David Arias,
creator of Spanglish NYC, at 4004 Bell
Blvd., who designed and decorated wooden
frames with an eye-catching urban
graffi ti style.
“We wanted to make something diff erent
to get everyone’s attention. It’s really
positive that everybody is now outside.
Everybody is trying to get life back
again, so we tried to be very creative in
the things that we did,” said Charlotte
Zubieta, Arias’ mother.
Eventually, indoor dining had reopened
at limited capacity capped at 25 percent.
However, as the fall season was approaching,
there were warnings of a spike in
COVID-19 cases, especially during the
holiday season.
Th en, once again, restaurateurs were hit
with a second order on Dec. 14 to close
their doors for indoor service, but were
permitted to continue outdoor dining and
takeout/delivery services.
Cuomo’s decision to suspend indoor
dining is a result of sustained increases
in the fi ve boroughs’ hospitalization and
COVID-19 positivity rates.
Queens Together, a grassroots restaurant
advocacy group and food relief organization,
had joined several small business
leaders across the borough in the last
months to call for support.
Jonathan Forgosh, chef and co-founder
of Queens Together, suggested immediate
solutions such as putting pressure
on business interruption insurance companies
to respond to restaurants; rent
breaks; and freezing punitive fi nes from
state agencies.
For Marcos Munoz, owner of Mojitos
in Jackson Heights, the pause on indoor
dining is a “very hard blow” not just for
restaurant owners, but everyone who is
a part of the industry and will be out of
work.
Loycent Gordon, owner of Neir’s Tavern
in Woodhaven, said restaurants have
worked hard to comply with the diff erent
kinds of rules and regulations put in place
in response to the pandemic and those
that were already there.
“Restaurant owners have mostly been
complying with rules and regulations and
investing in it for the safety of our customers.
Our infection rate has been lower
than the city average. We’re bringing it
down, however we’re being punished,”
Gordon said. “Th is is a death sentence to
the citizens we’re supposed to be protecting.
Th is is wrong.”
While the city received its fi rst shipment
of Pfi zer and BioNTech’s COVID-
19 vaccines in December, de Blasio has
urged residents and businesses earlier in
the week to brace for a possible second
shutdown amid a citywide surge in coronavirus
cases.
The New York State Restaurant
Association is asking for a federal relief
package and sent a letter to Cuomo asking
for his support, calling the timing
“critical.”
REUTERS/Stefan Jeremiah
People wait in line to be tested for coronavirus disease (COVID-19) while wearing protective gear outside Elmhurst
Hospital Center on March 25, 2020.
Photo via Getty Images
Photo courtesy of Mojito’s Restaurant
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