FOR BREAKING NEWS VISIT WWW.QNS.COM FEBRUARY 17, 2022 • THE QUEENS COURIER 21
Extending opportunities for NYC restaurants
BY ANDREW RIGIE
When the COVID-19 pandemic hit
New York City and devastated our restaurant
THE NEXT INTERIM LIRR
PRESIDENT SHOULD HAVE
COME FROM WITHIN
Long Island Rail Road President Phil
Eng is retiring eff ective as of Feb. 26.
“I can retire knowing that I leave the
LIRR well positioned for continued success
with a dedicated management team
and a tenacious workforce who are delivering
the best train performance in LIRR
history, while fulfi lling our commitments
on a historic capital program,” Eng said
about his retirement.
MTA Chairman Janno Lieber
announced that he is appointing Metro
North President Catherine Renaldi to
serve as interim LIRR President. Lieber’s
justifi cation for this action is that, “we
need somebody who knows the commuter
railroads, we need somebody who
knows the MTA.” He went on to say,
“we need somebody who knows Grand
Central, where the LIRR and Metro
North are about to be roommates.”
Serving as either LIRR or Metro North
president is a full time job. It requires a
good working knowledge of the agency
organization, staff , operations, facilities
and customers needs.
Th e portfolio also includes ongoing
capital projects such as the $11.2 billion
Eastside Access to Grand Central
Terminal, $2.6 billion Main Line Th ird
Track and $450 million Jamaica Station
Capacity Improvements. Th ere are also
many other projects contained within the
LIRR $5.7 billion share of MTA’s $51-billion,
fi ve-year capital plan (2020-2024).
Th ere is little time for on the job training
to run the nation’s largest commuter
rail road. Any good organization develops
in-house talent by promoting from
within. Lieber could have appointed
either the LIRR executive vice president,
senior vice president for operations,
senior vice president for engineering,
or one of several other experienced
LIRR vice presidents as interim LIRR
president.
Lieber’s justification of Renaldi’s
appointment was that she “knows commuter
railroads, the MTA and Grand
Central Terminal.”
Why didn’t Lieber acknowledge that
any member of Eng’s current senior leadership
already knows the LIRR. Th ey
would be ready to step in on day one with
no need for on the job training.
Why didn’t Lieber have confi dence in
the ability of someone from Eng’s management
team already in place to fi ll this
position on a temporary basis? It is an
insult to the hard working current LIRR
management team, employees and loyal
commuters to not appoint someone from
within the LIRR.
Renaldi has her hands full just trying to
manage Metro North, the nation’s second
largest commuter railroad. Th is includes
Metro North’s $4.6 billion share of the
MTA’s $51-billion, fi ve-year capital plan.
Adding the LIRR to her portfolio is
attempting to serve two bosses. It is a
recipe for disaster. Th ere are not enough
hours in a day to do justice to both
assignments. How many months will go
by before the next full time permanent
LIRR president comes on board?
Remember that Lieber, just like his predecessors,
will need the blessing of the
governor. Just like past history, Governor
Hochul will play a behind the scenes role
in the selection for a permanent LIRR
president.
Larry Penner, Great Neck
oped
letters & comments
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industry, the Open Restaurants outdoor
dining program launched later in
the year shielding thousands of businesses
from permanently closing, saving about
100,000 industry jobs — the majority of
which were held by minority and immigrant
New Yorkers — enlivening and reimagining
our streets, and bringing family
and friends safely back together aft er
months of isolation.
Nearly 12,000 businesses signed up for
the temporary emergency outdoor dining
program beginning in June 2020.
Nonetheless, thousands of restaurants
still permanently shuttered, many are still
struggling for survival, and 65% of New
York restaurants were shut out of the
Restaurant Revitalization Fund relief fund
when the money was quickly exhausted.
Th e lack of adequate small business
relief has left too many local restaurants
and bars desperately in need, all while the
city’s industry is still 75,00 jobs short compared
to pre-pandemic employment levels,
and no one knows when business will
return to 2019 sales levels.
Now, Mayor Adams and the new
City Council have inherited the Open
Restaurants program in its temporary
emergency status, and it’s critical the City
of New York’s promised transition to permanency
becomes a top priority for lawmakers.
According to owners and operators
of 726 restaurants representing all fi ve
boroughs my organization, the NYC
Hospitality Alliance, recently surveyed,
91% said permanent outdoor dining is
very important to the future of their business,
92% said it would allow them to
hire more people in the future, which is
needed in our city where employment
growth signifi cantly lags the rest of the
nation. And unsurprisingly, 88% said dining
alfresco is very popular among their
customers.
Th e emergency outdoor dining program
was launched quickly to save restaurants
and jobs in an unprecedented
crisis, and it evolved throughout the pandemic’s
crushing waves, indoor dining
restrictions, summer heatwaves and winter
storms as a matter of restaurant sector
survival.
Still, Open Restaurants hasn’t been a
perfect system for restaurants with changing
guidelines and uneven enforcement,
and even with its extraordinary popularity,
there are valid community concerns
with outdoor dining that must be
addressed in a constructive way. But,
obstructing progress of the program can’t
be on the menu.
Th at’s why the City Council must
approve the Open Restaurants Zoning
Text Amendment passed nearly unanimously
by the Planning Commission
last year as it will allow more businesses
to have outdoor dining that will otherwise
be restricted when the emergency
program expires. Th en, the City must
pass legislation creating the regulatory
framework for a new and improved permanent
outdoor dining program that
includes sidewalk and roadway cafes that
will be a beloved feature of our city’s
streetscape. Finally, specifi c rules such as
design guidelines, clearance, and operating
requirements must be established.
New York City is the greatest city in
the world, and as we emerge from the
pandemic-induced doom and gloom, we
must show ourselves and the world that
we will survive, recover, and build back
smarter and stronger.
Permanent outdoor dining is a challenging
yet exciting opportunity for our
city and it should be viewed as a catalyst
for more outdoor arts and performances,
open air shops, enhanced transportation,
and containerization of our city’s
trash, as a requisite to the city’s recovery
and rebirth. Politics, change, and progress
are hard, but I am optimistic that it is still
possible in New York City.
Especially aft er last weekend when I
joined Mayor Adams, City Council members
and other guests for a delicious lunch
at Mario’s Restaurant on Arthur Avenue
in the Bronx, where we discussed the
future of Open Restaurants. It was a bit
chilly dining alfresco in their outdoor
café in February, but it was heartwarming
to hear our elected leaders express
such strong support for the city’s restaurant
industry recovery and future growth.
I hope New Yorkers and visitors will
continue to break bread while dining
alfresco as we did this past Sunday, for
many years to come.
Andrew Rigie is the executive director of
the NYC Hospitality Alliance.
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