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QUEENS WEEKLY, JUNE 14, 2020
‘We have to keep fi ghting because there’s no other option’:
BY ANGÉLICA ACEVEDO
Cantina 33, a brand-new
Peruvian restaurant at 55-33
Myrtle Ave. in Ridgewood,
was only open for two months
before it had to temporarily
close due to New York state’s
stay-at-home order.
“I honestly thought it was
going to last like two weeks,”
said Chef Kevin Lenis, owner
of Cantina 33. “I didn’t think
it would be this long. But it’s
been two months, and I had
to make changes because, at
the end of the day, I still have
rent to pay.”
Lenis wanted to wait until
it was safe to open back up
to inside dining, as he felt his
food — beautifully crafted,
traditional Peruvian dishes
with a modern twist — was
meant to be enjoyed inside
the vibrant and sleek ambiance
he created.
But as time went on, the
28-year-old business owner
from Jackson Heights realized
there was no specific
end date in sight. He also
thought about his team of
about 15 people, who wanted
to come back to work.
So on May 15, he began offering
deliveries and adjusted
the menu by adding more
options, including Peruvian
sandwiches inspired by his
go-to, after-work snack he
used to get from a small food
truck in Peru. As New York’s
COVID-19 numbers decrease
and the city and state begins
to reopen, Lenis isn’t sure
that some of the restrictions
that have been mentioned
would allow his restaurant,
with 42 seats, to not only survive,
but also thrive.
“I don’t know if all restaurants
will be able to bounce
back from this,” Lenis said.
“Yes, you need profit … but
we put a lot of passion and
love into what we do. And
that’s what pushes us to keep
going every day.”
Like Cantina 33, restaurants
and bars across the city
struggled to figure out what
to do once Gov. Andrew Cuomo
passed the stay-at-home
executive order in March.
Many settled for delivery and
takeout; some temporarily
closed; and others have shut
their doors permanently. But
as stay-at-home orders continued
to get extended for two
more weeks — which became
a month, then two months —
independent restaurants and
bar owners began to fear for
their businesses’ survival.
Back in March, Queens
Chamber of Commerce President
and CEO Tom Grech
said “at least 50 percent of
restaurants” that closed in
Queens due to the pandemic
probably won’t reopen.
“That’s a terrible thing for
livelihood … terrible thing
for Queens,” he said during a
virtual town hall. Even now,
restaurant and bar owners
are taking it day by day, uncertain
of their future. But
more and more are speaking
out and calling for officials to
come up with a concrete plan
with guidelines that will let
them reopen sooner rather
than later — or allow them to
do it themselves.
Planning ahead
A few weeks ago, Mayor
Bill de Blasio mentioned limiting
capacity inside restaurants
and bars. Roseann Mc-
Sorley, the co-owner of Katch
Astoria, a popular gastropub
at 31-19 Newtown Ave. that
reopened for takeout and
curbside margarita pickups
in May, said limiting their
capacity won’t help.
“We’ve told Senator Michael
Gianaris and a lot of
our local politicians that 30
percent is not going to help
us open. We need at least 50
percent occupancy,” McSorley
said, adding that Katch
has 150 seats. “If you tell me
that I can only get 30 percent,
that’s a very small number
and we’ll never be able to
make it.”
She added that capacity
limits may also affect how
many people she’ll be able to
employ (she had about 40 staff
members, most of whom are
collecting unemployment).
And as major sports prepare
to come back, McSorley said
people will want to watch
them at places like Katch,
where they pay thousands
of dollars a month for cable.
McSorley already came up
with a guide to reopen.
They’re going to take temperatures
of both staff and
customers, who will all need
to use face masks; have dining
tables six feet apart separated
by plexiglass; give customers
Ziploc bags to store
their masks when they’re
eating and drinking; use a
phone app so they won’t need
to use physical menus; and
have a cleaning company
do a deep clean once a week
while they disinfect every
day. McSorley runs Senator
Gianaris’ western Queens
business committee, and
said businesses in the community
are looking to buy
supplies like masks, face
shields, hand sanitizer and
gloves in bulk to distribute
among each other.
“We don’t see each other
as competition anymore.
We’re all affected by the
same things,” she said.
James O’Reilly, owner of
Yerman’s Irish Pub at 7026
88th St. in Glendale, took to
Facebook on May 28 to showcase
his opening model.
“It looks like they have
no guidelines or model for
places to maximize customers,”
O’Reilly said in the
video. “Well I came up with
a model, call this O’Reilly’s
Law.”
O’Reilly showed off the
adjustable separators made
of wood and plastic glass that
they created to place in between
customers at the bar,
with Marine plastic placed
in front of the bar. He also
has mobile separators to put
in between booths.
His restaurant has almost
300 seats, which he said
allows him to safely use the
inside. O’Reilly, a 59-year-old
Irish immigrant, has been in
the restaurant business in
Queens for almost 20 years.
His staff of 10, including
his two daughters and inlaws,
say they want to go back
to work. He said they’ve all
had antibody tests that came
back positive, so they’re not
worried about contracting
the virus, if the antibodies
suggest they already had it.
“You can go to Home Depot,
Walmart, BJ’s … where
people are standing shoulder
to shoulder, and we can’t
open?” he told QNS. “It’s unfair.”
Reopening carefully
Even so, restaurant owners
want to be careful about
how and when they reopen.
The Lowery Bar and Kitchen
at 43-02 43rd Ave. in Sunnyside
came back for pickup
after receiving calls from
community members who
missed them.
Anne Muldoon, an Irish
immigrant who opened up
the restaurant about four
years ago, said that after
deep cleaning the restaurant,
she decided to reopen
at the end of April with a
smaller menu.
“We have a lot of love for
this neighborhood,” Muldoon
said. “It’s not really
about making lots of money
or making a profit right
now. It’s about survival, and
about putting food on my
staff’s tables.”
Muldoon is deeply mindful
of cleanliness and social
distance precautions. She
said her staff is bleaching
her sidewalks every night,
windows are cleaned, and
her cooks wear masks and
gloves that they change periodically.
Loycent Gordon, the owner
of Neir’s Tavern, decided
to temporarily close the 191-
year-old restaurant almost
two months ago in order to
keep his staff safe. To stay
connected with Neir’s loyal
patrons, Gordon has hosted
several virtual happy hours.
But he isn’t quite sure when
they’ll reopen.
“It’s multi-faceted,” Gordon
said, noting that one of
his concerns is dealing with
liability issues, like if a customer
says they got sick at
their restaurant.
The Center for Disease
Control and Prevention
has provided guidelines for
restaurants to consider, delineating
low- to high-risk
establishments, promoting
behaviors to reduce the
spread of COVID-19 and
maintaining healthy environments.
Where aid has come
up short
Gordon managed to receive
the federal government’s
PPP loan, which can
be forgiven if the business
maintains their payroll. But
he said it’s “good, but it’s
also bad,” explaining that because
most of his staff are on
unemployment, they’re “just
sitting on it.”
“If you use it, it becomes
a loan,” he said, which will
become another monthly expense.
Gordon added that 75
percent of the $90,000 grant
Neir’s Tavern received from
the de Blasio administration
back in January when they
helped them stay open, was
taken back due to the budget
crisis the pandemic has
caused.
Even so, Gordon noted
Cantina 33, a Peruvian restaurant in Ridgewood, reopened in May after temporarily closing due to the COVID-19 health crisis.
Photo by Angélica Acevedo