6 JUNE 11, 2020 RIDGEWOOD TIMES WWW.QNS.COM
‘We have to keep fi ghting because there’s no other option’:
BY ANGÉLICA ACEVEDO
AACEVEDO@SCHNEPSMEDIA.COM
@QNS
Cantina 33, a brand new Peruvian
restaurant at 55-33 Myrtle Ave.
in Ridgewood, was only open
for two months before they 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-yearold
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 everyday.”
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 take-out,
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
Cantina 33, a Peruvian restaurant in Ridgewood, reopened in May after temporarily closing due to the COVID-
19 health crisis. Photo by Angélica Acevedo
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 do
it themselves.
PLANNING AHEAD
A few weeks ago, Mayor Bill de
Blasio mentioned limiting capacity
inside restaurants and bars.
Roseann McSorley, the co-owner of
Katch Astoria, a popular gastropub
at 31-19 Newtown Ave. that reopened
for take-out and curbside margarita
pick-ups 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 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 everyday.
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 in-laws, 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 pick-up 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
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