12 SEPTEMBER 17, 2020 RIDGEWOOD TIMES WWW.QNS.COM
Restaurants, tenants in need of bailouts
Many aspects of our society’s
recovery from the COVID-19
pandemic can be defi ned by
Winston Churchill’s quote aft er victory
in Africa during World War II.
“Now this is not the end. It is not
even the beginning of the end. But it is,
perhaps, the end of the beginning,” he
said.We thought of this quote when
Governor Andrew Cuomo, at long last,
gave New York City the green light to
resume indoor dining as of Sept. 30. It
was something we had been appealing
for months to happen, as thousands
of mom-and-pop eateries continue to
struggle mightily aft er enduring long
closure and vastly reduced business.
Yet no one, for a moment, should think
of the resumption of indoor dining in
New York City as the cure-all to the
myriad economic problems restaurants
face today.
The pandemic has dug the city’s restaurant
industry into such a deep hole
that there are only two ways out of it:
New fi nancial relief that hastens their
exit from the hole and keeps everyone
afl oat; or a long, slow climb out of it
EDITORIAL
THE HOT TOPIC
STORY:
Rental prices drop in Queens for fi ft h
straight month: Report
SUMMARY:
Rental prices in Queens dropped for
the fi ft h straight month in August,
according to a new report.
REACH:
4,505 (as of 9/14/20)
ESTABLISHED 1908
Co-Publishers
VICTORIA SCHNEPS-YUNIS
JOSHUA SCHNEPS
Editor-in-Chief
ZACHARY GEWELB
Classifi ed Manager
DEBORAH CUSICK
Assistant Classifi ed Manager
MARLENE RUIZ
Reporters
ANGELICA ACEVEDO
JACOB KAYE
CARLOTTA MOHAMED
BILL PARRY
© 2020 SCHNEPS NY MEDIA, LLC.
General Publication Offi ce: 38-15 Bell Blvd.,
Bayside, NY 11361
TELEPHONE: 1-718-260-4535
FAX: 1-718-224-5441
E-MAIL: editorial@ridgewoodtimes.com
WEB SITE: www.qns.com
ON TWITTER @ridgewoodtimes
PUBLISHED EVERY THURSDAY
FOR 110 YEARS
COMPOSITION RESPONSIBILITY: Accuracy in receiving
ads over the telephone cannot be guaranteed. This
newspaper is responsible for only one incorrect insertion
and only for that portion of the ad in which the error
appears. It is the responsibility of the advertiser to make
sure copy does not contravene the Consumer Protection
Law or any other requirement. TIMES NEWSWEEKLY Is
Listed With The Standard Rate & Data And Is A Member
Of The New York Press Association
Roseann McSorley, owner of Katch Astoria, speaks at a rally on Sept. 10 during which small business owners
called on local politicians to help businesses survive. Photo by Photo by Angélica Acevedo
on their own, one that will ultimately
every month, and the tenants are falling
billions in federal aid — that’s still being
exhaust many of these eateries into
further into debt with their landlord —
held up by the Party of Trump in
closure.
who’s also taking an economic hit as a
Washington.
In many ways, the businesses are
result.
At this point, their continued
in the same boats as the thousands of
Both residential and commercial tenants,
stranglehold on economic aid to states
residential tenants in New York City
and their landlords, are in desperate
hardest hit by the pandemic is more an
struggling to pay the rent six months
need of a bailout. Simply “canceling
act of pure spite rather than prudent
into this crisis.
rent” isn’t feasible because it costs the
austerity.
Sure, there’s an eviction moratorium
city the circulation of new cash that can
For New York’s restaurateurs, landlords
in place, so none of them are in danger
help stimulate economic growth.
and tenants, this pure spite puts
of losing their homes until the governor
Alas, it’s another reason why the
them all in peril of never reaching the
lift s the ban. But the rent is still due
city desperately needs an infusion of
beginning of the end of this crisis.
/WWW.QNS.COM
/www.qns.com
link
/www.qns.com
link
