WWW.8 DECEMBER 17, 2020 RIDGEWOOD TIMES QNS.COM
Queens restaurants grapple with
another pause on indoor dining
BY ANGÉLICA ACEVEDO
AACEVEDO@SCHNEPSMEDIA.COM
@QNS
With a second wave of COVID-
19 looming over New York,
Gov. Andrew Cuomo announced
indoor dining will be shut
down indefi nitely as of Monday, Dec.
14. Some restaurant owners, though,
fear this could be the fi nal nail in their
coffi n.
The decision was made to fend
off a full lockdown, as the state and
city’s infection rate hovers above 5
percent and daily hospitalizations
continue to increase.
While restaurant owners and
advocates don’t deny how troubling
the upticks are and that public safety
is the most important, they do argue
that they need financial aid and support
in order to sustain themselves
given the state’s restrictions.
“We all knew it was coming and
there was nothing we could do to
stop it,” said Jonathan Forgash, chef
and co-founder of Queens Together.
“If the government has the power to
shut us down, that means they have
responsibility to support us.”
Queens Together, a grassroots
restaurant advocacy group and food
relief organization, has joined several
small business leaders across
Queens in the last months to call
for much-needed support. Some of
the more immediate solutions Forgash
emphasized include putting
pressure on business interruption
insurance companies to respond
to restaurants; rent breaks; and
freezing punitive fines from state
agencies.
He mentioned that it’s also important
for restaurants to find a way to
adapt.
“The restaurants that adapt and
evolve are going to have the best
chances of survival,” said Forgash,
“whether it’s by pivoting to a website
order system, food relief or community
service.”
But some restaurant owners can’t
help but feel like the state’s leadership
isn’t considering how this will
impact the industry, which was
already experiencing many complications
prior to the pandemic, and
the oftentimes low-income people of
color who work in it.
“It’s a very hard blow, not only if
you think about the restaurant and
the owners — it’s a hard blow for everyone
who is part of the industry,”
said Marcos Muñoz, owner of Mojitos
in Jackson Heights. “Hundreds of
people will be out of work.”
Cuomo said he knows this is a
difficult time for restaurants, and
called on the federal government to
get them relief. He will also renew
the commercial rent moratorium.
“God willing this will end soon. But
the solution isn’t to close indoor dining.
The solution will cost us more
than the problem,” said Muñoz. “We
just need them to let us work.”
Mojitos opened about three years
ago in one of the neighborhoods that
was hardest hit by the pandemic. Muñoz
said that while it was difficult to
navigate, they were able to invest in
their space and create an outdoor experience
that many customers have
enjoyed in the last two months. They
recently upgraded their outdoor setting
to “private cabins,” or outdoor
wood installations with individual
heaters.
But, Muñoz said they’ve seen less
people dine out due to the recent
chilly weather.
“People still aren’t used to it. Hopefully
it becomes something like in
Europe and people just accept what
there is and make it work — not just
for us but for the people who work in
the restaurants,” said Muñoz.
Cuomo acknowledged that indoor
dining — which has been capped at
25 percent capacity since the end of
September — isn’t the main driver
of COVID-19 transmissions in New
York. Only 1.43 percent of patients
caught the virus from indoor dining,
while nearly 74 percent of cases come
from private gatherings, according
to statewide data.
Loycent Gordon, owner of the
historic Neir’s Tavern in Woodhaven,
said restaurants have worked hard
to comply with the different kinds of
rules and regulations put in place in
response to the pandemic and those
that were already there.
He said that if leadership is making
decisions based on the data, then
they should be encouraging New
Yorkers to support restaurants with
social distancing in place.
“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,” said
Gordon. “This is a death sentence to
the citizens we’re supposed to be
protecting. This is wrong.”
Gordon said their continuous
efforts to adapt and make the most
of the current situation can still be
challenging, as not all restaurants
are made the same.
“I’ve had restaurant owners who
have told me this is gonna be the
nail in the coffin,” he said. “Takeout
and delivery is not feasible for most
places. You’re putting us into the
same category as chain restaurants,
but our competitive advantage is the
experience we give people indoors.”
Gordon, who has partnered with
Queens Together and several other
organizations to feed families and
people in need in the last few months,
notes that small businesses don’t
just employee more than half of the
state’s workforce, but also have deep
ties to their communities.
In solidarity with fellow restaurants
and bar owners, Gordon has
organized a “vigil for restaurants,”
where they light an electronic candle
that they hope “will never go out” on
Mondays at 7 p.m.
He’s calling on Cuomo and Mayor
Bill de Blasio to light their own
electronic candle to show that
they haven’t turned their backs on
restaurants.
On Monday, after celebrating the
arrival of the vaccine, Cuomo and de
Blasio warned more shutdowns and
restrictions could be possible if a
region’s hospital capacity reaches 90
percent within three weeks, which
would be labeled as a “Red Zone” and
will prompt closures of everything
except for essential businesses.
Jonathan Forgash at the Save Our Small Biz rally in September.
Photos by Angélica Acevedo/QNS
Loycent Gordon, owner of Neir’s Tavern.
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