FOR BREAKING NEWS VISIT WWW.QNS.COM MAY 20, 2021 • THE QUEENS COURIER 33
Open for Business
Full reopening allows New York City
businesses to get back on their feet
BY QNS STAFF
editorial@qns.com
@QNS
May 19 proved to be a pivotal day in
New York’s ongoing fi ght against COVID-
19, as most pandemic-related restrictions
were fi nally lift ed thanks to more New
Yorkers getting the vaccine and the virus’
spread slowing to a crawl.
For businesses all across the city, it
means a return to something resembling
normalcy. Gone are the days of limiting
the capacity of customers and guests
inside restaurants, bars, gyms, retail stores,
hair salons, barber shops and offi ces.
Fully vaccinated customers, meanwhile,
can go about their lives in most circumstances
without having to wear a mask
or face covering, per new Centers for
Disease Control and Prevention guidelines.
It restores a sense of normalcy for
those who did their part to protect themselves
and others by getting the vaccine.
Some safeguards will remain in place
indefi nitely, such as requirements for
proper fi ltration and ventilation devices
designed to stop the spread of COVID-19.
Some businesses may continue to mandate
that customers wear masks.
But the reopening fi nally lets businesses
across the city begin, in earnest, the
long road back to prosperity. In recent
months, they’ve been able to stay
afl oat through government programs
that provided them with grants or
low-cost loans to keep their doors
open and pay their workers.
Now, the focus is on more
than just survival.
Take, for
example, the eff orts of the
Hudson Square Business
Improvement District
in Manhattan. On May
18, the group announced
a campaign designed to get
residents and visitors back to
the community to enjoy art
and events programs, while
also shopping at local businesses
and dining at
nearby restaurants.
Last month,
Photo via Getty Images
the Flushing Business Improvement District
got the recovery eff ort started early by holding
“Flushing Shopping Week,” a campaign
highlighting the multitude of businesses in
the Queens neighborhood and encouraging
all customers to come back and shop.
Businesses across the city are taking
great pains to ensure customer safety
even as COVID-19 regulations are eased.
Many businesses will require their workers
to continue wearing masks and practice
other safety measures to assuage any
anxiety shoppers might feel as they return.
Th e small businesses of New York City
depend upon the support of the city’s residents
to stay alive — and the city depends
upon small businesses for its economy to
thrive. And as many of these small businesses
reopen to full capacity, it’s important
for all of us to return and support them.
No New York City resident needs to
hop into a car or onto a commuter train
to shop elsewhere. Th ey can fi nd almost
everything they want or need right here in
the fi ve boroughs, just a short subway or
bus ride, or a brief walk, from their home.
New York is open for business again,
and if we want to keep the lights on, we
need to support each other. Th at means
not only getting the COVID-19 vaccine
and protecting each other out in public,
but also doing what we can to shop and
support the local businesses that will get
our economy rolling again.
Courtesy of Flushing BID
(From l. to r.) Flushing
BID Executive Director
Dian Yu and City
Councilman Peter Koo
launched Flushing
Shopping Week in
late April to bring
back consumers to the
community.
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