In cities all across the United States, businesses are struggling to make ends meet. But it seems no one has been more affected than the restaurants in New York City.
Thanks to their Democratic and near tyrannical governor Andrew Cuomo, combined with the indignant and ignorant Mayor Bill de Blasio, restaurants in the city have been forced to shut down for weeks, sometimes months, at a time. And when they are open, they have so many restrictions that making any sort of revenue is nearly impossible.
Most eateries in the city are currently closed right now, thanks to Cuomo’s most recent indoor dining ban, which was announced on December 11, according to the Associated Press.
Cuomo said at the time, “In New York City, you put the CC caution on indoor dining together with the rate of transmission and the density and the crowding, that is a bad situation.”
And Mayor de Blasio could only agree, making sure to suck up as much as possible.
De Blasio used his Twitter account to say, “As #COVID19 indicators continue to rise, it’s time to shut down indoor dining. This is painful. So many restaurants are struggling. But we can’t allow this virus to reassert itself in our city. I fully support (Gov. Cuomo’s) decision. Together we’ll fight back this second wave.”
New Yorkers have had enough of it and are beginning to make a stand, starting with several restaurant owners.
Several NYC restaurants have banded together to create their own “executive order,” this time banning the liberal governor from eating or even entering their restaurants.
NYC bar owner Larry Baird told The Coney Island Blog, “He can eat at some sh—y roadside diner outside of Albany but he will not be served anywhere in New York City, known universally as the world’s greatest dining destination!”
Baird continued, saying, “If he has to use the restroom he can go pee on my street corner! That’s what he wants anyway!”
And he certainly isn’t the only one with similar thoughts.
Danny Presti, who owns Mac’s Public House, has even gone so far as to give all of his food and drinks away for free, navigating a loophole to stay open during these challenging times.
He said, “It doesn’t seem like we can do business. So here’s what we’re going to do for everybody. We’re going to give away everything for free. So now you can come to Mac’s Public House, and you can eat for free and you can drink for free. We just ask that you do make a donation toward us so that we can still pay our bills.”
And to put it to their Democratic leadership even more, a sign on Plesti’s establishment reads, “We refuse to abide by any rules and regulations put forth by the Mayor of NYC and the Governor of NY State.”
But not everyone is lucky enough to try this route.
According to the president and CEO of the New York State Restaurant Association Melissa Fleischut, “This action (the ban on indoor dining) will inevitably result in massive layoffs and vast closures right before the holidays.” She additionally noted that it would be a “huge blow” for the city’s restaurant industry, as well as ultimately “unfair and devastating.”
Philippe Massoud, the owner of a Lebanese-American restaurant, ilili in Manhattan, says even with being open, his business is being shorted some 8 to 15 percent of their regular income. He added, “It’s going to be very, very difficult. I lived through 14 years of civil war, so it’s going to take a lot to extinguish me. But this is very trying.”
No doubt.
Massoud also worries about the city as a whole and what it will be resolved to without the many restaurants that have been forced to close to do such trying times. He said, “If you can’t eat out in the city and you can’t have a semblance of life, why are you going to be in the city? When social life and dining-out life is extinguished in the city, it’s no longer a city.”
And he has a point. No wonder hundreds are leaving the nation’s largest and once most influential metropolis by the day, seeking pastures that welcome small business, freedom, and the pursuit of happiness that New York, under the control of those like Cuomo and de Blasio, only want to snuff out.
