There’s a New Small Business Loan for Brooklyn Small Businesses for Up to $30K

Brooklyn Chamber of Commerce launches new coronavirus loan program

Starting this week some Brooklyn small businesses may have another shot at a coronavirus loan. On Tuesday, the Brooklyn Chamber of Commerce began fundraising to distribute loans ranging from $500 to $30,000 to any small business that has lost business as a result of the pandemic and has not received funding from the federal Paycheck Protection Program, the Post first reported. The loans will be distributed after a period of fundraising, when the economy has started to reopen.

Notably, the loans come with far fewer strings attached to them than those being distributed — or in much of Brooklyn’s case, not being distributed — by the federal government. Independently-owned restaurants, bars, and other small businesses can repay the no-interest loans on a flexible time frame, with 65 percent of the loans being earmarked for minority- and women-owned businesses. Once repaid, those loans will then be distributed to other businesses in the borough, according to the Post. The Brooklyn Chamber of Commerce is raising money for additional loans through crowdsourcing platform Fundrazr. At the time of writing, the chamber’s Bring Back Brooklyn Fund has raised close to $176,000, with a goal to raise as much as half a million dollars, according to the fundraiser.

New York and New Jersey have been among the states hardest hit by the coronavirus pandemic, yet a disproportionately lower percentage of small businesses in those states have received relief from the federal Paycheck Protection Program. In Brooklyn alone, as many as 84 percent of small businesses had not received funding from the PPP when the federal program ran out of money on April 16. Among women- and minority-owned small businesses in Brooklyn, that number is as high as 90 percent. On April 24, Congress approved an additional $310 billion of funding through the PPP, but it still remains to be seen how effectively those stimulus loans support U.S. small businesses.

In other news:

— Spanish tapas bar Boqueria reopens for takeout and delivery on the Upper East Side this afternoon. The restaurant’s revamped to-go menu includes family-style paella, tapas for kids, happy hour packages, and pitchers of sangria. The restaurant is available for delivery and pickup from 12 p.m. to 8 p.m. Wednesday through Sunday, with 25 percent off the first order placed through the restaurant’s website.

— Yana Volfson, the beverage director at Cosme and Atla, has teamed up with Empirical Spirits on a new pre-batched cocktail in celebration of Cinco de Mayo. Proceeds from the cocktail, called “ES x Ticuchi,” will benefit the Cosme and Atla staff relief fund. The 375-ml bottle is available for pick-up and delivery from Atla or for international shipping from Empirical Spirits.

— Harlem’s new craft beer bar, Oh Craft!, opens this week at 1739 Amsterdam Avenue, between 146th and 147th Streets. The bar currently has 20-ish cans and bottles available for takeout, while its taps should be up and running with Grimm and Threes Brewing offerings by end of week.

— Juice bar and coffee chain Joe & the Juice partnered with restaurant dining app Allset to start taking orders ahead of time for pickup at 17 NYC locations starting today, according to a spokesperson.

— Rêzdora has jumped in the Mother’s Day delivery game. The restaurant’s $199 dinner for four includes antipasto, pasta, and seasonal vegetable options, ricotta cake for dessert, and a bottle of prosecco and peach puree for make-at-home Bellinis.

— A cookbook from the Queens Night Market is now available for preorder. The World Eats Here brings together recipes from more than 40 countries as told by the first- and second-generation immigrant chefs who cook them.

— East Village bakery Red Gate will be reopening for another pop-up sale this Saturday, May 9 from 12 p.m. to 4 p.m. The bakery is accepting preorders until midnight on Thursday, May 7.

— Fast-casual chicken restaurant Fields Good Chicken reopens for takeout and delivery in the Financial District today. The restaurant will also be available for takeout and delivery from its location at Union Square.

— It’s that time: