Sales at New York Restaurants Continue to Plummet Without Aid, According to Survey

A majority of New York restaurants won’t be profitable without federal aid

In a survey of more than 625 restaurants across the state, the New York State Restaurant Association found that nearly 90 percent of restaurants say they won’t be able to make any profit in the next six months without government aid. The lack of aid will also exacerbate the number of restaurant closures in the state, according to the survey.

Between April and July this year, more than 90 percent of the restaurants surveyed said they had experienced a lower volume of sales from the same time last year, and many said they had seen a more than 70 percent decrease in sales. The survey was conducted in the first week of August and follows on the heels of an intensified rate of closures since the start of August.

A top concern for restaurants was receiving some type of commercial rent relief and that business interruption loan claims be paid, according to the survey. As funds from the federal COVID-19-related fund, the Paycheck Protection Program, dry up, restaurants are increasingly looking to their state and federal governments for more financial assistance to stay afloat.

In other news

— Noho dive Bleecker Street Bar is shutting down after 30 years on August 30. Efforts to renegotiate the lease failed, according to the owners.

— Upper West Side spot Hi-Life Bar & Grill can now serve alcohol again after having its license suspended last month for social-distancing violations.

— Pork-focussed food festival Pig Island NYC will take place on Staten Island this September with purveyors like the Bronx’s Father & Sons BBQ, and the Lower East Side’s Que Chevere.

— A massive new food hall is coming to the Starrett-Lehigh building in Chelsea. It’s set to debut sometime in the spring next year.

— East Village restaurateur Ravi DeRossi is planning to open a new vegan Mexican restaurant in the neighborhood.

— A new rice noodle-focussed restaurant called Sanshi is headed to the East Village.

— Discover Bank has awarded $25,000 each to NYC restaurants Reverence, Sol Sips, and the Nourish Spot, as part of the Eat It Forward initiative to support Black-owned businesses to recover from the COVID-19 pandemic.

— Lunch plans are set: