New York City service workers woke up to a terrifying new reality on Monday, as the government's latest measure to contain the spread of COVID-19 forced bars and nightclubs to close their doors indefinitely, while limiting restaurants to takeout and delivery.
Mayor Bill de Blasio announced the move in a tweet late Sunday, an abrupt pivot from his recent insistence that New Yorkers should continue to patronize their favorite establishments.
"This is not a decision I make lightly,” Mayor de Blasio said. “These places are part of the heart and soul of our city. They are part of what it means to be a New Yorker. But our city is facing an unprecedented threat, and we must respond with a wartime mentality."
The decision was widely supported by public health experts and elected officials, who had sharply criticized the mayor for not taking action sooner as droves of New Yorkers crowded into the bars and clubs this past weekend, potentially accelerating the spread of the virus. Many service workers said they understood the decision as well, but feared the economic toll would be devastating.
“A complete shutdown of bars and restaurants is the absolute right and responsible choice,” said Hannah Small, a line cook at mediterranean restaurant in Dumbo. “But I’m so scared for myself and the people I work with.”
On Monday, Governor Andrew Cuomo announced the measures would apply statewide beginning at 8 p.m. tonight. Restaurants and bars will also be allowed to sell alcohol to-go, he said.
The effective lockdown represents an unprecedented blow to the city’s thriving nightlife industry, with likely convulsions for the local economy at large. The industry accounts for roughly $35 billion in annual revenue, and supports about 300,000 workers earning $13 billion in salaries, according to a recent report from the Mayor’s Office.
Without a deadline to reopen, many feared that their workplaces would not survive. “The hit we take as a small business will be too great to come back from,” said Meagan Reilly, a 24-year-old bartender in Harlem. “My heart is broken for the job that I loved.”
While Reilly predicted she would face financial hardship — she has already made the decision to stop paying her student loans — she said she was most worried about her coworkers, many of whom are immigrants already struggling to support their families.
“My coworker Eddie has two children and a wife who is a teacher,” she told Gothamist. “Eddie works at one restaurant during the day and with us at night, and both have closed. Eddie’s now income-less with two children under 6.”
Without any sense of where their next paycheck will come from, many workers said they would soon be reliant on outside financial support. Some current and former restaurant employees have begun fundraising for those most impacted by the shutdown.
“A lot of us are turning to Venmo and Cashapp and the like to say, ‘Hey maybe tip us what you’d spend going out since you aren’t anymore?’” said April Glick, a server at Ampersand in Gramercy.
Glick said her bosses have been upfront about the looming challenges. But the shifting communication from the mayor and governor have only made a painful time more confusing, she said.
“‘Will we be open?’ became the mayor making jokes about bars, which quickly spun into ‘they’re closed Tuesday morning’ and I wake up today to ‘they’re closed tonight at 8,’” Glick said. “I have a shift scheduled at 5 today and am just waiting to hear from my boss.”
Like many in the high-turnover restaurant industry, Glick said she was not eligible for unemployment protections, since she’d started her latest job in January. She expected to survive for about a month on savings. “I don’t know long term what this really does to me financially.”
Multiple workers who did qualify for unemployment told Gothamist that the online application system crashed on Monday morning as they were scrambling to apply for benefits.
The relief efforts currently underway on the federal level have inspired little confidence among industry workers so far. A package of bills passed this weekend by the House include a proposal to grant two weeks of paid leave to those stuck at home because of the virus, and to provide up to 12 weeks of paid family and medical leave at 67 percent of the person’s normal pay, with a $200 per day cap. But there are significant carve-outs, and the bill is guaranteed to cover just twenty percent of the workforce.
Because so many restaurant workers are living paycheck-to-paycheck, even a minor drop in take-home pay could leave them in a precarious situation. “Two-thirds of my income is just not going to cut it,” said John Wolfe, a counter-server at a small restaurant near Union Square. “My rent is close to 50 percent of my paycheck, so, simple math, that leaves me with 16 percent above my rent."
A growing number of legislators are calling for direct cash transfers to all workers. But it remains unclear if Senate Republicans are even willing to support the current package of bills proposed by House Democrats.
Without immediate relief in sight, workers said they were now gearing up for difficult decisions. Wolfe said he would likely move to a cheaper apartment and fall back on credit card debt as a safety net.
“Personally I’m a communist and believe in strong government intervention,” he said. “There’s got to at least be some sort of cash injection so people can buy groceries.”
