The general feeling among his fellow bar owners and around the industry is grim right now: "What I’m hearing from people is basically a general sense of dread, people realizing that this isn’t gonna be a two-week thing," he said. "They haven’t forecasted how long things are gonna be closed, but given what they’re speculating about the incubation period of this virus, we’re anticipating that we’re gonna be closed for possibly months."

Every aspect of the business has been radically debilitated as a result: "Our staff is affected by that. We have live music every Sunday, that’s affected by that. We have community groups that use the back room to host rock-painting for kids, and all-ages events, and baby showers and graduations and retirements, and that’s all full-stop, you know? It’s a massive drain for the community, because people are losing the resource of our room."

His insurance, liquor license and rent are all coming up as well. It's a perfect storm of bad timing, and he feels that without help from the federal government, he doesn't know what will happen to them.

PDT's Bell feels similarly, but hopes landlords and local politicians can enact change closer to home: "People are gonna have to give each other a break," he said. "I'm selling drinks at 40% less than what we normally sell for. Everyone's gonna have to help each other out. These landowners in NYC, they make a ton of money, they need to figure out how they're gonna take care of the people who give rent to them. Everyone needs to look after one another, because our government is a disaster right now."