By Tuesday morning, the GoFundMe had raised more than $20,800. And while Antoniou said he is humbled by the donations and appreciates the community support, he yearns to reopen the facilities so that he can begin paying off the hundreds of thousands in debt they have accumulated this year.
"When we got into the business, we didn't know how much we'd actually end up loving it," Antoniou said."It's a true passion at this point. It's the best thing that ever happened to us—until this pandemic." At the time, Antoniou thought the shutdown would only last two months. As the months extended, Antoniou said there were a couple of times when he believed he would be able to reopen the facilities, but he said those hopes were dashed both times as regulations shifted due to rising infection rates.
The next window of opportunity came in October, when Suffolk County officials gave his reopening plan a green light. But no sooner had they reopened for business than states throughout the country began reporting new spikes of COVID-19 infections. Soon thereafter, the Antonious received cease-and-desist letters for all three facilities. If they failed to comply, they were facing fines of $15,000 per day.
"I want businesses to be successful. I'm not going to go report these people," he said, referring to business owners whom he believes are operating in violation of the reopening guidelines."The point is, they're not being enforced. But we are."