indoor dining, once again. "Yeah, I just heard a little while ago, said Vasilios Tourloukis, a manager at Tom's Restaurant, a diner a few blocks from Brooklyn's Prospect Park.
Restaurants are struggling across the country. As of early December, 110,000 restaurants in the United States have shut down permanently or long term, according to the National Restaurant Association. Of the restaurants still open, close to 60% say that layoffs and furloughs will continue for at least the next three months.
Kokotas grew up going to Tom's as a kid. His Uncle Gus ran the restaurant back then, after Gus took over fromfather, the original Tom. "My uncle was a very warmhearted person," said Kokotas. "He closed on Sundays because his passion was singing in the church choir." Some Sundays, or on holidays, Gus would push all the tables together, and gather the family, "and you'd be sitting there eating dinner in the middle of the restaurant.
And as Tom's goes, so goes the neighborhood, said manager Billy Tourloukis. "When we're slow," he said, "every restaurant is dead." A few steps away, at Lowerline, a "New Orleans-inspired neighborhood restaurant," owner John Verlander never bothered to reopen indoor dining. "Because we're such a small space, for us, it just didn't make sense," he said. He stuck with outdoor dining. "It's certainly better than nothing," said Verlander. Business is at 50%. Winter, he said, is going to be tough.
But, Myrie said, there is only so much that anyone outside of Washington, D.C. can do. States and localities are facing huge budget shortfalls; coffers are empty. But by law, all states, New York included, must balance their budgets. They can't spend money they don't actually have. "The federal government isn't under that constraint," Myrie said.
Yea, It's going to be more than half that will close. Also, the number of unemployed is most likely way higher due to the 'off the books' nature of a large portion of bars and restaurants around the city
How you dare disrespect our almighty authorities lockdowns. They do everything to save our lives and here you are complaining about a small business than cant make money🤪
Oh look, another story on a restaurant while the entire live entertainment is in the throws of the deepest depression the industry has ever experienced. But, lets keep the focus on businesses that have been able to open up, and close for just a couple of weeks at a time