Chair Menin Questions Hospitality Alliance on Economic and Job Losses

Before I begin, I want to um acknowledge we've been joined by colleagues, Councilmember Ariola, Councilmember Narcis.

So I want to, I guess a question first for the hospitality alliance.

Could you perhaps quantify what the economic losses?

I know I heard your testimony, which was very compelling, but could you sort of writ large quantify what is the economic loss for restaurants due to the poor rollout of this program?

How many restaurants are gonna go out of business?

How many are gonna have to downsize, how many are gonna have to fire staff?

Could you try to give us a picture of that?

So it's hard to give an overview just because the different sizes of the restaurants, but you can hear like from Megan, a small bar right there alone, she's spending 60 some odd thousand dollars over you know four years.

In a case of Robert, where he's losing those seats, he's losing at least one server job there.

So there was some data I unfortunately don't have it in front of me now, but uh from the controller's office, about the millions of dollars in loss tax revenue uh to the city, and that was just actually based on I believe sales tax revenue.

There's obviously the additional jobs, the payroll taxes that those jobs create, and the additional just general economic activity.

Um so the loss in revenue to the city, you know, is is millions.

Um the report I believe showed that the loss of jobs um is in the thousands, and for individual businesses, it's gonna depend on the size, but you could certainly hear just the cost alone uh many restaurateurs I know that have moved forward with the program are even it are not even sure if they're going to make money they'll be happy if they're able to break even at this point but could potentially lose thousands of dollars a year.

Let's not answer your question also let's not forget that during the emergency program it was well documented that 10,000 jobs were created or saved as a result of this vibrant outdoor dining program.

If that becomes 20% of what it was which is about where we're at now that's 80% you know you know of these additional jobs will be gone.

Tens of millions of dollars in tax revenues you know were secured you know for the city because of this vibrant outdoor dining as well as public survey after public survey especially in the boroughs said this is great.

We never had this before we love it.

It's added to our neighborhood um but the numbers we're seeing you know are are dramatic and and concerning so it's when you you in in Bronx for example as as he said there are 78 applications or or places approved 700 in the Bronx during during COVID.

Brooklyn there's 600 places now there was 3200 during COVID.

In in Queens there was 2500 establishments during COVID only 250 now even Staten Island had 186 during COVID three now.

During the w when we when you were a commissioner of consumer affairs and there were only 1200 or so sidewalk cafes, uh, an NYU study that came out during during COVID to show how wonderful the study you know, you know, this is added to to the city, both economically and socially, pointed out that there were 17 community boards that had no outdoor dining at all under the old law.

Um, that neighborhoods of that low-income neighborhoods doubled the number of cafes that they had under the emergency program compared to the old law.

Neighborhoods where a majority uh or in minority restaurants also doubled the number of cafes that they had uh in the emergency compared to pre-COVID.

So we're losing if we lose those applications, this millions of dollars that the restaurants are using, losing, and the city is losing.

Okay, a couple follow-ups on that.

I mean, you're getting to the issue of equity.