We already wrote weeks ago about how the coronavirus was wreaking havoc among Chinese business owners in various cities across the U.S.
Since then, fear of the virus has been ramped up significantly, and so it should come as no surprise that people are starting to cancel events at NYC restaurants en masse, according to Eater.
Restaurants across NYC are reporting that parties are being cancelled and business is “seeing dips” since the first confirmed coronavirus case in NYC last week. And if we were willing to bet, those would not be “dips” you’d want to buy. It’ll likely get worse.
As of Monday, there were 19 confirmed cases in the city and many corporate offices are encouraging employees to work from home. Hotels and restaurants are getting hit the hardest. One restaurant owner, Tom Colicchio, says his revenue is down “as much as 70%”. The NYC Hospitality alliance says it’s seen a “big drop” in business.
Another restaurantuer, Michael Sinensky, founder of Simple Venue, a hospitality group that runs Sushi by Bae and Sushi by Bou, says sales have dropped off by as much as 25% and he’s expecting it to continue for “several weeks”.
Additionally, fewer companies are booking events for the spring. Colicchio said: “It’s terrible. It’s just an unknown here. You have no idea how long it’s going to last. It’s hard to get in front of … who knows when things will go back to normal?”
And things aren’t looking optimistic. Not unlike the market itself, this is a dip that may not be getting better anytime soon. Ravi DeRossi — who owns 15 restaurants and bars, said: “Over the weekend, a quarter of reservations canceled day-of, with some saying they’re concerned about being in public places and others worried about not feeling well. This was the first weekend. My feeling is every weekend, it’s going to get worse and worse.”
Many restaurants are now dealing with extra precautions for hygiene. More things are getting disinfected, more frequently, according to Eater. One owner says the “unprecedented” situation has them training their staff on how to deal with “fear and panic”.
Colicchio’s restaurants are keeping less inventory on hand and holding off on larger purchases for the time being. The Sushi by Bae and Sushi by Bou restaurants are developing a delivery box to try and “balance the business we expect to lose due to the virus panic.”
DeRossi concluded: “I’ll be honest, I’m a little scared. I’m in the East Village. All it takes is one case. If one restaurant in the East Village says, ‘This person at this restaurant got that,’ and the entire East Village will shut down overnight. I honestly don’t know what to do, other than take every serious precaution that we can.”
“I think we’re in for a long period of uncertainty right now,” Colicchio added.
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A chef I have known for ten years called the other morning. They went from 300 reservations on last Friday night to 30 last night.
You are going to witness the end of the restaurant culture if this doesn’t work itself out in less than a month. Anyone who knows anything about restaurant margins knows they are almost always on the razor’s edge of succeeding or failing and something like this? I’m no psychologist, but I know people and even after it passes there will be this residual fear of gathering so firmly entrenched in most peoples subconscious it might affect them for years.
It’s going to look like a much different country.
On the flip side there’s going to be opportunities to make fortunes off the back of this debacle if you pay close attention to what people will want going forward.
Hsf – it will not resolve in a month. Dine in restaurants were already under the pump, and this will see a lot of then go under. Uber eats, etc., have really hammered them, and this will be a stake through the heart.
What’s really sad is my neighbor just opened an awesome breakfast eatery that he’d been working on for months. And then this happens. I expect to have new neighbors on both sides of me within a year unless Trump comes up with a better solution than muh payroll tax cut. Kinda silly for an unemployed restaurateur to be worrying about payroll taxes!
Not to defend Trump but, he is one man that has been bullied by both left and right for 3+ years. What in heavens name do you expect him to do? It seems to me that congress could stand up to the plate once, just once!
Desperate times call for desperate measures. Previous Presidents had no problems figuring it out. Washington did what he had to do with a couple of rebellions. Jackson, the bank. Lincoln, a national dissolution.
I don’t have any expectations for old Trump anymore. If I could, I’d give him a big hug, tell him I love him as a brother in Christ, and to step out of the way for a real leader to do the job. Who that leader is? Things likely haven’t gotten terrible enough to determine that yet. I doubt it will be anyone from the Old Guard though.
We have to take care of our families and our neighbors. Most of what I’ve been doing in terms of the orchard was always with prayer and subsequent gut instinct. I’m finally getting it that I don’t have to know all of the reasons why. That’s already taken care of.
I’ve totally tuned Washington out. Nothing good will come from anyone there. Don’t moan over Trump’s treatment, BTW. The guy has mostly made his own bed. At some point Americans need to stand up and demand New Yorkers to be a little more thick-skinned and self-sufficient.
There goes the boomer’s social life. All left for them now is sitting at home watching reruns of I Love Lucy and Gunsmoke.
The #BoomerRemover has begun.
Now is the time.
Buy the dip!
When people dis older people the first thought that comes to my mind is either they must be very young or else believe they will never get old. They could be right about the not getting old part, shitty attitudes aren’t long life promoting and a shitty attitude addressed at the wrong person may get one’s life severely shortened.
OK boomer .
With that attitude I daresay you will be fortunate to live long enough to become an old person. That may be a blessing.
Get lost punk…9 down votes and counting.
Amen to that. That post sounds like a watered down version of what the minister of propaganda would put out. Later on, it would be removing anyone that does not have blue eyes and blond hair…sound familiar?
So I have been deliberately stirring the pot the last week. I missed it. God bless all of you, even the pricks and witches.
In all seriousness though and without throwing filthy jabs, is this not the time in the history of our country to STOP the bullshit about “everyone uniting” and singing Kum-bah-ya?
I’m sure many of you remember 9/11. Ask yourself an honest question: Did we not drop everything as a nation to support NYC when it was attacked? Now, has *any* New Yorker ever come down to Tennessee to thank OUR boys and girls for their sacrifices in a sandbox to protect Wall Street? Nope, it was always about FDNY and NYPD, right?
Look at who these people elect for Mayor and if we’re being honest here, Governor, just based on their population density. Bloomberg? de Blasio? Cuomo? Abortion-on-demand and pink buildings, anyone?
Now let’s come full circle to this article. Why is any critical thinking person going to lose sleep over what happens in NYC? They are denizens of a completely different world. Is it not time to take up the banner for your neighbor, your local farmer, your local community? To assist the poor locally?
New Yorkers always have the most moral, correct solutions to everything, right? So let them do it without revenue from the rest of the country! (And believe me, many Wall Street firms are relocating to Nashville and Atlanta or have plans on the books that will now likely be expedited. That worries me greatly.) 🙂
Articles of Confederation: Your last paragraph says it all to me. Parasites always move to a new host once they have killed the old one. Folks should worry more about the carpetbaggers, attorneys, super corporations and fed government. It was all documented in the Constitution and Bill of Rights. It was the peoples job to maintain it and no one else’s. As hard as it may to admit we the people have dropped the ball and now must fight to get it back.
I agree, sir. I took a sabbatical to get my house in order, to get my property more situated. What’s utterly surreal about it is that I felt this need to push push push and my right shoulder and back have paid the price. But I prayed a lot and knew it had to be done for whatever reason, and I’ve been going non-stop for what seems like months through a mild but extremely wet winter.
To see all of this happen just proves to me that if we just listen to God, things will work out right. We as a nation have lost our way. This virus, or oncoming depression, or whatever isn’t “divine punishment”. It’s due to our hubris and laziness and nothing good comes from it. Part of that hubris is this inanity to support Team Blue or Team Red. What does that really say about us as individuals? To me, it says we have no faith in God, that we are scared of death, etc.
I’m done being worried, and I have a daughter with an autoimmune disorder who could be adversely impacted if this virus isn’t total horse hockey. I’m still not done being angry though. I feel like blood is going to shoot out of MY eyes if I have to hear one more Always Trumper anoint him as Jesus Christ.
AOC.
“it’s due to our hubris and laziness”. Yup. God created the law of Karma for people who don’t believe in God. The country rejected Him and now the bill is coming due. Just because I feel I don’t deserve it with them doesn’t mean I won’t be affected.
It’s good you got your house in order. If it fizzles out, at least your property is greatly improved.
I agree. I feel blessed to have ever met you, Mark, HSF and Llpoh online. Changed my outlook on a lot of things. It may or may not fizzle out, but this is the beginning of dark times for sure. We’re not going back to the post-WW2 boom days.
Welcome to a Fourth Turning, where Murphy rules the roost!
Amen.
By and large, this site and its members have been wrong about almost everything. I won’t even attempt to list examples. Just think about it. There’s no armageddon.
I’m going on record and saying the affects of the virus will be no bigger than 09. The stock market will recover and, just like foreclosed homeowners, business owners will get some help. Book it.
Donkey: I will not or can not say that the members or posters of this sight are right or wrong. I look at everything as an opinion based on that individuals knowledge and moment in time. I appreciate their perspective because it allows me to broaden my own.
That said, I also feel that God works in strange ways. I will be the first one to say that he has had my back. It has been my experience that these types of things seldom follow a straight line. What I have learned over my 73 years about folks and situations is, it takes a lot for them to get really pissed off. When the break point finally is reached it will be very difficult to turn off. I also understand there are those that do and there are those that don’t. The revolutionary war was for the most part carried out by less than 20% of the population of the time, correct me if I am wrong. All these butt heads have to do is piss off that many people. If we look at the unrest of the day, world wide, the one world order is playing with fire on a grand scale. There are a whole lot of God loving folks out there ready to go old testament in my opinion. They simply need to have the right trigger point pulled. Just saying.
Beautiful and to the point.
I’m just a little pissant. But I am not scared of doing what’s right anymore. What do I define as right? Christ’s teachings, for the most part. Agree or disagree, it’s how my family rolls, and clearly whatever many Americans have been embracing ain’t working. At all.