Chefs, restaurants in NY push landlords for rent breaks
Renowned restaurants, including Cipriani, Smith & Wollensky, The Smith, and Boqueria, as well as owners Stephen Starr and chef Bobby Flay, have formed a new group seeking help from New York City landlords to survive the coronavirus crisis. The group, which is called The Restaurant Network and has not yet been announced publicly, is finalizing a set of terms it hopes small businesses can propose to landlords for rent relief and capital assistance. On March 15, New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio ordered restaurants, bars and cafes to close except for takeout, delivery and drive-thru, dealing a massive blow to an industry that is already dominated by small business owners operating on razor thin margins. Two days later, New York's Union Square Hospitality Group, which operates more than 20 restaurants, said it would lay off 80% of staff, about 2,000 people. President Donald Trump has called on businesses to reopen by the April 12 Easter holiday to help get the battered U.S. economy up and running. But companies say they are waiting until health officials signal the all clear, which is unlikely to happen soon as New York has become the epicenter of the U.S. outbreak with some 18,000 known cases of the illness caused by the new coronavirus in the city alone.
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