Brooklyn Bar Owners Form Group to Demand Rent Relief
With 88% of New York City restaurants unable to pay rent in October, according to the NYC Hospitality Alliance, owners are asking, “Will you miss us when we’re gone?”
By: Macy Bayern
Sitting outside her bar in Brooklyn, Megan Rickerson couldn’t stop shifting in her seat. She was both angry and anxious about the future of her young business, Someday Bar, and rent is one of her biggest concerns.
A survey from the NYC Hospitality Alliance, released on Nov. 12, revealed that 88% of the 400 New York City restaurant and bar owners surveyed couldn’t pay full rent in October, a trend that has worsened each month since July. Some 30% of small businesses couldn’t pay rent at all. As winter sets in, this problem is expected to worsen, which is why Rickerson joined forces with two other hospitality workers to create Save NYC Bars.
“How do you tell somebody they can only have 18 people inside, but have to pay almost $9,000 in rent? I can have 32 people outside, but now it’s 50 degrees and we have,” Rickerson said, pausing to count the two occupied tables outside, “eight people sitting down.”
The group began in September, after one founder, Daniella Solano, hosted a round table with local bartenders to determine the needs of the community. Solano, a whiskey ambassador for Pernod Ricard, realized the problems would not be solved in one round table meeting.
After the event, attendees Rickerson and Joanna Carpenter, a hospitality consultant, decided to join forces with Solano and create a campaign. From there, Save NYC Bars was formed, as was the slogan, “Will you miss us when we’re gone?”
The mission of Save NYC Bars is to bring awareness to the current issues bar owners are facing, specifically the inability to pay rent and a lack of clarity about dining regulations. The group’s efforts began with government outreach for rent relief, but they quickly realized relief wasn’t coming soon.
Carpenter, who spearheads the group’s government outreach, was prepared to take their demands to Albany. But after a call with the NYC Hospitality Alliance, a nonprofit that represents restaurants and nightlife across the five boroughs, which has been advocating for rent relief since March, she realized the fight at the state’s capitol was better fought by Alliance president Andrew Rigie.
Since the Alliance has more direct contact and influence with the government, Carpenter said, she’d let them take the reigns and “fight the good fight.”
“We’re in a dire situation where restaurants haven’t been able to pay rent and won’t be able to for a long time,” Andrew Rigie, president of the NYC Hospitality Alliance, told prox. “We need the federal government to enact the RESTAURANTS Act, which is a $120 billion revitalization fund to help these small businesses afford rent, payroll, vendors and other expenses.”
When asked why he thinks that relief hasn’t been implemented, he said, “It’s politics at its worst.”
Carpenter has refocused the group’s strategy, turning to grassroots efforts, such as creating a website and an Instagram account through which they can engage the community.
The women also partnered with two liquor brands — Mezcal El Silencio and Misguided Spirits — to fund the creation of branded coasters and stickers that they hope will draw attention to how much bars are struggling, and inspire people to help.
The items are designed with the Save NYC Bars logo, slogan and a QR code, which links to action items for the public. The actions include sending a pre-populated tweet to government officials, posting a photo on Instagram with #wearamask or #savenycbars, and encouraging customers to “Bring Your Own Blanket.” The new spin on BYOB urges patrons to bring blankets with them to bars during winter months.
Twenty bar partners are now carrying Save NYC Bars coasters and stickers. The team also trains bar owners and workers on messaging. If a bar wants to join, Carpenter said, “I will come in and speak to you and speak to the staff about the intention behind this messaging, why we’re doing what we’re doing, and build some empathy there so that when your guests ask questions about [the merch] you can then translate that message and help people understand.”
The group is also calling for clearer communication on government guidelines and regulations. When Gov. Cuomo recently announced that bars and restaurants must close at 10 p.m. because of the rise in coronavirus cases, owners heard the news at the same time as their customers.
“I found out about it through a tweet. Thanks, Gov. Cuomo!” Rickerson said.
Ciara O’Sullivan, the owner of a bar in Astoria that displays Save NYC Bars coasters, echoed her frustration. She told prox. that she finds out about government updates through the local news or social media. She said the announcement about 10 p.m. closures was particularly frustrating, since no clarification was made as to whether it applied indoors or outside. Also, O’Sullivan didn’t know if she had to stop serving at 10 p.m., or have everyone out by then.
While tables outside of bars and restaurants might seem busy, that’s still a fraction of the business these businesses saw before COVID, O’Sullivan said. Save NYC Bars hopes to make this more well known.
“The more people that understand how bad things are, the more people we can mobilize to help us right now,” Carpenter noted.
Bio: Macy Bayern is an M.S candidate at the Columbia Journalism School, covering the hospitality beat for prox. She focuses mainly on how COVID-19 has impacted the sector. A native Texan, Macy is still adjusting to the New York lifestyle. Please excuse her if she slips a “y’all” in here or there.
