The $ 900 billion Covid-19 bailout package passed by Congress on December 27 did not change the $ 125 billion Restaurants Act. Industry officials hope the new Biden administration will make this a priority this year.
But the bank, which has decades of experience in the industry, said the longer period of financial strain would close more restaurants in 2021. The only survivors would do so by the good graces of their landlord, he said.
“Our industry is desperate,” said the bank.
‘It may take a while’
Unlike restaurants, which have been able to continue their business with limited capacity, Broadway has been dark for months. The Stage Directors and Choreographers Society estimates unemployment at 98%. The Broadway League recently suspended all ticket sales through May.
“We don’t expect anything until the second half of the year,” said Randy Anderson, a senior executive with the state directors’ union.
It’s not clear how the $ 1.8 billion performing arts industry will recover without some form of federal aid. A new spin-off of the recently implemented Covid-19 bailout will provide up to $ 15 billion for theaters, music venues and other cultural facilities that can be tapped through federal grants and reimbursements.
The samples, according to experts, are still a long way off, not to mention overcrowded homes. A staggered reopening over the next two years is highly likely.
“All 41 Broadway theaters will eventually be filled,” said Anderson. “You will be back, but it may take a while.”
Then there are the problems hotels face. A recent survey by the New York Hotel Association found that only half of the 102 hotel operators surveyed say their industry will recover. More than 200 hotels closed temporarily or permanently during the pandemic. others have been converted into shelters for the homeless.
Vijay Dandapani, CEO of the New York City Hotel Association, doesn’t expect business travel to resume until the summer or for conventions to begin until 2022. In the meantime, he expects revenue to continue to grow when the load is low.
To make matters worse, it is an archaic property tax law whose tax rates for hotels are assessed on the basis of the previous year’s values. Dandapani argues that the tax needs to be changed this year.
“The city’s greatest support can and must be a real estate tax relief in the form of a rating that reflects the nearly 90% decline in sales over the past nine months,” he said.