We’re in the eighth week of sheltering in place and the 33rd day of home schooling for New York City schools.

Official unemployment has reached levels higher than the Depression, as 3.2 newly unemployed filed for relief in the last week. At the same time, newly unemployment numbers are dropping slighting, which is good news. Unemployment claims total 33 million since March. The real numbers are likely much higher, of course, since many are still having trouble filing and not all who are out of work qualify for unemployment insurance, even with the relaxed rules.

Of the nonfarming jobs slashed since the crisis began, almost 60 percent came from bars and restaurants. Restaurant closing are “particularly damaging” to urban areas, including Brooklyn, the New York Times pointed out in a detailed look at how mom and pop farm-to-table eateries fueled the rise of small cities such as Asheville, N.C., and Providence, R.I. — much as they did in Brooklyn, although the borough is not mentioned.

“The government has shown little interest in compelling or helping insurers to pay claims for business interruption caused by the pandemic, something restaurant owners desperately want. Restaurant owners say the Paycheck Protection Program, which provides forgivable loans to small businesses that keep paying workers, is not useful for eateries that may need to remain shuttered or half full for months after other kinds of businesses are fully operational,” said the story. And, “Beyond simply providing tax revenue and jobs, small independent restaurants are often tightly interwoven with the daily life of their communities…helping power other small businesses, like local farms.”

Closer to home, Jack the Horse Tavern is for sale, a commenter posted on Brooklyn Heights Blog.

What are your thoughts, and how are you weathering the shutdown? What do you think should be done in Brooklyn to combat the spread of the virus and blunt the damage to local businesses and jobs? Please feel free to comment in a respectful manner (please, no personal attacks, nothing libelous). If you are not already logged in, go up to the top right hand side of the page and log in to be able to comment.


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