Chinanews, August 28. According to the US "World Journal" report, Corona, Queens is one of the worst-hit areas in New York City, and the community economy has also been hit hard. In order to encourage small businesses to regain their confidence, New York City Comptroller Si Jinge visited a local Chinese restaurant to cheer for the business.
During the visit, the restaurant owner said that the restaurant is the main source of income for the family. When the epidemic was at its worst, it was closed for two months. After reopening, it was unable to make ends meet. He hoped that the flow of passengers would return and pass the difficult time as soon as possible.
On August 26, local time, Sijinger and New York State Representative Cruz visited local small businesses and visited the "Juxiangyuan Tea Restaurant" and other shops at 90-19 Corona Avenue to cheer up the small businesses.
At Juxiangyuan Tea Restaurant, the Chinese owner Mr. Li said that five years ago, he and his parents devoted almost all of their energy to this restaurant, which was well received by many customers nearby. But after the outbreak, restaurant business plummeted.
Mr. Li said that because some people did not develop good epidemic prevention habits such as wearing masks, in order to protect the health of customers, employees and family members, they had to sacrifice their own interests and temporarily close the restaurant in March. The whole family also lost its source of income.
Under multiple economic pressures such as rents, Mr. Li's restaurant reopened on May 15, requiring visitors to wear masks before entering the store for consumption. "Now I still owe the landlord two months' rent, and I can only pay it back slowly."
Although it reopened, Mr. Li said that in the past, the main income of the store relied on dine-in food, his own store did not meet the requirements of outdoor restaurants, and he was unwilling to join a takeaway platform with excessive commissions, so revenue fell by at least 50%. Although the parents applied for the salary protection plan and other subsidies, they were not approved, and everyone was still insisting.
It is understood that the experience of Mr. Li's restaurant is not unique. Cruz said that there are many local immigrants who cannot apply for food stamps or federal subsidies due to their immigration status. For the sake of livelihood and rent, they can only take the risk of working during the peak of the epidemic.
It may also be because of this reason that the local infection rate remains high. According to data from the New York City Government, two of the top three areas with the highest antibody test positive rates in the city are in Queens. Among them, Corona is the worst with 51.6%, and the anti-epidemic results are far inferior to the neighboring Chinese community Flushing.
Sijinge said that he thanked Cruz for his contribution, allowing the community to get the food and other resources they deserve. I hope that this visit will regain the confidence of more small businesses, and his office will help these businesses continue to operate and reduce the situation that small businesses are forced to suspend business due to the epidemic. (Mou Lan)