More than 650,000 city jobs have vanished, key businesses are on the brink of collapse, it will be years before the economy recovers — and Democratic legislators think it’s a great time for $7 billion in new taxes.
As Albany lawmakers negotiate the state budget that’s due April 1, a series of studies paint a dire picture of the damage that the coronavirus has inflicted on the Big Apple and the long road back to recovery.
A survey involving the bellwether restaurant industry this week found that 75 percent of more than 400 city eateries reported their annual revenues had plunged by more than half last year.
The NYC Hospitality Alliance group also said that while the $1.9 trillion American Rescue Plan signed by President Biden was providing a “crucial lifeline” to eateries, taverns and nightclubs, 46 percent of owners predicted their businesses will fold without continued government help.
“The survival of our restaurants and bars is essential to the economic recovery of New York City, so the continued number and nature of these struggling small businesses is alarming,” said Andrew Rigie, the group’s executive director.
Meanwhile, monthly figures released by the state Labor Department on Thursday showed that unemployment in the city ticked up slightly, to 12.9 percent in February from 12.6 percent in January.
The number of private-sector jobs grew by just 11,500 statewide during the same time, the Labor Department said, amounting to a minuscule, 0.2 percent increase that’s half the nationwide rate.
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