Retail Chains and Small Businesses Are Struggling in N.Y.C.

Bank Street is closing for good this month. The owner of Bryant Park Grill & Cafe said he would never open another restaurant in the city.

Even the national chains, like J.C. Penney and Subway, are not immune to the economic pressures and have shuttered locations in Manhattan, according to my colleague, Matthew Haag, who covers New York real estate.

I asked Mr. Haag more about the topic. Here’s an edited version of our conversation:

Q: What is the state of brick-and-mortar retailers in New York?

A: All types of retailers, both national brands and mom-and-pop stores, are struggling. But it is especially the case in Manhattan, where shoppers have disappeared because there are very few workers commuting into work, tourists are at home and many local residents have gone to their second homes or work remotely back at home with their parents.

Fifth Avenue, Times Square and Madison Avenue — some of the most prestigious retail spaces in the world — look like ghost towns.

How has the pandemic affected small businesses specifically?

Small businesses have been hit particularly hard because most do not have the resources like a national chain to survive a few days or weeks with little to no revenue, let alone five months. Some received federal aid, such as the Payroll Protection Program, but the funds have been used by now.

The smallest of small businesses — the businesses with one employee — were surviving on a weekly $600 federal stimulus check, but that benefit ended.

Landlords are also asking for rent, and small-business owners simply cannot afford what they used to pay.

What about the big chains in Manhattan? Are they paying rent?

Some national brands, such as Target and CVS, have stayed open because they were considered essential businesses. But others, especially apparel shops, have reopened stores elsewhere in the country, but not necessarily in Manhattan. That includes Victoria’s Secret, Gap and even the T.G.I. Friday’s in Times Square.

What we’re reading

More than 20 percent of the city’s summer school students never logged on for online classes. [Chalkbeat New York]

An ice cream truck driver is plowing through a street barrier in Brooklyn, neighbors say. The police are investigating. [New York Post]

And finally: Carmaggedon

Foster Kamer writes:

Nothing is truly discovered until a certain subset of New Yorkers try it out. And what have we discovered now?

Cars! Buying and leasing, four wheels, the smell of gas and the joys of the open road. Emissions-spewing, fossil-fuel-guzzling automobiles — have you heard? They help you leave places quickly, and in a hermetically sealed bubble where the only expelled aerosols we have to inhale are the best kind: our own.

For a large segment of city-dwelling, taxi-taking, Citi Biking New Yorkers who swore off private transport long ago, the prospect of owning a ride here seemed at best unnecessary.

Then came the coronavirus, and now getting a car is suddenly a good idea.

Since mid-March, quarantine-weary New Yorkers have been buying more cars. And like bicycles before them, there’s a shortage of vehicles available at dealerships, particularly in the city.

According to data provided to The Times, the New York State Department of Motor Vehicles processed 73,933 original car registrations in the five boroughs over June and July, an 18 percent increase over the 62,507 registrations from the same time last year.