Mayor Bill de Blasio insists city businesses forced to close because of the coronavirus outbreak are doing just fine and will be able to stay shuttered for months to come - despite a new report that found the Big Apple's private sector has shed one in four jobs.
"I've talked to lots and lots of business leaders, especially the smallest businesses. They're very worried about their futures understandably, but they also are hanging on and they know it can be a matter of months until they'll be back in action," de Blasio said on WNYC Friday.
A caller named Cassius from Brooklyn urged Hizzoner to "Take a more surgical approach" to the city's COVID-19 response by finding a way to protect the elderly and health care workers while allowing businesses to reopen.
"Rushing back is consistently proven to have the boomerang effect and make things worse and cause bigger shutdowns because it's not just about a small number of particularly vulnerable people," de Blasio said.
City Councilman Mark Gjonaj blasted the mayor's remarks.
"That would also explain why he only allocated $49 million in loans and grants, which is a fraction of a fraction of what these small businesses actually need," Gjonaj said about de Blasio's limited relief program for the city's mom-and-pop shops.
The Empire Center's E.J. McMahon said the city has taken an unparalleled fiscal hit.
https://nypost.com/2020/05/22/de-blasio-says-shuttered-businesses-will-be-able-to-hang-on/
"I've talked to lots and lots of business leaders, especially the smallest businesses. They're very worried about their futures understandably, but they also are hanging on and they know it can be a matter of months until they'll be back in action," de Blasio said on WNYC Friday.
A caller named Cassius from Brooklyn urged Hizzoner to "Take a more surgical approach" to the city's COVID-19 response by finding a way to protect the elderly and health care workers while allowing businesses to reopen.
"Rushing back is consistently proven to have the boomerang effect and make things worse and cause bigger shutdowns because it's not just about a small number of particularly vulnerable people," de Blasio said.
City Councilman Mark Gjonaj blasted the mayor's remarks.
"That would also explain why he only allocated $49 million in loans and grants, which is a fraction of a fraction of what these small businesses actually need," Gjonaj said about de Blasio's limited relief program for the city's mom-and-pop shops.
The Empire Center's E.J. McMahon said the city has taken an unparalleled fiscal hit.
https://nypost.com/2020/05/22/de-blasio-says-shuttered-businesses-will-be-able-to-hang-on/
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