Restaurant shutdowns had brutal impact on Corona-Elmhurst-Jackson Heights immigrant workforce: report
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AP Photo/Yuki Iwamura
By David Brand
Immigrants in three Queens neighborhoods once known as the epicenter of the COVID-19 crisis were also among the most impacted by citywide restaurant cutbacks, a new report from state Comptroller Tom DiNapoli shows.
By April, about 71 percent of New York City’s 317,000 restaurant workers lost their jobs as a result of COVID-19 restrictions imposed to stop the spread of the virus, according to DiNapoli’s report published Thursday. The layoffs, furloughs and outright business closures were particularly tough in Corona, Elmhurst and Jackson Heights, which are home to more restaurant workers than any other community in the city, the report found.
Nearly 90 percent of the neighborhoods’ 24,000 restaurant workers are Latino or Asian immigrants, Census data shows. Overall, the restaurant industry accounts for one in 12 private sector jobs citywide, with immigrant New Yorkers accounting for 60 percent of the workforce, the report found.
“These data suggest restaurant closures and lost restaurant employment are likely to have a disproportionate impact on immigrant workers, on Hispanic or Asian workers, and on the neighborhoods where a large number of restaurant workers live,” the report states.
Residents of the same neighborhoods were also disproportionately sickened and killed by COVID-19.
Zip codes covering largely immigrant sections of Corona, Elmhurst and Jackson Heights accounted for four of the six highest rates of positive COVID-19 cases in the city through the peak months of the crisis.
As COVID-19 cases gradually decreased, restaurants were permitted to reopen for outdoor dining.
By August, New York City restaurants had hired back about 83,000 workers for a total of 174,000 jobs — still less than two-thirds of the February jobs total.
About 40 percent of Queens’ roughly 6,000 restaurants received permits for outdoor dining as part of a city initiative that became permanent last month. The Open Dining program allowed many restaurants to stay afloat with diminished revenue during the spring and summer months.
Permission to reopen for limited-capacity indoor dining this week should provide another boost to the restaurant industry workforce, DiNapoli said.
“Restaurants reflect our diversity, employing tens of thousands of immigrants and providing a range of options fitting for a world-class metropolis,” DiNapoli said. “The city’s decision to extend outdoor dining year-round to help keep restaurants afloat is a step in the right direction along with opening for indoor dining.”
Assemblymember Catalina Cruz, who represents parts of Corona, Elmhurst and Jackson Heights, called on the state to provide more small business aid to ensure community restaurants continue to survive.
“When COVID-19 emerged, our community was the first to be impacted and it continues to struggle to rebound from the financial impact of the shutdown,” Cruz said. “The state must do everything in its power to ensure our small businesses survive beyond the pandemic.”
