8+ Million Restaurant Employees Have Been Laid Off

The Challenge

Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, restaurants are facing an unprecedented challenge. At stake is their very survival. The restaurant industry, like the airline and leisure industries, has been hit hardest by the outbreak of this virus, with lockdowns, restrictions, and the curtailing of movement all severely hampering the free flow of customers. Unlike the airline industry, the majority of restaurants in the United States did not receive federal aid in 2020.

Already this year, according to Yelp and other sources, approximately 32,000 restaurants that were open on March 1st were closed as of August 31st. Those who have survived are in dire straits financially.

The New York City Comptroller projects that one-third to one-half of all NYC restaurants will not be able to survive the next six months. As winter sets in, businesses in the northern US who have managed to stay afloat with outdoor and minimal indoor dining now face even bleaker prospects.

But restaurants, such as those on our Local Stories page are fighting back, by creating safe outdoor dining options, expanding their take-out services, delivering frozen foods to at-home cooks, serving food to those who are out of work, and coming together to advocate for each other. And all of us can help by eating out and ordering in if possible, by supporting state and federal legislation to aid the hospitality industry and workers, and by supporting the social media campaign #EatOutToHelpOut.

We have spent the last two months meeting with local restaurant owners, members of local government, and community leaders in an effort to understand the current restaurant crisis.
We here at CityGAP, the gap year program of The Living City Project, are a group of students dedicated to helping independent restaurants during the pandemic. We created our website as a resource for restaurant owners and concerned citizens alike.