New York restaurants suffer after terror attacks
More than 15,000 staff have been laid off by restaurants in New York following the 11 September attacks, restaurant guide Zagat has estimated.
Zagat's 2002 New York City Restaurant Survey was published last week and includes a preliminary analysis of the impact of the terror attacks on the city's $9b (£6b) restaurant trade.
Apart from the loss of the Windows on the World restaurant in the World Trade Center, more than 30 restaurants in the downtown area of the city have closed permanently, it said.
Another 37 in the devastated financial district remain temporarily closed and whether they ever reopen is still in question.
Restaurants that are operating have been severely hampered by the damaged phone service, making it difficult for customers to make reservations.
A ripple effect has spread out across the city, with many restaurants in the SoHo area, close to Downtown, reporting business down by at least 20%.
In Chinatown, which relies heavily on tourists and commuters, restaurants were experiencing an average 30-50% drop in business, said Zagat.
And in Little Italy, again largely dependent on tourists, business diners and car-using customers, restaurants had seen business dive by an average of 50%. The situation there was compounded by the cancellation of San Gennaro Festival, which normally brings thousands of people to the area.
Further afield, many Midtown restaurants were reporting takings down by 30-50%.
Uptown restaurants were, ironically, doing better, picking up those diners who preferred to stay closer to home. But even here, customers were spending less, Zagat found.
Since most restaurants did 30-40% of their business in last three months of the year, any relief package had to be sorted out immediately, it warned. "Otherwise it is likely many restaurants will close before next spring and whole areas such as TriBeCa, Chinatown, SoHo and Little Italy will lose the restaurants that have helped give them their unique appeals," it concludes.
by Nic Paton
