BUFFALO, N.Y. — The New York State Restaurant Association on Sunday released the results of a survey that shows many restaurants are worried about profitability over the next six months if they don't receive state aid.
According to Restaurant Association, 89.7 percent of surveyed New York State restaurant owners say that "it will be very or somewhat unlikely that their establishments will be profitable in the next six months" without a government relief package aimed at restaurants.
"This will force more restaurants to close their doors for good and put many New Yorkers out of work," the Restaurant Association said in a news release.
New York State Restaurant Association is a nonprofit organization that supports and advocates for restaurants in New York State. Restaurants receive training, cost-saving programs and take part in advocacy when becoming members, according to its website.
The survey was completed in the first week of August and included more than 625 New York restaurant operators.
Additionally, over 90 percent of surveyed New York restaurant operators say they saw lower sales volume from April to July of this year, compared to last year. More than 90 percent of surveyed restaurant operators also said they had to furlough or lay-off employees during the pandemic, according to the survey.
The survey also showed that 54.7 percent of the surveyed restaurant operators had to furlough or lay off 90 to 100 percent of employees.
The outlook on jobs at surveyed restaurants wasn't favorable: 74.2 percent of operators told the New York State Restaurant Association that they have no plans of hiring additional employees in the next month.
Furthermore, 18.6 percent of surveyed restaurants said they are closed, either temporarily or permanently.
The New York State Restaurant Association is advocating for a relief package on behalf of member restaurants, and they say the top three things members said they wanted to see was commercial rent relief, insisting that business interruption insurance claims be paid, and increases the capacity for indoor dining.
“We are forever grateful to the loyal New Yorkers who have supported their neighborhood and favorite restaurants, without whom this modest success would not be possible," said Melissa Fleischut, the president and CEO of the Restaurant Association.
"Now we are urging the federal government and the New York State Legislature to show their support for this industry, which plays such a vital role in our state’s economy,” Fleischut said.