BUFFALO, N.Y. — It’s been less than a week since 2 On Your Side inquired about how local venues are coping with minimal financial assistance months into the pandemic.
On December 23, Chris Ring, the owner of Rec Room in Downtown Buffalo, said local venues like his are in dire need of help.
As of Monday, help is officially on the way.
After tireless negotiations, Senator Chuck Schumer announced that live music venues, independent movie theaters and cultural institutions will receive federal financial assistance as part of the 'Save Our Stages' Act, a bill within the second COVID-19 relief stimulus package that was recently agreed upon by Congress and signed by President Donald Trump.
The act secures $15 billion nationally and will provide six months of much needed financial support through a new grant program.
"We put our heads together and pulled out a huge grassroots effort combining forces across the country with music fans alike to message our congressional leaders and urge them to support the arts and the live entertainment industry," Ring says.
Schumer's office released a press release on Monday where he said: “Today’s dedicated federal assistance to independent venues ensures that when it is safe to do so, we can gather again for comedy, music, theater, and movies and to once again enjoy the cultural institutions that have been around for generations. The final COVID relief package will help these places keep the lights and the laughs on, and keep the curtain from closing on Upstate New York."
Unlike restaurants, hair salons, barber shops, and stores, music venues have not been able to open for a significant period of time, costing business owners, like Ring, a lot of money.
"We don't run traditional business models like many other business. It's pretty much an all or nothing game in our industry," he says.
With the start of 2021 just days away, the financial loss of big parties, concerts and gatherings is something many businesses, like Rec Room, are already feeling.
"Things like New Year's Eve, huge events like that, that we're going to miss out on. You know it's money that we can never recuperate," Ring says.
As the Western New York representative for the National Independent Venue Association, also known as NIVA, Ring says members continue to pressure state leaders to step up in the interim until federal dollars arrive, however as of yet, the state has not put forth any money or promises.
"We have about two to three months of money available to kind of get us through the rest of this," Ring tells 2 On Your Side.
As for the state's hesitance?
"It's super disappointing," Ring says. "But I'm hopeful minds change."
2 On Your Side reached out to Lieutenant Governor Kathy Hochul's office, who declined comment on the issue.