Data: 87 Pct Of NYC Restaurants Couldn’t Pay Full Rent In August

Eighty-seven percent of New York City restaurants, bars and other such venues couldn’t pay their full rent during August, according to the most recent Rent Report from the NYC Hospitality Alliance.

The alliance surveyed 457 restaurants, bars, nightclubs and event venues in the NYC area between Aug. 25 and Sept. 11, according to the report. It found that 60 percent of landlords had not waived rent throughout the pandemic.

And of the 40 percent that had waived rent, less than a third waived over half the rent, the survey found. Ninety percent of survey respondents were unable to renegotiate their leases because of the pandemic, the report stated.

The report went on to detail that 48 percent of respondents said their landlords expected them to pay at least some rent in August, while 12.9 percent demanded them to pay all of it, and 34.1 percent waived rent for those that couldn’t make it.

And, the report went into detail on the percentage expected to be paid by landlords: 49.1 percent expected half the rent to be paid, while 29.8 percent accepted less than 50 percent. When part of the rent was waived, 43 percent of respondents said their landlords had waived 50 percent of the rent.

Asked whether landlords had deferred any rent because of the pandemic, 61.2 percent of respondents said no. And 57.1 percent said they had not renegotiated their leases in response to the pandemic.

NYC restaurants will be allowed to reopen indoor dining Sept. 30 with limited 25 percent capacities. A long-enough stretch of compliance for social distancing practices led Gov. Andrew Cuomo to deem it safe. Restaurants will still have to comply with temperature checks and contact tracing.

As a way to offset the year-long damage done to restaurants, NYC approved an optional 10 percent extra surcharge that restauranteurs can implement as of Sept. 16, ending a ban on restaurant surcharges put in place in the 1970s.