Restaurant workers battered by the pandemic brought their case for some form of financial relief to Gov. Ned Lamont Monday, rallying outside the Governor’s Residence and at the state Capitol.
Lamont, who is facing pressure from physicians to expand the state shutdown and from restaurants to remain open, told the group he is trying to keep their businesses open, but he could offer them no promises of financial aid.
More than 50 restaurant owners and employees marched from Elizabeth Park to the front gates of Gov. Lamont’s residence holding signs, chanting “no restrictions without relief.” The message from rally-goers was not that necessarily that restaurants must remain open, but that the industry needs some sort of financial help — sales tax relief, rent relief, a deferment on payroll tax, rent relief, etc.
“It’s important that we raise awareness for state aid, because we can’t make it to a federal stimulus, it’s that simple,” said Al Greenwood, the owner of Oak Haven Table & Bar in New Haven, and one of the rally’s organizers. “There are things that can be done. We’re not asking for a handout, we’re just asking for resources.
“Shut down or open, we need relief,” he said.
While there has not been a specific program aimed just at restaurants, there have been three initiatives that have provided some assistance to restaurants, including the federal Paycheck Protection Program and two small business grant initiatives.
After the group moved to the state Capitol, Lamont came out to meet with them and defended his decision to keep restaurants open, even as neighboring states scale back indoor dining.
“I can’t promise you we are going to keep ours open forever either,” Lamont said “I can tell you we are doing everything we can.”
Many restaurateurs said that the restrictions have limited their sales, and that take-out options aren’t enough to make end’s meet.
Lamont spokesman Max Reiss said the governor is looking into additional relief for the industry. In speaking with restaurant employees and owners outside the Capitol, Lamont focused more on keeping businesses open than relief.
“The most important thing we can do is do everything we can to keep you open,” Lamont said. “It only works if people feel safe going into the restaurant. I think the rest have done an extraordinary job.”
Dustin Amore of Conspiracy Cocktail Bar in Middletown said he wanted the governor to listen to the restaurant workers. “I honestly really appreciate it and respect it, and I hope that he heard it.
“I don’t think that the government has realized what an economic impact the restrictions they have put on us have done. Or, what is happening to all of these businesses. People are unable to do the necessary work to pay their bills. There are less customers in restaurants, there is less consumer confidence, and because of that, we are directly suffering.”
At Monday’s rally, protestors argued that consumer confidence has been shattered, and that there’s been a direct correlation between that and the turnout from customers.
“There have been people that have said directly, do not dine out,” Greenwood said. ” ‘We are dangerous, we are not safe.’ We beg to differ. We think that we are safe, we feel that we are sanitation experts.”
In November, dozens of Connecticut doctors asked Gov. Lamont to prohibit indoor dining, and said that a “decision to close indoor dining and gyms and ban all other unnecessary public gatherings would protect our citizens from this lethal disease.”
Those at Monday’s rally said they respect the viewpoints of medical experts, but relief would be necessary if the state were to shut down indoor dining.
“Safety first, first and foremost,” said Tom Landon, who works at Pigs Eye in Hartford. “If they decided they wanted to do a full shutdown, I would get behind that for public safety if there was relief for the staff.”
Others believe the calls to close indoor dining are unfair if larger corporations are allowed to remain open.
“I think it’s awful,” said Ray Alberts, who owns These Guys Brewing in Norwich along with his wife Rebecca Alberts. “They keep open Walmarts, they keep open Macy’s, all these other places. But you close down the things that matter most: small businesses, that’s what makes big business survive. It’s a trickle down effect … if there’s no small business in a town like Hartford, there would be no town. In our hometown, Norwich, if there’s no small business, there is no business.”
Rebecca Alberts said that her staff has been slashed from 24 to six workers, and they’ve depleted the businesses savings just to remain open.
“There becomes a breaking point when your landlord won’t work with you,” she said. “Our biggest hardship right now is there’s no moratorium on restaurants for evictions. We’re depleting all of our savings, personally and company-wise. If there’s limitations for evictions for renters, there should be some type of moratorium on not evicting us and making landlords work with us. Because the fact that my landlord won’t take a reduced rent or even have a meeting with me is unfathomable during a pandemic.”
The Connecticut Restaurant Association said in late November that over 600 restaurants have closed in the state since the start of the COVID-19, and that more are expected to shut down as COVID-19 numbers rise into the winter. Under current pandemic rules, which went into effect Nov. 6, restaurants can be open up to 50% capacity for indoor dining, with six feet of spacing between parties, or barriers in between. A maximum of eight people can be seated at each table, and patrons can last be served at 9:30 p.m.
At the state Capitol, rally-goers laid out 600 napkins on the front lawn, symbolizing the restaurants which have closed down.
Shawn McFarland can be reached at smcfarland@courant.com.
